Defense, Security

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Limiting Language
Applicants can submit one application in response to the NOFO.  If more than one application is submitted by an organization, only the final application received, and time stamped by grants.gov will be reviewed for eligibility.  Each application can include multiple projects that will be evaluated independently. 

Executive Summary
The Director of National Intelligence assesses that Russian scientific institutes continue to research and develop chemical and biological weapons (CBW) capabilities, including technologies to deliver CBW agents. Russia retains an undeclared chemical weapons program and has used chemical weapons at least twice during recent years in assassination attempts with Novichok nerve agents, also known as fourth-generation agents, against Russian opposition leader Aleksey Navalny in 2020, and against U.K. citizen Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yuliya Skripal on U.K. soil in 2018. Russian forces almost certainly continue using chemicals against Ukrainian forces, with hundreds of reported attacks occurring since late 2022.

In response to this very specific national security threat, ISN/CTR will engage biological, biotechnology, chemical, and pharmaceutical (BBCP) industry on compliance and due diligence best-practices to protect manufacturing and distribution supply chains from Russian acquisition of material and equipment for CBW development. In the instances of use, ISN/CTR will train first responders to assess and secure contamination sites and collect and transport samples to maintain a proper chain of custody to a detection laboratory.  ISN/CTR will also train laboratory staff in CBW detection methods to ensure beneficiaries are technically proficient to detect CBW use, as well as strengthen cybersecurity via assessments and select upgrades to protect detection processes, documentation, and reporting.   

 

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Limiting Language
Applicants can submit one application in response to the NOFO.  If more than one application is submitted by an organization, only the final application received, and time stamped by grants.gov will be reviewed for eligibility.  Each application can include multiple projects that will be evaluated independently.  

Executive Summary
Proliferator states, such as Russia and China, increasingly use the sale of their advanced conventional weapons (ACW) systems as a means to obtain financial resources, exert malign influence, and create strategic defense dependencies.  At the same time, countries with existing ACW contracts are seeing these systems operate in Ukraine, as well as experiencing the impact of manufacturing and supply shortages.  To adapt to the sanctions against them, Russia has been forced to turn to China to supply the materials, technology, and logistics for their defense industrial base for critical high priority items, creating close networks of collaboration.  

China, Russia, and other adversarial states leverage private military and security companies (PMSCs) to facilitate of the flow of weapons and ammunition, destabilize regional and national authorities, exploit natural resources including critical minerals, and harm civilian populations. The award recipient will leverage its network to conduct in-person trainings and workshops informed by open-source research on these subjects. The target audience of in-person trainings and workshops includes individuals from national and regional military and law enforcement groups as well as key policymakers of both domestic and regional groups.

Objectives include planning and organizing in-person technical events on countering proliferation of advanced conventional weapons and private military companies for at least 20-50 stakeholders per event. If more targeted sessions are necessary, ISN/CTR can consider them. The events should aim to engage participants from multiple sectors. The in-person trainings and workshops will be informed by open-source research completed in advance of trainings. 

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Limiting Language
Only one proposal will be considered by ECA from each applicant organization. In cases where more than one submission from an applicant appears in grants.gov, ECA will only consider the submission made closest in time to the NOFO deadline; that submission would constitute the one and only proposal ECA would review from that applicant.

Executive Summary
The Office of Global Educational Programs of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for the FY 2025 Community College Initiative (CCI) Program. ECA is seeking proposal submissions for one cooperative agreement to design, implement, and oversee the CCI Program.

The program advances America’s security and prosperity by equipping foreign students, many from regions vulnerable to radicalization or illegal immigration, with technical skills in critical industries. With improved technical, professional, and entrepreneurial skills, the participants return home to contribute to economic growth and stability in countries of strategic importance to the United States. 

U.S. public and private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3) that represent consortia or other combinations of accredited U.S. community colleges may submit only one proposal to cooperate with the Bureau under this competition. Only one proposal will be considered by ECA from each applicant organization. In cases where more than one submission from an applicant appears in grants.gov, ECA will only consider the submission made closest in time to the NOFO deadline; that submission would constitute the one and only proposal ECA would review from that applicant.

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Limiting Language
Applicants can submit one application in response to the NOFO.  If more than one application is submitted by an organization, only the final application received, and time stamped by grants.gov will be reviewed for eligibility.  Each application can include multiple projects, each containing its own scope and budget, that will be evaluated independently. 

