UCI is eligible to apply to this new funding opportunity as a Minority Serving Institution. UCI may submit 3 proposals in total to this call and we do anticipate more than 3 interested applicants, therefore the Office of Research will be holding an expedited internal review process. Applicants should note that while the opportunity was just announced, the sponsor deadline is August 10th and due to the internal process, selected applicants will almost certainly have less than a month to complete a full application and even less time to submit an internal application.
Please note that DOD has stated that this is an annual opportunity, so this office will provide the campus with generous advanced notice of the internal call next cycle.
IMPORTANT: In addition to the application materials requested below by July 7th, interested applicants are asked to separately send a descriptive proposal title or summary to OR@research.uci.edu on or before Friday June 30th so that we may pre-assemble a review committee for this process.
Award Information
Through this competition, DOD intends to award approximately $25 million. All awards will be made by the U.S. Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground on behalf of the ARO as project grants. Each grant will be fully funded for a performance period of 36 months in an amount up to $600,000 (total of direct and indirect [facilities and administration] costs). No applications for renewal or supplemental awards will be considered. Cost sharing or matching is not required under this FOA and is not an evaluation factor.
Projects proposed for funding under this FOA must be for basic research. PIs are encouraged to consider innovative approaches for their research projects with a view toward enhancing the ability of their institution to develop stronger science and engineering programs that will enable the institution to participate more competitively in a variety of defense research programs and attract and retain good students– including underrepresented minorities—by exposing them to state-of-the-art research and encouraging them to pursue careers in STEM disciplines. Methods through which these goals can be achieved are varied. Factors such as research capabilities, facilities, and equipment are unique to each institution. Therefore, DOD will not prescribe the approach for a research project; instead, it expects applications to reflect the unique needs and capabilities of the applicant institution.
DOD will not consider an application that requests DOD funding for any collaborations with outside institutions or organizations (i.e. no external partnerships, UCI only). Each application must request support for at least two—but no more than four— students. These may be undergraduate students, graduate students (including postdoctoral associates), or a combination of students at these educational levels. Student support may include full or partial tuition, stipends, fees, and other justified expenses.
Internal Application Process
UCI may submit only 3 proposals, therefore interested applicants are asked to submit the following materials to the Office of Research (via the UCI Review application portal) by Friday, July 7, 2017:
- 2-3 page project narrative that describes:
- The research to be undertaken in enough detail that the objectives of the research and approaches to be used can be understood by a multidisciplinary review panel.
- The involvement of undergraduate and/or graduate students in the research, including not only the students who would receive support from DoD funds, but also the estimated number of other students who would participate.
- Describe which DOD agency(cies) are targeted for this proposal and how the project relates to their interests (1 page)
- Preliminary Budget
- CV of PI(s)
If more than 3 applications are submitted via the UCI Review portal by July 7th, as expected, an internal review will be conducted. This review will be expedited in an effort to turnaround a decision as quickly as possible. The full FOA is attached to this email for your reference. For questions about the internal review process, please contact Greg Ruth at greg.ruth@uci.edu.