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Dept of the Army -- Materiel Command · Department of Defense

DEVCOM ARMY RESEARCH LABORATORY BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT FOR FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH

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Key facts

Deadline
Due Nov 20, 2027 · 409 days left
Award size
Not stated: see the official notice
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

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. Get-ready checklist

How this fits you

  • Available in Hamblen County (nationwide program)
  • No match required
  • Past Tennessee awards on file: 60

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

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More from Dept of the Army -- Materiel Command

About this grant

The purpose of this combined Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 35 and Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under 2 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 200.204 (henceforth referred to as “BAA”) is to solicit research proposals for submission to the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Army Research Laboratory (ARL) for funding consideration. Prior to this announcement, ARL announced two separate BAAs to support the mission: 1) W911NF-17-S-0002 titled “Army Research Laboratory Army Research Office Broad Agency Announcement for Fundamental Research”; and 2) W911NF-17-S-0003 titled “Army Research Laboratory Broad Agency Announcement for Basic and Applied Scientific Research”. This announcement succeeds BAA W911NF-17-S-0002 and BAA W911NF-17-S-0003 combining the opportunities into a single announcement. ARL’s mission as the Army’s foundational research laboratory is to Operationalize Science to ensure overmatch in any future conflict. ARL’s foundational research mission spans basic research (budget activity 6.1) and applied research (budget activity 6.2) as defined by 32 CFR 22.105 but may include advanced technology development (budget activity 6.3) and advanced component development and prototypes (budget activity 6.4) when opportunities arise to directly or indirectly help achieve ARL’s mission. ARL partners across the national security enterprise to deliver fundamentally advantageous change that is rooted in the creation and exploitation of scientific knowledge. This publication constitutes a BAA for awards as contemplated in FAR 6.102(d)(2) and 35.016 as well as a merit-based, competitive procedure in accordance with the Department of Defense Grant and Agreement Regulations (DoDGARS) at 32 CFR 22.315(a) and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Other Transaction Guide version 2.0 dated July 2023. This BAA document, and the online list of research topics found on the ARL BAA topics website at https://www.arl.devcom.army.mil/opportunities/arl-baa/, sets forth ARL’s research topics of interest for whitepapers and proposals. This BAA is issued under FAR 6.102(d)(2), which provides for the competitive selection of basic and applied research proposals, and 10 U.S.C. 4001, 10 U.S.C. 4021, and 10 U.S.C. 4022, which provide the authorities for issuing...

Who can apply, from the official notice

Eligible applicants under this BAA include institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, foreign organizations, foreign public entities, and for-profit organizations (i.e. large and small businesses). For ARO Targeted Opportunities, please see the specific eligibility requirements in the II.A.3 ARO Targeted Opportunities section above. For specific Other Transactions for Prototypes eligibility requirements, please see the “Other Transaction for Prototype or Production” section within the II.B. Federal Award Information section.

Ask a partner for a letter

Your schedule, working back from the deadline

  1. 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
  2. Oct30
    Ask partners for letters of support or commitment
    Suggested: partners need about three weeks to write and sign letters.
  3. Nov15
    Finish a complete draft for a final review
    Suggested: leave about a week for someone else to read the draft.
  4. Nov18
    Submit
    Grants.gov: submit at least 24–48 hours before the deadline: uploads fail, systems slow down, errors need fixing. Grants.gov blog
  5. Nov20
    Deadline
    From the funder.

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

Writing the need statement? Hamblen County facts with citations.

What the official notice requires

Pulled from the official notice HBCU_MI_ECP_Special_Notice.pdf (4 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.

What to submit

  • Form SF-424 · p. 4
    “When preparing a proposal under this special notice, applicants should enter “DEVCOM ARL HBCU/MI ECP” in Field 4.b., Agency Routing Identifier, of the SF-424 (R&R) Application for Federal Assistance form.” Open page 4

Dates in the notice

  • January 12, 2024 · p. 3
    “Proposals must be submitted in accordance with instructions provided in the referenced BAA and must be received no later than 4:00 PM (ET), January 12, 2024.” Open page 3
  • December 15, 2023 · p. 4
    “The deadline to submit questions is 4:00 PM (ET), December 15, 2023.” Open page 4

Mistakes that get applications rejected (2)

  • Not an eligible applicant: If the DoEd eligibility letter is not submitted, DEVCOM ARL will utilize the current DoEd eligibility... · p. 1
    “If the DoEd eligibility letter is not submitted, DEVCOM ARL will utilize the current DoEd eligibility lists (Fiscal Year 2023) to validate the eligibility of a proposing institution If DEVCOM ARL cannot verify the eligibility of a submitting institution, the…” Open page 1
  • Not an eligible applicant: Proposals that do not meet these criteria for the Principal Investigator (PI) will be considered... · p. 2
    “Proposals that do not meet these criteria for the Principal Investigator (PI) will be considered ineligible and not reviewed or considered for funding.” Open page 2

Who in Tennessee has won this program

28 awards to Tennessee groups in 5 counties since 2019 · 0 in Hamblen County. Largest shown:

Past Tennessee winners
Past winnerWhereAmountFiscal year
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$25.8M2021
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$18.8M2022
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$16.1M2026
State of TennesseeNashville$16M spent that year2025
Oak Ridge Associated Universities, IncorporatedOak Ridge$11.7M spent that year2025
Oak Ridge Associated Universities, IncorporatedOak Ridge, Anderson County$4M2026
University of MemphisMemphis, Shelby County$3.8M2022
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$3.4M2026
Oak Ridge Associated Universities, IncorporatedOak Ridge, Anderson County$3.2M2022
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$3M2026
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$2.4M2021
Oak Ridge Associated Universities, IncorporatedOak Ridge, Anderson County$984K2020

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. 32 pass-through grants on file · 0 in Hamblen County. Largest shown:

Tennessee pass-through grant winners
Past winnerWhereThroughAmountFiscal year
Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Davidson CountyUniversity of California, Los Angeles$400K2026
Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Davidson CountyPresident and Fellows of Harvard College$320K2025
Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Davidson CountyPennsylvania State University, the$310K2024
State of TennesseeNashvilleCivil-Military Innovation Institute, Inc$310K spent that year2025
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox CountyUniversity of Oklahoma$300K2023
Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Davidson CountyMichigan Technological University$234K2026
Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Davidson CountyIowa State University of Science and Technology$225K2026
University of MemphisMemphis, Shelby CountyPresident&Fellows of Harvard College$188K2023
State of TennesseeNashvilleUniversity of Arizona$169K spent that year2025
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox CountyPennsylvania State University, the$147K2025
State of TennesseeNashvilleUniversity of Central Florida$140K spent that year2024
Vanderbilt UniversityNashvilleHarvard University$133K spent that year2025

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

About the federal program

Basic Scientific Research
Program number 12.431 (the federal Assistance Listing number) · U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Army · Project grant

How applications are judged

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

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

Examples of funded projects

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...

This program on SAM.gov

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Source: Federal grants from Grants.gov · the official federal record. Last checked by GrantMe Oct 7, 2026.

Reference numbers: official notice number W911NF-23-S-0001 · program number 12.431