Executive Summary
ISN/CTR administers the Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Technology Program (FIRST) to enable partner countries’ responsible nuclear energy deployment under the highest nuclear security, safety, and nonproliferation standards. FIRST is ISN’s flagship programmatic tool to advance President Trump’s Executive Order on Unleashing American Energy in global nuclear energy markets.  Launched in 2019, FIRST harnesses the power of U.S. public-private partnerships and the innovation of the U.S. nuclear industry to engage partner countries worldwide seeking to build or expand their nuclear energy programs to meet energy needs. Expertise acquired through FIRST workshops, webinars, technical consultancies, study tours, feasibility studies, SMR simulators, regional training hubs, and site visits includes SMR technology selection, SMR deployment roadmaps, SMR fleet deployment regional harmonization initiatives, nuclear security and nonproliferation considerations for SMR deployment, nuclear safety and licensing best practices for advanced reactors, SMR site selection and characterization, nuclear workforce development, stakeholder engagement, preparation for SMR financing, integrating nuclear in the energy mix, planning for responsible spent fuel and SMR waste management, and more. These civil nuclear energy partnerships harness the power of the U.S. nuclear industry to expedite the deployment of safe, secure, and proliferation-resistant SMRs meeting the highest international standards.

Priority Region: Africa (AF), East Asia Pacific (EAP), Europe (EUR), Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), South and Central Asian (SCA), Western Hemisphere (WHA)

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Limiting Language
Applicants can submit one application in response to the NOFO.  If more than one application is submitted by an organization, only the final application received, and time stamped by grants.gov will be reviewed for eligibility.  Each application can include multiple projects that will be evaluated independently. 

Executive Summary
ISN/CTR administers the Counterproliferation and Sanctions Enforcement (CASE) program to increase global capacity to implement and enforce U.S. and international sanctions imposed on Iran and DPRK and thwart these nations’ abilities to develop ballistic missile (BM), drone and unmanned aerial system (UAS), and nuclear capabilities that pose a threat to U.S. national security. Established in 2017 to support the Trump Administration’s pressure campaign against the DPRK, the CASE trains partners to enforce U.S. and international sanctions constraining DPRK weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation. In parallel, CASE is ISN’s flagship programmatic tool to implement Maximum Pressure on Iran through National Security Presidential Memorandum 2. In support of these campaigns, CASE facilitates sanctions implementation by equipping partner governments and private sector leaders with expertise and enforcement tools to detect, disrupt and prevent Iranian and DPRK sanctions evasion activities that enable their acquisition of proliferation sensitive technologies, materials, and expertise.  CASE activities ultimately strengthen maritime security, cybersecurity, and global sanctions regimes; disrupt Iran and DPRK revenue generation; and protect U.S. supply chains, U.S. companies’ global investments, and U.S. access to international markets.

Priority Region: Africa (AF), East Asia Pacific (EAP), Europe (EUR), Near Eastern (NEA), South and Central Asian (SCA), Western Hemisphere (WHA)

Request Ticket // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Limiting Language
Applicants can submit one application in response to the NOFO.  If more than one application is submitted by an organization, only the final application received, and time stamped by grants.gov will be reviewed for eligibility.  Each application can include multiple projects that will be evaluated independently. 

Executive Summary
ISN/CTR’s Biosecurity Engagement Program (BEP) advances the Trump Administration’s Executive Order (E.O.) on Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research, which pledges to “balance the prevention of catastrophic consequences with maintaining readiness against biological threats and driving global leadership in biotechnology, biological countermeasures, biosecurity, and health research”. In alignment with this E.O., BEP engages partner countries to prevent U.S. adversaries from developing or using biological weapons (BW) against Americans. BEP also protects U.S. biotechnologies, sensitive data, and intellectual property (IP), and bolsters U.S. leadership of global biotechnology markets through private sector engagement to outcompete China, and promotes partner countries’ adoption of U.S. laboratory security, safety, and cybersecurity standards. To successfully achieve this mission, BEP partners include biological and biotechnology laboratories, bio- and data repositories, universities, science and technology organizations or academies, foreign government organizations and entities, biosafety associations or similar professional associations, and private industry.  The expertise and tools acquired through BEP engagements are critical to enable our partners to counter the predatory and exploitative efforts of U.S. adversaries that threaten U.S. national and economic security.

Priority Region: Africa (AF), East Asia Pacific (EAP), Europe (EUR), Near Eastern (NEA), South and Central Asia (SCA), Western Hemisphere (WHA)

Request Ticket // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Limiting Language
Applicants can submit one application in response to the NOFO.  If more than one application is submitted by an organization, only the final application received, and time stamped by grants.gov will be reviewed for eligibility.  Each application can include multiple projects that will be evaluated independently. 

