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Air Force Office of Scientific Research · Department of Defense

Fiscal Year 2027 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP)

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Key facts

Deadline
Due Nov 6, 2026 · 30 days left
Award size
$50K – $7M
Total available
$28M
Match ?
Not required · Work out your budget and match
Who can apply
Private college or university, Public college or university
Where
Anywhere in the U.S., including Tennessee

How this fits you

  • Available in Tennessee (nationwide program)
  • No match required
  • Past Tennessee awards on file: 31

Tell us who you are to see whether you're eligible.

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More from Air Force Office of Scientific Research

About this grant

The Department of Defense (DoD) announces the Fiscal Year 2027 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP). DURIP is designed to improve the capabilities of accredited United States (U.S.) institutions of higher education to conduct research and to educate scientists and engineers in areas important to national defense, by providing funds for the acquisition of research equipment or instrumentation. For-profit organizations are not eligible for DURIP funding.

Ask a partner for a letter

Your schedule, working back from the deadline

  1. Oct7
    Check that your SAM.gov registration is active (or start it now)
    Grants.gov: allow up to 10 business days for SAM registration, weeks or months if information isn't verified. It must be renewed every year. Grants.gov
  2. Oct16
    Ask partners for letters of support or commitment
    Suggested: partners need about three weeks to write and sign letters.
  3. Oct30
    Finish a complete draft for a final review
    Suggested: leave about a week for someone else to read the draft.
  4. Nov4
    Submit
    Grants.gov: submit at least 24–48 hours before the deadline: uploads fail, systems slow down, errors need fixing. Grants.gov blog
  5. Nov6
    Deadline
    From the funder.

Save this grant to put these dates in My grants and your private calendar.

What the official notice requires

Pulled from the official notice NOFOAFRLAFOSR20260001.pdf (40 pages) so you can see the requirements at a glance. Each item shows the notice's own words. Open the page to read it in context.

Award size and project length

  • Project period: 12 months · p. 5
    “NOFOAFRLAFOSR20260001 (5) Assistance Listing Number AFOSR: 12.800 ARO: 12.431 ONR: 12.300 (6) Funding Details Funded Amount and Period of Performance The total amount of funding for the 12 months available for grants resulting from this DURIP NOFO is…” Open page 5
  • Award amounts here are per year · p. 39
    “Recipients that have Federal contract, grant, and cooperative agreement awards with a cumulative total value greater than $10,000,000 must disclose semiannually any information about the criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings.” Open page 39

Registrations you need first (2)

  • Grants.gov · p. 1
    “Applications must be ‘VALIDATED’ by Grants.gov by the application deadline.” Open page 1
  • SAM.gov, Unique Entity ID (UEI) · p. 21
    “(i) Grants.gov: www.grants.gov (ii) ONR website: https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/funding-opportunities (iii) ARO website: https://arl.devcom.army.mil/collaborate-with-us (2) Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM) All…” Open page 21

The deadline is in 30 days. If your registration isn't already active, it may not be ready in time, so check it today. Get-ready checklist

Steps before the deadline

  • Pre-proposal · p. 5
    “(7) Key Dates Pre-proposal inquiries and questions must be submitted not later than Friday, 16 October 2026, at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.” Open page 5

What to submit

  • Letters of support or commitment · p. 8
    “Letters of support/commitment are not required.” Open page 8
  • Form SF-424 · p. 11
    “Your proposal must identify a technical PM/PO in block 4b of the SF-424 proposal cover page.” Open page 11
  • Project abstract or summary · p. 13
    “Project Summary/Abstract Everything else Project Narrative We do not include Grants.gov forms in the page count.” Open page 13
  • Resumes or bios of key staff · p. 13
    “We do not include OMB forms, disclosure documents, or curriculum vitae (CV) in the page count.” Open page 13
  • Form SF-LLL · p. 16
    “For AFOSR, if you check “I agree” on SF424 block 17 and do NOT upload a completed SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities, you are certifying that you do NOT have any lobbying activities to disclose.” Open page 16
  • Budget narrative / justification · p. 18
    “Itemize equipment on the R&R Budget form to the extent possible or provide an itemization on the budget justification attachment.” Open page 18

Length limits

  • Abstract: 4,000 characters max · p. 16
    “Project Summary/Abstract You must provide a concise abstract of 4,000 characters or less with your proposal.” Open page 16
  • CV: 5 pages max · p. 20
    “(2) Upload the biosketch/CV/resume (limited to 5 pages per CV) to the Biographical Sketch field.” Open page 20

Formatting rules

  • single-spaced · p. 12
    “Spacing – single-spaced” Open page 12
  • 12-point font · p. 12
    “Font – Times New Roman, 12-point” Open page 12

Mistakes that get applications rejected (2)

  • Sent the wrong way or format: Proposals with attachments submitted in word processing, spreadsheet, or any format other than Adobe... · p. 23
    “Proposals with attachments submitted in word processing, spreadsheet, or any format other than Adobe Portable Document Format will not be considered for award.” Open page 23
  • Late or not validated: Applications received by Grants.gov after the established due date for the program will be considered late... · p. 24
    “Applications received by Grants.gov after the established due date for the program will be considered late and will not be considered for funding by the DoW agency.” Open page 24

Who in Tennessee has won this program

22 awards to Tennessee groups in 3 counties since 2019. Largest shown:

Past Tennessee winners
Past winnerWhereAmountFiscal year
University of TennesseeTullahoma, Franklin County$17.9M2024
Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Davidson County$5M2022
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$2.2M2022
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$2M2021
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$980K2019
Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Davidson County$897K2020
Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Davidson County$731K2023
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$601K2020
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$541K2023
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$450K2021
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$447K2022
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$435K2021

Source: USAspending.gov. Past awards show who this program funds. They don't guarantee future awards.

Tennessee groups that got this money through a state agency or another organization

This federal money also reaches local groups as pass-through grants. 9 pass-through grants on file. Largest shown:

Tennessee pass-through grant winners
Past winnerWhereThroughAmountFiscal year
East Tennessee State UniversityJohnson City, Washington CountyBioindustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem$1.3M2023
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox CountyUniversity of Texas at Austin$705K2025
Tennessee State UniversityNashville, Davidson CountyOhio State University, the$210K2025
University of TennesseeTullahoma, Franklin CountyOhio State University, the$192K2023
University of TennesseeTullahomaOhio State University, the$192K2023
2Nd Order Effects LLCFairviewNational Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining$170K2026
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox CountyUniversity of Southern California$165K2023
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox CountyUniversity of Southern California$165K2024
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox CountyUniversity of California, Los Angeles$160K2023

Source: USAspending.gov pass-through reports (the first recipient reports each one of $30,000 or more).

About the federal program

Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program
Program number 12.800 (the federal Assistance Listing number) · U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Air Force · Project grant

How applications are judged

Awards decisions will be based on a competitive selection of proposals resulting from a peer and/or scientific review.

Match

None required (federal program listing).

This program on SAM.gov

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What's wrong?

Source: Federal grants from Grants.gov · the official federal record. Last checked by GrantMe Oct 7, 2026.

Reference numbers: official notice number NOFOAFRLAFOSR20260001 · program number 12.800