ARLINGTON, VA — The Air Force Research Laboratory's Air Force Office of Scientific Research released a new open call April 10 seeking funding proposals from higher education and industry in nearly 40 scientific areas with relevance to the future U.S. Air Force mission.
Using a carefully balanced research portfolio, AFOSR seeks to create revolutionary scientific breakthroughs that enable the Air Force and U.S. industry to produce world-class, militarily-significant and commercially-viable products. To accomplish this task, the organization solicits proposals for fundamental research through a mechanism called an open Broad Agency Announcement (BAA).
The BAA, FA9550-19-S-0003, Research Interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Department of Defense https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=314753 invites unclassified proposals for fundamental research that do not contain proprietary information in many broad topic areas as outlined in the document.
Applicants from higher education and industry are eligible to submit proposals. AFOSR welcomes proposals from small businesses; however, no portion of the BAA is set aside for a specific group. Eligible applicants for the BAA include public and state controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; small businesses; for profit organizations; and nonprofit organizations (other than institutions of higher education) with and without a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS.
Proposals from other Federal agencies, including subcontracting/sub-recipient efforts will not be evaluated under this BAA. Rather, Federal agencies should contact the primary points of contact listed under each topic area to discuss funding through internal government procedures.
Notable changes to this BAA include the addition of “sprints” and commercial grants. Sprints are an opportunity to showcase basic research impact from grant-relevant activities within the context of experiments and initiatives at AFRL or other DoD facilities. Commercial grants were added in alignment with feedback received during the Science & Technology 2030 study, a nationwide search for future tech. Additional details along with several other minor process changes can be found in the full text of the BAA.
Proposers with innovative basic research ideas are highly encouraged to contact the AFOSR program officer listed with each topic area to get feedback prior to submitting a full proposal.
ABOUT AFOSR: The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, located in Arlington, Virginia, continues to expand the horizon of scientific knowledge through its leadership and management of the Air Force's basic research program. As a vital component of the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFOSR's mission is to discover, shape and champion basic science that profoundly impacts the future Air Force. Through its international enterprise AFOSR supports the Air Force science and technology community by identifying foreign technological capabilities and accomplishments that can be applied to Air Force needs.
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