Executive Summary
ISN/CTR's Chemical Security Program (CSP) is a counterproliferation program designed to prevent U.S. adversaries from acquiring the materials, equipment, and expertise needed to advance chemical weapons (CW) programs that threaten U.S. national security. CSP engages key stakeholders in frontline countries to ensure they are better able to identify, interdict, and investigate high-risk transfers; enforce U.S. sanctions; recognize and attribute chemical attacks; and promote U.S. chemical security standards and risk-based best practices for partner country chemical industries. Through targeted engagements, CSP disrupts U.S. adversaries' efforts to weaponize pharmaceutical based agents (PBAs) for offensive and military applications, builds countries ability to recognize and attribute chemical weapons (CW) attacks, and disrupts illicit chemical shipments that could be used to produce CW. CSP also promotes security coordination between partner governments and private industry to improve counterproliferation implementation. Through this targeted, preventive programming, CSP enhances U.S. and partner resilience by closing the chemical counterproliferation gaps exploited by American adversaries, while simultaneously promoting U.S. chemical security standards and reducing undue burden on business.    

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Eligibility
Applicants can submit one application in response to the NOFO.  If more than one application is submitted by an organization, only the final application received, and time stamped by grants.gov will be reviewed for eligibility.  Each application can include multiple projects that will be evaluated independently. 

Executive Summary 
China and Russia systematically exploit global supply chains and the U.S. financial system to acquire proliferation-sensitive goods and technologies and support onward proliferation through illicit trade networks. These actions are in violation of U.S. and international laws and regulations and undermine American security and prosperity and the security of our partners and allies.   

ISN/CTR conducts global national security programming that counters illicit procurement, investment schemes, and financing networks that China and Russia use to exploit international trade and finance.  U.S. and partner country sanctions and economic deterrents target the nodes and sectors that enable China’s & Russia’s military modernization and sanctions evasion efforts; however, these tools are only as strong as their implementation and enforcement around the globe. 

ISN/CTR provides partners with enhanced capabilities to identify and disrupt complex sanctions evasion strategies and understand the risks of noncompliance (e.g. potential secondary sanctions). ISN/CTR accomplishes this through technical engagements that provide resources to assist partners to identify and avoid transactions with designated entities, and their associated networks. Engagements are tailored to discrete audiences within the public and private sector and address region or jurisdiction-specific issues.

 

Request Ticket // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Eligibility
Applicants can submit one application in response to the NOFO.  If more than one application is submitted by an organization, only the final application received, and time stamped by grants.gov will be reviewed for eligibility.  Each application can include multiple projects that will be evaluated independently. 

Executive Summary
U.S. adversaries, including China, are seeking advanced and emerging technologies to advance their military capabilities and to develop and deploy weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and advanced conventional weapons against the United States.  A significant number of foreign governments, public and private research organizations, tech industries, and start-up communities are unaware of dual-use applications of technologies and remain vulnerable to theft and loss of technologies, data, intellectual property (IP), knowledge and talent that can be leveraged for military end uses.  For example, semiconductors, which are critical components in a most of today’s electronic devices, are also a critical input for the development of military technologies, WMD and WMD delivery systems, and technologies with potential dual-uses – such as artificial intelligence.  In addition to seeking advanced technologies, adversaries exploit commercial and scientific facilities, training centers, and the seas to conduct illegal military operations.

Malign actors use legal and illegal means such as joint commercial ventures, talent recruitment programs, research partnerships/funding, predatory contracting agreements, private equity investments, joint scientific facilities/laboratories, cybertheft, state-sponsored industrial espionage, supply chain diversion, or sales or donation of untrusted hardware and software to acquire foreign intellectual property, conduct dual-use research and development, or conduct military activities under the guise of science diplomacy or commercial activity.  Affiliations and links to military entities are often obfuscated or disguised when establishing collaborations and partnerships in order to gain admission and secure visas to study or conduct research on sensitive advanced and emerging technologies at foreign universities; to procure critical equipment and components from unsuspecting or indiscriminate commercial or scientific institutions; or when establishing joint scientific facilities or operating in international business markets. 

ISN/CTR seeks to enable key foreign partners to protect critical advanced and emerging technologies from exploitation by our adversaries for military, technological, and economic advancement; secure U.S. intellectual property (IP) abroad; and prevent the exploitation of commercial and scientific partnerships in several key areas, including but not limited to: aerospace and space technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), nanotechnologies, neuroscience, quantum computing and sensing, semiconductors, and smart cities.  ISN/CTR also seeks to apply risk reduction tools to more traditional security vulnerabilities that are exploited by proliferator states for military training, geographic influence, etc.