Request for Information – University Partnership Models

This is a Request for Information (RFI) issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. Respondents are advised that the Army Research Lab (ARL) is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Request for Information (RFI): University Partnership Models ARL is seeking input from the academic community on agile teaming approaches to enable ARL to rapidly access a broad range of experts that can support the unique needs of the future Army. Additional information on the requested approaches to established trusted partnerships with the academic community is provided below. This RFI is issued for planning purposes only, and it does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or suggest the procurement of any goods or services. The following sections of this announcement contain details on the specific scientific areas of interest, along with instructions for the submission of responses. How is this effort meant to be different than previous efforts? ARL recognizes that to deliver the science and technology needs for the Army of 2040 and beyond, we need to work with the world’s leading experts. In addition, to tailor our research to the unique needs of the Army we need to work as a team with our university partners. This means that we need to collaborate on open (public releasable) basic science and on classified problems that incorporate an understanding of Army challenges. Although the business models that focus on working with individual principal investigators is still necessary and will continue, ARL is seeking ideas to improve partnerships with universities by collaboratively developing strategies that leverage the universities’ capabilities (e.g. personnel, facilities, and infrastructure) to address the Army’s science and technology gaps that exist to deliver for the Army of 2040 and beyond. ARL is interested in learning about unique mechanisms you may have in place with other organizations. Suggestions for modifications to existing contracting and partnership mechanisms are also welcome.

Request for Information Only

i. The overall scientific and/or technical merits of the proposal. ii. The potential contributions of the effort to the Army mission and the extent to which the research effort will contribute to balancing the overall Army research program. iii. The qualifications, capabilities, and experience of the proposed PI, team leader, or other key personnel who are critical to achievement of the proposed objectives.

Match: none required (federal program listing). This program has MOE requirements, see funding agency for further details. Not Applicable

Fiscal year 2018: INTERNET OF BATTLEFIELD THINGS - The overall objective is to develop the fundamental understanding of dynamically-composable, adaptive, goal-driven Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBTs) to enable predictive analytics for intelligent command and control and battlefield services. DCIST -Develop the underpinning science to extend the reach, situational awareness, and operational effectiveness of Intelligent System/Soldier teams against dynamic threats in complex and contested environments and provide technical and operational superiority through fast, intelligent, resilient and collaborative behaviors. Fiscal year 2021: Develop Protein Crystal Polymer Hybrids; Listening to the Bioelectronic Signature of Cells; Corrosion Investigation and Modeling; Decoding Multisensory Information at Different Spatiotemporal Scales of Neuronal Resolution; Social Intelligent Agents; and Experimental Strain-Based Tissue Damage Analysis to Model Impact and Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury Scenarios. Fiscal year 2023: Example 1: Texas Tech University was awarded a grant W911NF2410035 for effort titled �Using fNIRS to Predict and Diagnose the Cause of Performance Decrements in...