Open for applications
Federal funding opportunity
FY26 DEFENSE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH (DEPSCoR) – RESEARCH COLLABORATION (RC)
Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- OpportunityNOFOAFRLAFOSR20260004
- Agency codeDOD-AFOSR
- CategoryDiscretionary (D)
Competitive proposals usually start 6+ weeks out.
Program summary
Synopsis
The Department of Defense (DoD) announces the fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) – Research Collaboration (RC) opportunity. The program is sponsored and managed by the Basic Research Office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD [R&E]), awarded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), and administered through the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The DoD plans to award FY26 DEPSCoR appropriations through this announcement.
DEPSCoR's objectives are to:
(1) increase the number of university researchers in eligible States/Territories capable of performing science and engineering (S&E research responsive to the needs of the DoD; and
(2) enhance the capabilities of institutions of higher education (IHE) in eligible States/Territories (listed below) to develop, plan, and execute (S&E) research that is relevant to the mission of the DoD, and competitive under the peer-review systems used for awarding Federal research assistance;
(3) increase the probability of long-term growth in the competitively awarded financial assistance that IHE in eligible States receive from the Federal Government for S&E research.
Consistent with these long term objectives of building research infrastructure, the DoD intends to competitively make, and fund from fiscal year 2026 appropriations, multiyear awards for S&E research in areas relevant to the DoD’s mission and important to national security.
The Basic Research Office anticipates up to $14.4 million in total funding will be made available for this program to fully fund and award up to twenty four (24) grants up to $600,000 (total cost) each. Each grant award will be funded up to $200,000 (total cost) per year for three (3) years.
Awards are subject to funding availability. There is no guarantee of an award.
Timeline
Key dates
-
August 10, 2026
Opportunity posted to grants.gov -
August 21, 2026
Today — 227 days of the window remain -
April 5, 2027
Applications close -
May 5, 2027
Opportunity archived
Who may apply
Eligibility
Eligible applicant types as published by the awarding agency:
- Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
- Additional info on eligibility
- This funding opportunity aims to create basic research collaborations between a pair of researchers, namely 1) Applicant/Principal Investigator (PI), henceforth referred to as Applicant, a full-time faculty member who has never served as a PI on a prior DoD directly funded research Prime award and 2) Collaborator/co-Principal Investigator (co-PI), henceforth referred to as Collaborator, an investigator who will provide mentorship to the Applicant and has served as a PI on a DoD directly funded research Prime award actively between 1 October 2018 and 30 September 2026. This structure is aimed at introducing potential applicants to the DoD’s unique research challenges and its supportive research ecosystem. Tenured or tenure-track faculty members with appointments at IHE, in the following States/Territories are eligible to apply for DEPSCoR opportunities under this announcement: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming see eligibility table in III A.
- Cost sharing or matching
- Not required
Awarding agency
Additional information
- Agency name
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Full announcement
- AFRL AFOSR DEPSCoR NOFO ↗
- Grantor contact
-
Denise M Johnson
Grantor
7036965968
denise.johnson.19@us.af.mil & nicole.thomas.20@us.af.mil
Assistance listing
CFDA program(s)
-
12.431Basic Scientific Research
Government Grants Consulting
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227 days is enough time — if you start now.
Tell us the opportunity and we will come back with an honest read on fit, the partners you would need, and what a compliant submission takes.