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Release

Immediate Release

Department of Defense Announces University Research Funding Awards

March 3, 2022

The Department of Defense announced $195 million in Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) awards for the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) competition to 28 research teams pursuing basic research spanning multiple scientific disciplines. These grants will be provided to teams located across 63 U.S. academic institutions for five years each, subject to satisfactory research progress and the availability of funds.

“By supporting teams whose members have diverse sets of expertise, the MURI program acknowledges that the complexities of modern science and engineering challenges often intersect more than one discipline and require creative and diverse approaches to tackle these problems. This cross-fertilization of ideas can accelerate research progress to enable more rapid R&D breakthroughs and hasten the transition of basic research findings to practical application,” said Dr. Bindu Nair, Director, Basic Research Office, Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD (R&E). “It is a program that signifies a legacy of scientific impact and remains a cornerstone of the DoD’s basic research portfolio.”

Since its inception in 1985, the tri-Service MURI program has supported teams of investigators with the hope that collective insight from multiple disciplines could facilitate the growth of newly emerging technologies to address the Department’s unique problem sets. The highly-competitive MURI program, which complements the Department’s single-investigator basic research grants, has made immense contributions to both defense and society at large. Notable examples include advances in development of new theories, algorithms, and automated toolsets to speed synthesis of novel energetics for the DoD, including energetics; modeling and tools to understand and predict population migration due to naturally occurring and human-caused events; and development of novel materials with unprecedented optical, thermal, and mechanical properties for a wide array of DoD application. These and other important technological advances from the MURI program have had a significant impact on current and future military capabilities as well as multiple applications in the commercial sector.

For the FY22 competition, the Army Research Office, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Office of Naval Research solicited proposals in 26 topic areas of strategic importance to the Department. From a merit-based review of approximately 340 proposals received, a panel of experts narrowed the proposals to a subset, from which the 28 final awards were selected.

About USD(R&E)

The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E) is the Chief Technology Officer of the Department of Defense. The USD(R&E) champions research, science, technology, engineering, and innovation to maintain the United States military’s technological advantage. Learn more at www.cto.mil, follow us on Twitter @DoDCTO, or visit us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/ousdre.

FY2022 Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) - Selected Projects

