Office of Naval Research · Department of Defense
ONR FY27 NOFO for Young Investigator Program
Key facts
- Deadline
- Due Oct 30, 2026 · 23 days left
- Award size
- Not specified — see notice
- Cost share / match ?
- Not required · Work out your budget and match
- Who can apply
- Other (see eligibility)
- Where
- Anywhere in the U.S., including Tennessee
Before you apply: federal grants require an active SAM.gov registration (Unique Entity ID) and a Grants.gov account. The deadline is in 23 days. If your registration isn't already active, it may not be ready in time, so check it today. Grant-ready checklist
How this fits you
- Available in Blount County (nationwide program)
- No cost share required
- Past Tennessee awards on file: 35
Tell us who you are to see whether you're eligible.
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Official notice: https://simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/19850d71-3af6-4f9f-bf6e-1ee9b1f8d8b7 · Printed from grantme.click/grants/4c21631a-f219-4c30-94cc-46a885bea0c8
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About this grant
The Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program seeks proposals addressing research areas (as described in the ONR Science and Technology Department section of ONR's website at https://www.onr.navy.mil) which are of interest to ONR Program Officers will be considered. Contact information for each division (a subgroup of an S&T Department) is also listed within the S&T section of the website.
Eligibility (from the notice)
Awards under this NOFO will be made only to U.S. Institutions of Higher Education which award degrees in science, engineering, or mathematics. U.S. Non-profit organizations operating primarily for scientific and educational services may also submit proposals. The Principal Investigator of a proposal must be a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident (on the date proposals are due), holding a first or second full-time tenure-track or tenure-track-equivalent faculty position at that university, and has received his/her PhD or equivalent degree on or after 01/01/ 2019. The term "national" of the United States includes a native resident of a possession of the United States, such as American Samoa.
Should we apply? (2-minute check) Ask a partner for a letter
Your schedule, working back from the deadline
- 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 - Oct9
Ask partners for letters of support or commitment
Suggested: partners need time to write and sign letters. - Oct23
Finish a complete draft for a final review
University grant offices require final versions about 5 business days before the sponsor deadline. Emory Office of Sponsored Programs - Oct28
Submit
Grants.gov: submit at least 24–48 hours before the deadline: uploads fail, systems slow down, errors need fixing. Grants.gov blog - Oct30
Deadline
From the funder.
Save this grant to put these dates in your tracker and private calendar.
Writing the need statement? Blount County facts with citations.
What the official notice requires
Pulled from the funding notice FY27_YIP_NOFO_N0001426SF004__003.pdf (41 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. The notice itself always controls.
Award size and project length
Project period: 3 years · p. 7
“Anticipated Period of Performance: 3 years *There will be no more than five (5) awards made per S&T Department.” Open page 7
Award amounts here are per year · p. 41
“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. c.” Open page 41
Registrations you need first
Grants.gov · p. 17
“Field 4c - Previous Grants.gov Tracking ID:” Open page 17
SAM.gov · p. 17
“In addition, the Financial Assistance General Certifications and Representations must be completed in SAM.gov (https://sam.gov/).” Open page 17
Unique Entity ID (UEI) · p. 24
“Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM) All applicants submitting proposals or applications must: a) Be registered in SAM prior to submission; b) Provide a valid UEI number in each application or proposal it submits to the…” Open page 24
New to these? SAM.gov registration can take weeks, so start early: grant-ready checklist.
What to submit
Form SF-424 · p. 3
“Certifications Regarding the Prohibition on Using Funds with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements (Grant Information Circular (GIC) 19-02 November 2019) (Supplement to SF424 (R&R), block 17, Financial Assistance Certifications…” Open page 3
Letters of support or commitment · p. 11
“An individual wishing to apply for the Young Investigator Program MUST submit a research proposal and at least one Letter of Support through the appropriate university officials.” Open page 11
Project abstract or summary · p. 17
“PROJECT/ABSTRACT The project summary/abstract must identify the research problem and objectives, technical approaches, anticipated outcome of the research, if successful, and impact on DoW capabilities.” Open page 17
Budget narrative / justification · p. 21
“Budgets proposing direct charging of administrative or clerical salaries must be supported with a budget justification which adequately describes the major project and the administrative and/or clerical work to be performed.” Open page 21
Resumes or bios of key staff · p. 23
“The Privacy Act and Burden Statement for the Common Form for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support Information can be found at the following link under How to Submit a Grant Application – Full Application Submission:…” Open page 23
Formatting rules
single-spaced · p. 15
“Spacing – single-spaced” Open page 15
12-point font · p. 16
“Font – Times New Roman, 12-point” Open page 16
Dates in the notice
10/16/2026 · p. 7
“Key Dates Anticipated Schedule of Events * Event Date (MM/DD/YEAR) Time (Local Eastern Time) Questions Regarding Eligibility and Technical Requirements ** 10/16/2026 5:00 pm Questions for Grants Officer Regarding Proposal Submission** 10/29/2026 5:00 pm…” Open page 7
Mistakes that get applications rejected
