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Air Force Office of Scientific Research · Department of Defense

Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Department of War (DoW) Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI)

Open

Key facts

Deadline
Due Apr 9, 2027 · 182 days left
Award size
Up to $15M
Total available
$170M
Match ?
Not required · Work out your budget and match
Who can apply
Set by the official notice: see Who can apply below
Where
Anywhere in the U.S., including Tennessee

How this fits you

  • Available in Blount County (nationwide program)
  • No match required
  • Past Tennessee awards on file: 43

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

About this grant

Agency Name: Air Force Office of Scientific Research Description: See full announcement in Related Documents folder for detailed descriptions of the SPECIFIC MURI TOPICS.

Who can apply, from the official notice

This MURI competition is open only to, and proposals are to be submitted only by, U.S. institutions of higher education (universities) with degree-granting programs in science and/or engineering, including DoD institutions of higher education. To the extent that it is part of a U.S. institution of higher education and is not designated as a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) is eligible to submit a proposal to this MURI competition and/or receive MURI funds. Ineligible organizations (e.g., industry, DoD laboratories, FFRDCs, and foreign entities) may collaborate on the research but may not receive MURI funds directly or via subaward.

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Your schedule, working back from the deadline

  1. Oct9
    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. Mar19
    Ask partners for letters of support or commitment
    Suggested: partners need about three weeks to write and sign letters.
  3. Apr2
    Finish a complete draft for a final review
    Suggested: leave about a week for someone else to read the draft.
  4. Apr7
    Submit
    Grants.gov: submit at least 24–48 hours before the deadline: uploads fail, systems slow down, errors need fixing. Grants.gov blog
  5. Apr9
    Deadline
    From the funder.

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

Writing the need statement? Blount County facts with citations.

What the official notice requires

Pulled from the official notice NOFOAFRLAFOSR20260002.pdf (82 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

  • Award amounts here are per year · p. 49
    “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 49

Registrations you need first (3)

  • Grants.gov · p. 6
    “Amendments to the original NOFO will be posted to the Grants.gov webpage: https://www.grants.gov/” Open page 6
  • SAM.gov · p. 19
    “In addition, the Financial Assistance General Certifications and Representations must be completed in SAM.gov (https://sam.gov/content/home).” Open page 19
  • Unique Entity ID (UEI) · p. 26
    “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 26

Registration is free but can take weeks, so start now, not when the deadline is close. Get-ready checklist

What to submit

  • Project abstract or summary · p. 6
    “A project abstract is required with the application and must be publicly releasable as specified in the section Project Summary/Abstract.” Open page 6
  • Resumes or bios of key staff · p. 17
    “The white paper shall provide: o Identification of the research and issues o Proposed technical approaches o Potential impact on DoW capabilities o Potential team and management plan o Summary of estimated costs o Curriculum vitae of key investigators (see…” Open page 17
  • Form SF-424 · p. 18
    “Mandatory SF-424 Research and Related (R&R) Family Forms The mandatory forms are found at https://www.grants.gov/forms. i.” Open page 18
  • Form SF-LLL · p. 19
    “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 19
  • Data management plan · p. 21
    “All proposals generating scientific data are required to submit a data management plan.” Open page 21
  • Audit or financial statements · p. 23
    “A separate Adobe.pdf document must be included in the application that provides appropriate justification and/or supporting documentation for each element of cost proposed and include a link to the current single audit report.” Open page 23
  • 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

Length limits

  • Page limit (see quote): 4 pages max · p. 16
    “White paper pages beyond the 4-page limit may not be evaluated or read. ii.” Open page 16
  • Page limit (see quote): 2 pages max · p. 21
    “DoD Instruction 3200.12.  In no more than 2 pages, discuss the following: o The types of data, software, and other materials to be produced. o How the data will be acquired. o Time and location of data acquisition, if scientifically pertinent.” Open page 21

Formatting rules

  • single-spaced · p. 16
    “Spacing – single-spaced” Open page 16
  • 12-point font · p. 16
    “Font – Times New Roman, 12-point” Open page 16

Mistakes that get applications rejected (3)

  • Could get your application rejected: The demographic information may be accessible to the reviewer, but will not be considered in the evaluation. · p. 26
    “The demographic information may be accessible to the reviewer, but will not be considered in the evaluation.” Open page 26
  • Sent the wrong way or format: Proposals with attachments submitted in word processing, spreadsheet, or any format other than Adobe... · p. 29
    “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 29
  • Late or not validated: Applications received by Grants.gov after the established due date for the program will be considered late... · 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

Who in Tennessee has won this program

25 awards to Tennessee groups in 3 counties since 2019 · 0 in Blount County. 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
State of TennesseeNashville$2M spent that year2025
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$2M2021
Vanderbilt UniversityNashville$1.4M spent that year2025
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

Source: USAspending.gov; Federal Audit Clearinghouse. 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. 18 pass-through grants on file · 0 in Blount County. 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
State of TennesseeNashvilleUniversity of Southern California$142K spent that year2023
State of TennesseeNashvilleThe University of Texas at Austin$125K spent that year2025
State of TennesseeNashvilleThe University of Southern California$82K spent that year2025

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

More from Air Force Office of Scientific Research

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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Source: Federal grants from Grants.gov · the official federal record. Last checked by GrantMe Oct 9, 2026.

Reference numbers: official notice number NOFOAFRLAFOSR20260002 · program number 12.800