Office of Naval Research · Department of Defense
Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Department of the Navy (DoN) Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI) Program
Key facts
- Deadline
- Due Dec 11, 2026 · 65 days left
- Award size
- $450K – $525K
- Total available
- $1.6M · about 3 awards
- 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. Registration is free but can take weeks, so start now, not when the deadline is close. Grant-ready checklist
How this fits you
- Available in Hamilton County (nationwide program)
- No cost share required
- Tennessee recipients since 2023: 25
Tell us who you are to see whether you're eligible.
More from Office of Naval Research
- ONR FY27 NOFO for Young Investigator Program · Due Oct 30, 2026 · 23 days left
- Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Department of War (DoW) Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) · Due Nov 6, 2026 · 30 days left
- Special Program Announcement for Office of Naval Research Research Opportunity: FY27 Communications and Networking Applied Research · Due Nov 16, 2026 · 40 days left
- FY25 Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Navy and Marine Corps Science and Technology · Due Dec 31, 2026 · 85 days left
- Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Department of War Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI) · Due Apr 9, 2027 · 184 days left
Official notice: https://simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/c8965b4c-390b-4abc-8961-14bc48ba76a9 · Printed from grantme.click/grants/50be5fdd-a45e-4e95-a100-e10fa0bdcbb3
Read the official notice View on Grants.gov Add deadline to my calendar Sign in to save
About this grant
Eligibility (from the notice)
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 - Nov20
Ask partners for letters of support or commitment
Suggested: partners need time to write and sign letters. - Dec4
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 - Dec9
Submit
Grants.gov: submit at least 24–48 hours before the deadline: uploads fail, systems slow down, errors need fixing. Grants.gov blog - Dec11
Deadline
From the funder.
Save this grant to put these dates in your tracker and private calendar.
Writing the need statement? Hamilton County facts with citations.
What the official notice requires
Pulled from the funding notice N0001426SF001_002.pdf (44 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. 6
“Funding Details Under this NOFO, ONR intends to award as follows: o Total Amount of Funding Available: $1,575,000 o Anticipated Number of Awards: 3 o Anticipated Range of Individual Award Amounts: $450,000 - $525,000 o Previous Year(s) Average Individual…” Open page 6
Award amounts here are per year · p. 9
“Each individual award will be up to a maximum of $150,000 per year with additional funding for materials, equipment, and supplies for a maximum of up to three (3) years.” Open page 9
Registrations you need first
Grants.gov · p. 19
“Field 4c - Previous Grants.gov Tracking ID:” Open page 19
SAM.gov · p. 20
“In addition, the Financial Assistance General Certifications and Representations must be completed in SAM.gov (https://sam.gov/).” Open page 20
Unique Entity ID (UEI) · p. 26
“Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM) All applicants submitting proposals or applications must: a.” Open page 26
New to these? SAM.gov registration can take weeks, so start early: grant-ready checklist.
What to submit
Resumes or bios of key staff · p. 18
“The ROM must be formatted as a table that summarizes projected costs per category, per year and provides the totals of both columns and rows. o Curriculum Vitae (2.0 Page Maximum; not included in page limit):” Open page 18
Project abstract or summary · p. 20
“PROJECT SUMMARY/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 20
Budget narrative / justification · p. 24
“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 24
Timeline or schedule of completion · p. 32
“Highly competitive proposals will clearly describe inherent limitations in the approach and/or methodology proposed; provide a well-planned, realistic timeline for project milestones; and include a budget that reflects realistic, reasonable, and justifiable…” Open page 32
Length limits
5 pages max · p. 16
“The following components are excluded from the 5-page limit: o Cover page, o Cited references, and o PI’s curriculum vitae (CV) ii.” Open page 16
Summary: 5 pages max · p. 16
“N0001426SF0001; o Title of proposal; o PI’s name, telephone number, and e-mail address; o PI’s Institution and the Institution’s MI Status; o Focus Area; o Naval TPoC’s name, e-mail address, and Navy affiliation o Summary (0.5 Page Maximum):” Open page 16
Technical Concept: 5 pages max · p. 16
“The summary should not include any proprietary or confidential information and should be suitable for public release. o Technical Concept (1.5 Page Maximum):” Open page 16
Student Engagement Strategy: 0 pages max · p. 16
“As a reminder, cited references will not be included in the 5- page limit of the white paper. o Student Engagement Strategy (1.0 Page Maximum):” Open page 16
Future Naval Relevance: 0 pages max · p. 16
“Competitive white papers will provide an explicit list of tasks for each student who will contribute to the project. o Future Naval Relevance (1.0 Page Maximum):” Open page 16
ROM: 0 pages max · p. 18
“o Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) (1.0 Page Maximum):” Open page 18
Curriculum Vitae: 0 pages max · p. 18
“The ROM must be formatted as a table that summarizes projected costs per category, per year and provides the totals of both columns and rows. o Curriculum Vitae (2.0 Page Maximum; not included in page limit):” Open page 18
0 pages max · p. 18
“The CV will not be included in the 5- page limit of the white paper but must not exceed the 2.0 page maximum. c.” Open page 18
Formatting rules
single-spaced · p. 15
“Spacing – single-spaced” Open page 15
12-point font · p. 15
“Font – Times New Roman, 12-point” Open page 15
Dates in the notice
September 18, 2026 · p. 9
“The Principal Investigator (PI) and all proposed personnel must be U.S. citizens on September 18, 2026 (Friday), the date white papers are due.” Open page 9
Mistakes that get applications rejected
Could get your application rejected · p. 9
“White papers and full proposals with budgets that exceed $525,000 will be considered non-responsive.” Open page 9
Could get your application rejected · p. 26
“The demographic information may be accessible to the reviewer but will not be considered in the evaluation.” Open page 26
Could get your application rejected · p. 29
“Proposals with attachments submitted in word processing, spreadsheet, or any format other than Adobe PDF will not be considered for award.” Open page 29
Could get your application rejected · p. 31
“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 31
Could get your application rejected · p. 33
“Evaluation Applications will not be evaluated against each other since they are not submitted in accordance with a common work statement.” Open page 33
Who in Tennessee has won this program
25 awards to Tennessee recipients in 4 counties since federal FY2023 · 0 in Hamilton 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.
About the program (12.300)
Basic and Applied Scientific Research