Defense, Security

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.

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) 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.

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 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.

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

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. Please note: Applicant organizations are defined by their legal name, and EIN number as stated on their completed SF-424.

Executive Summary 
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) invites proposals for cooperative agreements to implement the FY 2026 (Academic Year 2027-2028) Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) for Young Professionals program and outbound Congress-Bundestag/Bundesrat Staff Exchange (CBBSX) travel component. The CBYX for Young Professionals and CBBSX programs advance America’s national interests by building lasting personal and institutional relationships that promote prosperity and security between the United States and Germany.

 

Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 0 

J. Osorio (Government and Public Policy)

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.

Executive Summary
Illicit gold mining has emerged as a significant global threat, eroding sovereignty and stability and providing a lucrative revenue stream for violent Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and other criminal networks. Driven by surging global gold prices, experts estimate illegal gold mining has become a larger source of criminal income than narcotics trafficking in several Western Hemisphere countries, generating billions of dollars annually in criminal proceeds that fund FTOs and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) across the region. In countries with high concentrations of FTO activity and illegal gold mining overlap - particularly Colombia and Mexico - designated groups including FARC dissidents, Clan del Golfo, Cartel de Sinaloa, Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, and Primeiro Comando da Capital control mining operations and trafficking networks that fuel illegal resource extraction throughout South America. Violent FTOs like Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed groups have been linked to financing from these FTO illicit mining operations. These violent FTOs and their vast networks attack every layer of the mine-to-market supply chain - from obtaining concessions through corruption, controlling extraction sites, trafficking mercury used in gold extraction, extorting shipments, and laundering proceeds through illicit markets. 

Addressing illicit gold mining in the Western Hemisphere directly advances U.S. security and economic interests by disrupting a major illicit source of funding for terrorist organizations, reducing their capacity to operate and threaten stability. By curbing the flow of illegally sourced gold into global markets, these efforts also help protect the integrity of American supply chains for U.S. businesses that rely on responsibly sourced materials. In turn, these actions contribute to a safer international environment, a stable global economy, and a stronger foundation for American prosperity. 

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT) is seeking proposals for an initiative that will address the exploitation of illicit mining by violent FTOs. Special focus should be on the relationship and involvement of FTOs and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) in the space. Competitive proposals should take an integrated approach to the threat and include civilian law enforcement, mining sector regulators, judges and prosecutors, and civil society where appropriate.