Defense, Security

Apply to Internal Competition // Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 2

Limiting Language
Each eligible institution may submit a maximum of two proposals for the 2027–2028 funding cycle.
 

Overview
The ASCENDR Research Program is a competitive, faculty-led program designed to advance research aligned with the U.S. Department of War’s (DoW) science and technology priorities. Through targeted research funding, faculty across HSRU Alliance institutions will lead projects that address real-world defense challenges while engaging graduate students in meaningful research experiences. The program supports the development of innovative solutions in key technical areas and fosters deeper collaboration between academic researchers and the defense enterprise.

Critical Technology Areas
For the 2027–2028 funding cycle, proposed research must contribute to one or more of the six DoW Critical Technology Areas identified for this competition. Proposals may address a Critical Technology Area directly or advance foundational, enabling, or cross-cutting research with a clearly articulated connection to one or more of the areas

1. Applied Artificial Intelligence (AAI)
   Research that advances the effective application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, and related computational methods to improve decision-making and operational efficiency. Relevant research may include algorithms, data methods, autonomy, human-machine teaming, modeling and simulation, trustworthy and assured AI, and approaches that enable reliable AI adoption across defense domains.
2. Biomanufacturing (BIO)
   Research that harnesses living systems, biological processes, and bioengineering to produce critical materials, substances, or capabilities at scale. Relevant research may include bioprocess development, synthetic biology, biofabrication, scale-up, quality and reproducibility, and approaches that reduce supply-chain vulnerabilities and strengthen resilience.
3. Contested Logistics Technologies (LOG)
   Research that enables forces to operate and sustain missions when transportation, supply networks, communications, or infrastructure are disrupted, degraded, or denied. Relevant research may include energy storage and power systems, resilient supply networks, predictive logistics, autonomous or distributed resupply, maintenance and sustainment, and production at the point of need.
4. Quantum and Battlefield Information Dominance (Q-BID)
   Research that advances technologies needed to maintain information advantage in degraded or denied environments, including resilient communications, precision navigation and timing, sensing, and electromagnetic-spectrum maneuverability. Relevant research may draw on quantum science and engineering, radio-frequency technologies, photonics, radar and electronic warfare, secure networks, signal processing, and other approaches that improve the availability, accuracy, and survivability of battlefield information.
5. Scaled Directed Energy (SCADE)
   Research that advances scalable and affordable high-energy laser and high-power microwave capabilities for the precise neutralization of threats. Relevant research may include energy sources, materials and components, power and thermal management, beam generation and control, modeling and testing, manufacturability, and approaches that overcome cost and production barriers.
6. Scaled Hypersonics (SHY)
   Research that enables the affordable and scalable development of systems operating at Mach 5 or greater. Relevant research may include propulsion, aerothermodynamics, high-temperature materials and structures, thermal protection, guidance, navigation and control, sensing, modeling and simulation, testing, and manufacturing approaches that improve speed, precision, survivability, and production at scale

Eligibility

The proposal must originate from an HSRU member institution in good standing.

• Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator(s) must be a Research Faculty member or Tenure/Tenure Track Faculty member that is early to mid-career, defined as within the first 8 years of their professional research career.     
• The Principal Investigator must hire and integrate at least one Graduate Research Assistant for this project. The graduate assistant must be enrolled at the start of the project and maintain enrollment eligibility throughout the proposed project.  
• All PIs, Co-PIs, and the graduate assistant working on this project must be U.S. Persons, defined as U.S. born or U.S. Naturalized Citizens.
• The Principal Investigator and Co-PIs must agree to jointly participate in the ASCENDR Leadership Program.

Full sponsor guidelines are linked here.

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

Limiting Language
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding. Organizations may form a consortium and submit a combined proposal; however, one organization should be designated as the lead applicant and other organization(s) listed as sub-recipient partner(s).

Overview
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the U.S. Department of State announce an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a project to develop a software-based weighted, random case-allocation system to prevent selective prosecution of transnational organized crime and money laundering cases. Political interference in the prosecution service remains a barrier to fighting transnational organized crime and achieving other U.S. objectives in Serbia. As requested by the High Prosecutorial Council, the body responsible for oversight of the prosecution service, this grant will reduce political manipulation of prosecutions and improve outcomes in extradition cases and cases involving high-level corruption and transnational criminal organization (TCO) leaders whose activities harm U.S. national security interests through random allocation of cases.

 

No Applicants // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Limiting Language 
Primary applicants may submit one application in response to this NOFO.

Executive Summary
Priority Region: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) 

The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) announces an open competition for organizations to document the DPRK’s human rights abuses and counter regime influence operations globally. The program will challenge the DPRK's information monopoly by safely documenting real-time information on human rights conditions and other on-the-ground realities throughout the DPRK. 

