DoD Announces Research Equipment Award Recipients

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2015 – The Defense Department announced today that 225 university researchers at 111 academic institutions have been selected to receive research instrumentation awards.

According to a DoD news release, the awards will total $67.8 million and will be made under the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program.

The Defense University Research Instrumentation Program supports the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment that augments current university capabilities or develops new capabilities to perform cutting edge defense research and associated graduate student research training, the release said.

Merit Competition

According to the release, the awards are the result of a merit competition jointly conducted by three DoD research offices: the Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Those offices, the release said, will make the awards, which are subject to the successful completion of negotiations with the academic institutions.

The Defense University Research Instrumentation Program is highly competitive, according to the release. The three DoD research offices solicited proposals from university investigators conducting science and engineering research of importance to national defense. This, the release said, includes research that underpins advances in materials, structures, and manufacturing science; quantum and nanosciences; computing and networks; electronics, electromagnetics, electro optics; acoustics; neuroscience; fluid dynamics; robotics and autonomous systems; and ocean, environmental, and life sciences and engineering.

In response to the requests, the three research offices collectively received 695 proposals requesting $257 million in support for research equipment, said the release, which noted the most meritorious proposals were selected to receive support.

Awards will range from $38,000 to $1.4 million, and average approximately $300,000 per award, the release said.