U.S. Defense Department Awards $163 Million in Research and Development

The Department of Defense (DoD) will issue 23 awards totaling $163 million to academic institutions to perform multidisciplinary basic research. The awards are for a five-year period, subject to satisfactory research progress and the availability of funds.

The Army Research Office, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Office of Naval Research solicited proposals in 23 topic areas important to the DoD and the military services. In response to the initial solicitation the department received 315 white papers. After two rounds of merit-based reviews, a panel of DoD experts narrowed the proposals to 89 from which the 23 final awards were selected. Based on the proposals selected in the 2017 competition, 55 U.S. academic institutions are expected to participate in 2017 MURI program.

Over the past 30 years, DoD’s MURI program resulted in significant capabilities, such as foundations in artificial intelligence, compressive sensing and automated scene recognition, ultracold atoms and advanced sensing and navigation, advances in optoelectronics and mid-infrared imaging technology, and direct brain-computer communication. These and other important technological advances from the MURI program have impact on current and future military capabilities as well as multiple applications in the commercial sector.

The list of awards is available here.