Topic Number	Topic Name	Project Name	Sponsoring Office	Primary University Subaward Universities (1)	University Location (state)	Principal Investigator
1	Social Network-Transcendent Behavioral Dynamics	Learning Dynamics and Detecting Causal Pathways in Coupled Online- Offline Systems	AFOSR	University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Berkeley Indiana University University of Southern California University of Colorado, Boulder	CA CA IN CA CO	P. Jeffrey Brantingham
2	Microelectronic Test Science Exploiting Latent Energy and Electromagnetic Radiation	Comprehensive Minimally/non- invasive Multifaceted Assessment of Nano-/ microelectronic Devices (CoMMAND)	AFOSR	State University of New York at Buffalo Columbia University Boston University University of Maryland, College Park The University of Arizona	NY NY MA MD AZ	Paras N. Prasad
3	Cavity Molecular Polaritons	MURI: Polariton Chemistry	AFOSR	University of California, San Diego University of California, Merced City University of New York Pennsylvania State University	CA CA NY PA	Wei Xiong
4	Effects of Radiation Damage on Performance of Wide-Bandgap Electronics	REDESIGN: Radiation Effects preDiction through Experimentally validated Simulation of Gallium Nitride	AFOSR	Pennsylvania State University Carnegie Mellon University University of Iowa University of Central Florida	PA PA IA FL	Rongming Chu
5	Understanding Neural Systems Integration for Competent Autonomy in Decision and Control	FLAP: Fast, Lexicographic Agile Integrates Decision and Control in a Spike-Resolved, Sensorimotor Program	AFOSR	Georgia Institute of Technology University of Washington Cornell University Duke University Florida International University	GA WA NY NC FL	Simon Sponberg
6	Nonlinear Optical Material Design with Extreme Interband Nonlinearities	Atomic-scale Manipulations of Interband Optical Nonlinearities - (AtoMs➝IONs)	AFOSR	University of Texas at Austin Harvard University City University of New York, ASRC University of California, Irvine	TX MA NY CA	Seth Banks
7	Synthetic Quantum Matter	Reimagining Atoms and Photons in SYnthetic, DYnamical, and INteracting Quantum matter (RAPSYDY IN Q)	AFOSR	Pennsylvania State University University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Maryland, College Park Stanford University California Institute of Technology	PA IL MD CA CA	Mikael Rechtsman
8	Composability of Synthetic Biological Circuits	Rules of Composition in Synthetic Biology Across Scales of Complexity: Theory and Tools	AFOSR	Massachusetts Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology Northeastern University	MA CA MA	Domitilla Del Vecchio
9	Bio-architected Responsive Materials with 3D Nanoscale Order	3D Nanomaterial Architectures with Programmable Reconfiguration States and Functions	ARO	Columbia University Johns Hopkins University University of Michigan University of Wisconsin-Madison University of Sydney (2) University of Melbourne (2) Swinburne University of Technology (2)	NY MD MI WI AUS AUS AUS	Oleg Gang
10	Topological Seeds of Complex Response in Materials	Programming Multistable Origami and Kirigami Structures via Topological Design	ARO	Harvard University Georgia Institute of Technology University of Pennsylvania	MA GA PA	Katia Bertoldi
11	Connectivity and Transport in Disordered Hyperuniform Networks	Transport in Disordered Hyperuniform Systems and Networks	ARO	Princeton University Arizona State University The Pennsylvania State University	NJ AZ PA	Salvatore Torquato
12	Irregular Metamaterial Networks	Disorder Engineering: A Geometry- Enhanced Network Theory for Irregular Metamaterials	ARO	California Institute of Technology University of Chicago Northwestern University Massachusetts Institute of Technology University of California, Irvine	CA IL IL MA CA	Chiara Daraio
13	Uncovering the Underlying Neurobiological Mechanisms of Cognitive Fatigue	Understanding and Predicting Cognitive Fatigue across Multiple Timescales, Distinct Aspects of Cognition, and Different Individuals with Multiscale Whole Cortex Models	ARO	University of Michigan University of Arizona Washington State University	MI AZ WA	Daniel Forger
14	Gut-Neuronal Signaling Through Polymeric Mucin via Chemical Probes and Imaging	Mucin-mimetic Interventions to Modulate the Gut-Brain Axis	ARO	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Tufts University Boston College Columbia University	MA MA MA NY	Katharina Ribbeck
15	ELECTROBIOLOGY: Electronic Control of Biological Communication	Faster, More Efficient, and Hybrid Computation in Microbial Bioelectronic Systems	ARO	Rice University Tufts University Virginia Tech University	TX MA VA	Caroline Ajo-Franklin
16	Novel Routes to Majorana Qubits for Topologically- Protected Quantum Information	Epitaxial phase-biased Josephson junctions	ONR	New York University Yale University University at Buffalo – SUNY University of Maryland, College Park University of Pittsburgh University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign	NY CT NY MD PA IL	Javad Shabani
17	Molecular Doping of Organic Electronic Materials	Next Generation Molecular Dopants for Organic Electronics: From Fundamentals to New Device Concepts	ONR	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill North Carolina State University University of Washington Iowa State University	NC NC WA IA	Wei You
18	Learning from Hearing	Neurobehavioral, Physiological, and Computational Processes of Auditory Object Learning in Mammals	ONR	Carnegie Mellon University New College of Florida University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth University of Washington University of Michigan Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution	PA FL MA WA MI MA	Barbara Shinn- Cunningham
18	Learning from Hearing	Learning to Mine a Soundscape	ONR	Johns Hopkins University University of Maryland, College Park Carnegie Mellon University	MD MD PA	Mounya Elhilali
19	Hydrodynamics of Fish Schooling	Revealing the Hydrodynamic Principles of Three-dimensional Fish Schools; From Biology to Schooling Robotics	ONR	Lehigh University University of Virginia Harvard University	PA VA MA	Keith Moored
20	Self-learning for Real-world Perception	Intentional multi-modal self-learning to perceive and understand the real world	ONR	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Stanford University	MA CA	Leslie Kaelbling
20	Self-learning for Real-world Perception	Self-Learning Perception through Interaction with the Real World	ONR	University of California, Berkeley New York University Carnegie Mellon University	CA NY PA	Pieter Abbeel
21	Fundamental Non-equilibrium Processes in Weakly Ionized Hypersonic Flows	Development of Validated Hypersonic Plasma Kinetics Models Including Atomic Excitation	ONR	University of Colorado Boulder Stanford University University of New Mexico Ohio State University	CO CA NM OH	Iain Boyd
22	Ab Initio Understanding of Detonation Based Combustion in Multiphase Mixtures	Multiphase Detonation of Liquid Aeropropulsion Fuels	ONR	Stanford University University of Connecticut University of Southern California University of Michigan University of Central Florida University of Virginia	CA CT CA MI FL VA	Hai Wang
23	Bioinspired Design of Energy- Self Sufficient Multi-functional Soft Material Systems	SERPENT: Self EneRgetic Propulsion ENTity	ONR	Cornell University University of California, Los Angeles University of California, San Diego United States Naval Academy	NY CA CA MD	Robert Shepherd
24	Systems-Level Foundations for Agile, Dynamic, and Ad Hoc Human Autonomy Teams	HUDDLE: Human Autonomy Teaming in Uncertain and Dynamic Environments	ONR	University of California, San Diego Pennsylvania State University Princeton University University of California, Santa Barbara Michigan State University University of Notre Dame United States Military Academy	CA PA NJ CA MI IN NY	Laurel Riek
25	Environmental DNA-based Monitoring of the Marine Environment (ED- MON)	MMARINeDNA: Marine MAmmal Remote detection via INnovative environmental DNA sampling	ONR	University of Washington University of California, San Diego	WA CA	Ryan Kelly
26	Flat Bands Beyond van der Waals Materials	Topological Flat Bands for Correlated Electron Systems	AFOSR	University of California, Santa Barbara University of California, Berkeley University of California, San Diego	CA CA CA	Susanne Stemmer

(1) Team member institutions are subject to change at the discretion of the primary institution.

(2) Member of the US/AUS MURI Collaboration. AUS partners do not receive US MURI funding.

Department of Defense Announces University Research Funding Awards

FY2022 Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) - Selected Projects

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