The DPRK maintains one of the world's most repressive information environments, creating a dual threat that this program is designed to address. First, the regime exercises total control overdomestic media and has criminalized access to outside information, deliberately masking severe human rights abuses from both its citizens and the international community. Second, the regime conducts sophisticated external influence operations that distort international events, vilify the United States and its allies, and manipulate global perceptions—particularly targeting youth audiences—by falsely attributing the country's internal suffering to U.S. policies and sanctions rather than regime governance. 

By documenting vital information from inside the DPRK, the program will inform U.S. policymakers and drive international advocacy campaigns. Furthermore, it will leverage defector voices across modern digital platforms to inform global audiences—particularly youth demographics targeted by foreign propaganda—about the reality of the DPRK regime, reinforcing U.S. leadership in defending democratic principles and human rights. This program directly advances the 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) to protect America from destructive propaganda and influence operations, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region. It further supports DRL's commitment under the Department of State's FY 2026–2030 Agency Strategic Plan (ASP) to promote freedom of expression and access to information and ideas in highly restrictive settings.

No Applicants // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Limiting Language
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding. Applicants may be included as a subgrantee on other proposals.

Executive Summary
This program will document and analyze democratic backsliding in Europe as it relates to mass migration, with a particular emphasis on research regarding the human rights and social impacts of the mass migration crisis in Europe.

No Applicants // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Limiting Language
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding. Applicants may be included as a subgrantee on other proposals.

Executive Summary

Priority Region: WHA - Target countries include Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico (applicants should select one or more of the target countries based on organizational capacity and expertise)

Transnational organized criminal groups and narcoterrorists perpetrate human rights abuses against civilian communities across Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico, creating a humanitarian crisis with direct consequences for U.S. national security. The United States has designated multiple criminal organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), recognizing their involvement in kidnappings, extortion, murder, human trafficking, and sexual violence. Secretary of State Marco Rubio identified transnational criminal organizations, which often are fueled by narcotrafficking, as the region's most urgent security threat. These abuses destabilize the region and generate billions in illicit revenue that funds further corruption and violence. 

Judicial systems already facing severe capacity constraints are vulnerable to corruption, enabling impunity for organized crime abuses. Across Latin America, drug cartels have assassinated multiple municipal leaders, prosecutors, judges, and port personnel. Criminal organizations systematically target justice officials to maintain impunity, undermining the rule of law. This impunity perpetuates cycles of violence, as criminal organizations operate without fear of prosecution, creating an environment where human rights abuses continue unchecked. 

To respond to these issues, DRL seeks proposals for 1-2 programs that aim to strengthen accountability for human rights abuses committed by organized crime groups in Latin America. Resulting programs will improve how civic organizations document violations and collect evidence of human rights abuses for use in accountability mechanisms, expand community access to protection and legal support services, analyze how abuses drive mass and illegal migration, and advance judicial security, transparency, and reform through strategic advocacy. Through these efforts, the program will reduce impunity for organized crime- related human rights abuses and increase protection for affected communities and human rights defenders, thereby increasing security in the Western Hemisphere.

No Applicants // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Limiting Language 
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding. Organizations may form a consortium and submit a combined proposal; however, one organization should be designated as the lead applicant and other organization(s) listed as sub-recipient partner(s).

Overview
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) seeks an implementing partner to address a critical security sector skills gap that exposes U.S. citizens and businesses in Kenya to heightened risks.

This program will strengthen Kenyan police command and control during critical incidents by training commanders, officers, and recruit trainees scheduled to begin service in late 2026, focusing on public order management. By building these capabilities, the program will enhance stability and protect U.S. interests in Kenya.

No Applicants // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

Limiting Language 
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will b considered ineligible for funding. Organizations may form a consortium and submit a combined proposal; however, one organization should be designated as the lead applicant and other organization(s) listed as sub-recipient partner(s).

Overview 
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a project to advance Morocco's forensic science capabilities. Morocco serves as a critical transit point for illicit goods, threatening regional security and legitimate commerce conducted by U.S. businesses. This project will combat transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) that threaten U.S. security interests by enhancing evidence-based investigations and prosecutions of drug trafficking and other transnational crimes through strengthened forensic capabilities that enable Moroccan authorities to disrupt criminal networks more effectively and support regional security cooperation.

Limit: 3 (one per Thrust Area) // Tickets Available: 0

Thrust Area 1: Y. Takashima (Optical Sciences)
Thrust Area 2: C. Fucetola (Astronomy & Steward Observatory)
Thrust Area 3: G. Cole (Wyant College of Optical Sciences)

Limiting Language
A proposing organization, identified by a unique CAGE Code, may submit no more than one Abstract per Thrust Area. Each Abstract submitted by the same organization must identify a different Principal Investigator, technical team, and represent a distinct technical approach. 

Eligibility 
Universities whose proposed Principal Investigator has not previously served as a Principal Investigator under a DARPA-funded award.

