Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Department of the Navy (DoN) Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI) Program

Key programmatic objectives of the DoN HBCU/MI Program are achieved through the implementation and performance of three program goals: • enhancing the research and educational capabilities of HBCU/MIs in scientific and engineering disciplines critical to the defense mission of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, • encouraging cross-institutional, collaborative efforts that explore innovative solutions to naval science and technology (S&T) challenges, and • increasing the engagement of students in STEM fields important to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. This particular NOFO aims to enhance the research capacity and research infrastructure for HBCU/MIs. Competitive white papers and invited full proposals submitted to this NOFO must clearly and succinctly describe efforts that advance basic naval-relevant S&T, engage faculty and students in STEM discovery, and expand the research capacity of participant institutions. This announcement is only for research efforts that also promote student/faculty engagement, and expand the institution’s research capacity. This announcement is not intended for projects that focus on non-research STEM activities. The technical content of any proposed effort must contribute to the S&T mission and vision of the DoN. Deadlines White Paper Inquiries and Questions-Email: don_hbcufoa@navy.mil 09 September 2026 (Wednesday) White Papers must be received no later than 18 September 2026 (Friday) at 5:00 PM Eastern Time Application Inquiries and Questions 04 December 2026 (Friday)

As provided in 10 U.S.C. §4144, eligibility for this competition is only open to “covered educational institutions,” which are defined as:A. institutions of higher education eligible for assistance under Title III or V of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.); orB. accredited post-secondary minority institutions.The Principal Investigator (PI) and all proposed personnel must be U.S. citizens on September 18, 2026 (Friday), the date white papers are due. In addition, the PI must have a full-time tenured, tenure- track, or tenure-track equivalent academic appointment at one of the seven types of covered educational institutions.This is a single PI award. No Co-PIs and no sub-awards will be permitted.

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.

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.

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...