SYNOPSIS

The Development Command (DEVCOM) Army Research Lab seeks unclassified research proposals from  Minority-Serving Institutions (such as UCI) under the Broad Agency Announcement (FOA) W911NF-23-S-0001-0002 to establish an Army HBCU/MI Early Career Program (ECP) which embodies the high priority placed by the government on maintaining the leadership position of the United States in science by producing outstanding scientists and engineers and nurturing their continued development. Each award will support basic research contributing to Army modernization needs conducted by outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their careers at HBCU/MI institutions. ECP awards are funded by the Army to support early career scientists and engineers who show exceptional ability and promise for conducting basic research. This targeted opportunity is open to U.S. citizens, U.S. Nationals, or Lawful Permanent Residents of the U.S. who have held a tenure track position at a covered educational institution for fewer than five years at the time applications.

DEVCOM ARL executes intramural and extramural research organized by eleven competencies that provide the Army with foundational expertise and specialized capabilities grounded in scientific excellence and driven by unique Army challenges. Our disruptive scientific research coupled with collaborations and prioritized funding to the worldwide scientific community, both academic and commercial, create and exploit scientific knowledge in the competencies that are leveraged to develop new opportunities, build programs, align people and funding, and advise on future operational concepts. DEVCOM ARL also seeks to dynamically and continually reshape these competencies by creating and directing new scientific discoveries to redefine the frontiers of the possible.

The eleven DEVCOM ARL competencies are:

1. Biological and Biotechnology Sciences
2. Electromagnetic Spectrum Sciences
3. Energy Sciences
4. Humans in Complex Systems
5. Mechanical Sciences
6. Military Information Sciences
7. Network, Cyber, and Computational Sciences
8. Photonics, Electronics, and Quantum Sciences
9. Sciences of Extreme Materials
10. Terminal Effects
11. Weapons Sciences

ELIGIBILITY

This targeted opportunity is open to U.S. citizens, U.S. Nationals, or Lawful Permanent Residents of the U.S. who have held a tenure- track position at a covered educational institution for fewer than five years at the time applications.

FUNDING:

DEVCOM ARL plans to award up to eight (8) new HBCU/MI ECP grants at a total cost of
$990,000 each over a duration of 5 years, with funding profile of $110,000 in year one, $165,000 in year two, $220,000 in year three, $330,000 in year four, and $165,000 in year five. Note this is more funding and longer duration than the typical ECP award specified in the DEVCOM ARL BAA.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

An HBCU/MI institution may submit no more than three (3) proposals under this Special Notice. Proposals must be submitted in accordance with instructions provided in the referenced BAA and must be received no later than 4:00 PM (ET), January 12, 2024. An award announcement is expected by March 2024.

If you are interested in applying to this Early Career Program, please submit the following information through the UCI Review site by 11:59pm on Tuesday, November 21st:

• Project summary of proposed research project (no more than 2 pages), which includes the identification of the DEVCOM ARL competency area in which the proposed work fits.
• CV of Principal Investigator.

If necessary, an ad hoc committee will then be convened to review the internal applications, and the selected candidates will be notified on Monday, November 27th, which will give candidates six weeks to develop and submit full proposals to the ARL.

Questions about our internal campus review process may be directed to Director of Research Development, Michael Gallo at magallo@uci.edu.