Could get your application rejected · p. 7
“White Papers are NOT being solicited and will NOT be accepted.” Open page 7
Could get your application rejected · p. 11
“Applications received without at least one letter of support will be considered incomplete and will not be considered for award.” Open page 11
Could get your application rejected · p. 23
“The demographic information may be accessible to the reviewer but will not be considered in the evaluation.” Open page 23
Could get your application rejected · p. 26
“Proposals with attachments submitted in word processing, spreadsheet, or any format other than Adobe PDF will not be considered for award.” Open page 26
Could get your application rejected · p. 27
“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 Office of Naval Research.” Open page 27
Could get your application rejected · p. 30
“Evaluation Applications will not be evaluated against each other since they are not submitted in accordance with a common work statement.” Open page 30
Who in Tennessee has won this program
25 awards to Tennessee recipients in 4 counties since 2018 · 0 in Blount County. Largest shown:
| Recipient | Where | Amount | FY |
|---|---|---|---|
| University Of Tennessee | Knoxville, Knox County | $7.4M | 2018 |
| University Of Tennessee | Knoxville, Knox County | $5.2M | 2025 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | $5M | 2023 |
| Collaborative Composite Solutions Corporation | Knoxville, Knox County | $5M | 2020 |
| University Of Memphis | Memphis, Shelby County | $2.2M | 2023 |
| University Of Tennessee | Knoxville, Knox County | $1.6M | 2020 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | $1.2M | 2021 |
| Tennessee State University | Nashville, Davidson County | $1.2M | 2024 |
| University Of Tennessee | Knoxville, Knox County | $1.1M | 2021 |
| Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Nashville, Davidson County | $849K | 2022 |
| University Of Tennessee | Tullahoma, Franklin County | $832K | 2022 |
| University Of Memphis | Memphis, Shelby County | $815K | 2025 |
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 grantee
This federal money also reaches local groups as subawards. 10 subawards on file · 0 in Blount County. Largest shown:
| Recipient | Where | Through | Amount | FY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University Of Tennessee | Chattanooga, Hamilton County | Georgia Tech Research Corporation | $630K | 2024 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | The Pennsylvania State University | $291K | 2026 |
| University Of Memphis | Memphis, Shelby County | Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University | $263K | 2026 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | Regents of the University of Minnesota | $199K | 2026 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | The Pennsylvania State University | $194K | 2025 |
| University Of Tennessee | Knoxville, Knox County | University of Kentucky Research Foundation, the | $126K | 2026 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, Davidson County | The Pennsylvania State University | $101K | 2024 |
| University Of Tennessee | Knoxville, Knox County | University of Texas At Arlington | $100K | 2025 |
| Tennessee Technological University | Cookeville, Putnam County | Florida State University | $41K | 2025 |
| University Of Tennessee | Chattanooga, Hamilton County | Ohio State University, the | $6,853 | 2024 |
Source: USAspending.gov subaward reports (prime recipients report subawards of $30,000 or more).
About the program (12.300)
Basic and Applied Scientific Research
How applications are judged
Award decisions will be based on a competitive selection of proposals resulting from a scientific and cost review. Evaluations will typically be conducted using the following evaluation criteria: 1. Overall scientific and technical merits of the proposal; 2. Potential Naval relevance and contributions of the effort to the agency's specific mission; 3. The offeror's capabilities, related experience, facilities, techniques or unique combinations of these which are integral factors for achieving the proposal objectives; 4. The qualifications, capabilities and experience of the proposed Principal Investigator (PI), team leader and key personnel who are critical in achieving the proposal objectives; and 5. The realism of the proposed costs and availability of funds.
Matching requirements
Statutory Formula: Title This program has no statutory formula., Part This program has no statutory formula., Subpart This program has no statutory formula.,Public Law This program has no statutory formula..This program has no statutory formula.Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.
MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.
Examples of funded projects
Fiscal Year2018: Properties and Performance of Compositionally Complex AlCrFeMn Alloys for Marine ApplicationsFiscal Year2019: Generalized Computations for Learning, Memory, and Decision Making in Artificial and Biological Neural
NetworksFiscal Year2021: 100 drifting wave buoys were deployed in the Southern Ocean. Storms in the Southern Ocean generate energetic waves that radiate across the Pacific, Atlantic , and Indian ocean. Progress in ocean Internet of Things (IoT) technology enables the grantee to collect unprecedented data densities, which directly improves ocean and wave theories, validate and constrain ocean and atmospheric models, and provide a ground truth for satellite remote sensing data. The technology deployed by the grantee was developed with ONR sponsorship. It represents a shift in global ocean sensing toward a distributed paradigm with massive arrays of low-cost internet-connected nodes.Fiscal Year2025: Data Fusion and Assimilation for Multiscale 3D Velocity and Wall Stress Reconstructions in a Tip Gap Flow.
The overarching goal of the proposed work is to advance knowledge of flow physics and cavitation inception in tip
gap flow fields through the...