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U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA)

Defense Security Cooperation University - Sponsored Research

Federal program · program number 12.024 (the federal Assistance Listing number) · also called “DSCU”

Key facts

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1 grant
Type of help
Grant, cooperative agreement (a grant with close agency involvement)
Typical award
Expected Award Range: $2,500-$800,000

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What it pays for

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency�s (DSCA) Defense Security Cooperation University�s (DSCU) mission is to advance the knowledge and practice of security cooperation by producing research, analysis, and lessons learned that expand the intellectual foundations of security cooperation; and through the education, training, and development of the U.S. security cooperation workforce and the education, training, and institutional capacity building of partner nations. DSCU components sponsor research that aligns substantively with Department of War priorities and the DSCU Research Agenda.

Who can apply

DSCU-sponsored research is generally open to a broad range of researchers (with or without affiliation) and research institutions anywhere in the world. Researchers include those with or without formal affiliation with a research institution, U.S. interagency security cooperation communities of interest, and the security cooperation workforce (as defined by 10 USC 384(h)). Research institutions include professional military education (PME) and civilian academic institutions, federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), and non-governmental research institutions. Individual DSCU components may have restrictions on who may receive assistance.

How applications are judged

Principal Criteria: -- Technical merits of the proposed research: The proposed approach to research, including theory development, data collection and analysis, as applicable, is rigorous and appropriate to the research question. -- Relevance of the proposed research: The proposed research seeks to fill a high-priority knowledge gap in security cooperation or irregular warfare -- Feasibility of the proposed research: The proposed research can be completed given the qualifications of, time commitment by, and resources available to applicant and any formal collaborators or sub-recipients. Other Criteria -- Cost sharing by the research team: The extent to which the recipient proposes to share in the cost of the project Note: The Principal Criteria are of equal importance and are more important than Other Criteria.

Match

None required (federal program listing).

Who in Tennessee has won this program

3 awards to Tennessee groups since 2024 · 0 in Weakley County. Largest shown:

Past Tennessee winners
Past winnerWhereAmountFiscal year
University of TennesseeKnoxville, Knox County$398K2024
Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, Davidson County$141K2025
State of TennesseeNashville$23K spent that year2025

Source: USAspending.gov, Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

Official program listing (SAM.gov) Program website