Thrust Areas
Thrust Area 1: A world beyond electronics 
The “a world beyond electronics” thrust seeks to develop non-electronic and hybrid physical approachesto advance sub-functions and unit operations to create future warfighting systems and capabilities. These sub-functions and unit operations include but are not limited to: 

• Sensing and communications beyond electronics. While we will continue to need sensing and communications, novel approaches can not only improve upon what modern radio-frequency systems deliver for the existing battlespace but also invent functions leading to new capability for the future battlespace. Examples of non-electronic developments could include optical, quantum, organic, and acoustic devices. The addressable physical stimuli (e.g., optical thermal, acoustic, chemical, etc.) and/or appropriate information buses (e.g., photonic, fluidic, or otherwise) for the proposed device should be provided in detail as well as performance estimates. 

Thrust Area 2: Foundations beyond components 
The “foundations beyond components” thrust explores technologies and methods that survive and even thrive in hostile and challenging environments. Production and use of these components can then be used in novel and previously unforeseen applications. 

• Extreme environments are both natural and man-made. The natural extreme environments of interest include space, undersea, and the arctic. Technologies and methods should lead to systems subjected to a wide range of environmental conditions and natural attacks such as corrosion. Man-made environmental impacts, including the actions of adversaries, add system effects such as shock and vibration. 
• Advanced capabilities will require increasing amounts of intelligence, automation, endurance and survivability. Assuming that humans are not present, a heterogeneous mix of distributed uncrewed systems may be warranted requiring advanced sensing, actuation, orientation, processing, communication, and power. Each of these has its own research challenges. 
• Making and sustaining these components and systems require unique approaches to leverage the local environment itself, use what is in place, and erase the line between equipment and environment. 

Thrust Area 3: Materials beyond nature and current synthetic practice 
The “materials beyond nature and current synthetic practice” thrust seeks the discovery and fabrication of new materials that exceed what can be found in nature or are currently produced. MXO believes that novel applications, research breakthroughs, and advanced capability development will benefit from new materials used in new ways. 

• Material properties realized after fabrication. Beyond phase change materials, how do we identify future programmable material and synthesize component properties? Examples include ad-hoc tunable electrical, magnetic, optical, and mechanical properties beyond the state of the art.
• Built-in autonomous property resiliency of materials/components. Imagine if we could maintain pre-determined material and component properties without humans in the loop. Examples include self-healing (recovery of material properties or improvement in their reliability), self-deformation (material as sensor and actuator), or self-protection (anti-break, anti-rust, anti-aging). 
• Artificially created new material properties. How do we identify previously unattainable material properties followed by the manufacturing and realization of this new material? Examples include room temperature superconductor and inorganic-like electrical characteristics in organic material systems

No Applicants // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Limiting Language
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding under this funding opportunity.

Executive Summary
The U.S. Department of State’s Consulate General Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and U.S. Consulate General Surabaya, Indonesia announces an open competition to implement a program to organizations.

In 2024, trade in goods and services between the United States and ASEAN reached almost $572 billion, supporting over 625,000 American jobs. As a hub for some of the world’s most important manufacturers and shipping routes, Southeast Asia depends on secure, resilient, and diversified supply chains grounded in fair and reciprocal trade practices. President Trump’s America First foreign policy prioritizes secure supply chains that strengthen U.S. economic and national security while advancing cooperation with allies and partners. This is especially important in the critical minerals sector, where the United States is working with regional partners to diversify supply chains in alignment with Executive Order 14154, “Unleashing American Energy.” 

Against this backdrop, the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) will host a regional workshop titled Securing Supply Chains: Market Opportunities in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. U.S. Consulate General Ho Chi Minh City and U.S. Consulate General Surabaya seek proposals to design and implement a four-day workshop in Vietnam and Indonesia for up to 55 ASEAN leaders ages 22–35 occurring in May 2027. Vietnam and Indonesia represent two of the most promising markets for increased commercial cooperation with the United States and bring complementary expertise in critical minerals (Indonesia) and in integrated and resilient supply chains (Vietnam). 

Participants will examine supply chain resilience, critical minerals, and emerging technologies such as blockchain and AI through case studies, interactive exercises, and collaborative problem- solving. The program will equip early-stage professionals with practical skills to strengthen regional supply chains, support informed investment decisions, and advance U.S. and Southeast Asian prosperity and security.

No Applicants // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1

Limiting Langauge
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding. Organizations may form a consortium and submit a combined proposal; however, one organization should be designated as the lead applicant and other organization(s) listed as sub-recipient partner(s).

Description
This project will fully support a newly established analytical center within the Bosnia and Herzegovina State Prosecutors Office that can provide a data-driven analysis and tailored investigative mentoring to combat TCOs that threaten U.S. security through illicit finance, corruption, narcotics trafficking, and other cross-border criminal activity.