FY26 DEFENSE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH (DEPSCoR) CAPACITY BUILDING (CB)

The Department of Defense (DoD) announces the fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) – Capacity Building opportunity. The program is sponsored and managed by the Basic Research Office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD [R&E]), awarded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), and administered through the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The DoD plans to award FY26 DEPSCoR appropriations through this announcement. DEPSCoR's objectives are to: (1) increase the number of university researchers in eligible States/Territories capable of performing science and engineering (S&E) research responsive to the needs of the DoD. (2) enhance the capabilities of institutions of higher education (IHEs) in eligible States/Territories (listed below) to develop, plan, and execute S&E research that is relevant to the mission of the DoD, and competitive under the peer-review systems used for awarding Federal research assistance; and (3) increase the probability of long-term growth in the competitively awarded financial assistance that IHEs in eligible States/Territories receive from the Federal Government for S&E research. The Basic Research Office anticipates up to $6 million in total funding will be made available for this program to fully fund and award between one to four grants up to $1.5 million (total cost) each. Each grant award will be funded up to $750,000 (total cost) per year for two (2) years. The award is subject to funding availability. The Basic Research Office reserves the right to select and fund for award all, some, part, or none of the proposals received. There is no guarantee of an award.

This funding opportunity aims to support the strategic objectives of IHEs (either individually or in partnership with others) in DEPSCoR States/Territories to achieve basic research excellence in areas of high relevance to the DoD. IHEs in the following States/Territories are eligible to apply for this DEPSCoR opportunity under this announcement: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming see eligibility table in III A.

i. The overall scientific and/or technical merits of the proposal. ii. The potential contributions of the effort to the Army mission and the extent to which the research effort will contribute to balancing the overall Army research program. iii. The qualifications, capabilities, and experience of the proposed PI, team leader, or other key personnel who are critical to achievement of the proposed objectives.

This program has no statutory formula. Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. This program has MOE requirements, see funding agency for further details. Not Applicable

Fiscal Year2018: INTERNET OF BATTLEFIELD THINGS - The overall objective is to develop the fundamental understanding of dynamically-composable, adaptive, goal-driven Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBTs) to enable predictive analytics for intelligent command and control and battlefield services. DCIST -Develop the underpinning science to extend the reach, situational awareness, and operational effectiveness of Intelligent System/Soldier teams against dynamic threats in complex and contested environments and provide technical and operational superiority through fast, intelligent, resilient and collaborative behaviors.Fiscal Year2021: Develop Protein Crystal Polymer Hybrids; Listening to the Bioelectronic Signature of Cells; Corrosion Investigation and Modeling; Decoding Multisensory Information at Different Spatiotemporal Scales of Neuronal Resolution; Social Intelligent Agents; and Experimental Strain-Based Tissue Damage Analysis to Model Impact and Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury Scenarios.Fiscal Year2023: Example 1: Texas Tech University was awarded a grant W911NF2410035 for effort titled �Using fNIRS to Predict and Diagnose the Cause of Performance Decrements in...