Mathematics, Computational, & Data Sciences

The DEVCOM Army Research Lab seeks unclassified research proposals from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions (HBCU/MI) under Broad Agency Announcement (FOA) W911NF-23-S-0001-0002 (hereafter referred to as the DEVCOM ARL BAA”) 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 are due in response to this special notice. Faculty at an institution of higher education which does not designate a faculty appointment as "tenure track" are eligible if that fact is so indicated in the proposal, and the supporting letter from the institute states that the faculty member submitting the proposal will be considered for a permanent appointment, or it is demonstrated that the faculty member is within five years of receiving his or her first competitively awarded federal research funding (as principal investigator), excluding funds secured during graduate school or postdoctoral training/fellowship and funds secured for training, fellowship, education, or career development. The objective of the ECP Award is to foster creative basic research in science and engineering; enhance development of outstanding early career investigators; and increase opportunities for early career investigators to pursue research in areas relevant to the Army. Proposals that do not meet these criteria for the Principal Investigator (PI) will be considered ineligible and not reviewed or considered for funding.



The eleven DEVCOM ARL competencies are:

 Biological and Biotechnology Sciences

 Electromagnetic Spectrum Sciences

 Energy Sciences

 Humans in Complex Systems

 Mechanical Sciences

 Military Information Sciences

 Network, Cyber, and Computational Sciences

 Photonics, Electronics, and Quantum Sciences

 Sciences of Extreme Materials

 Terminal Effects

 Weapons Sciences

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.

The goals of the Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowship (RTF) program in astrophysics are to provide early-career researchers the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to lead astrophysics flight instrument development projects, including suborbital investigations, in preparation to become Principal Investigators (PIs) of future NASA astrophysics missions; to develop innovative technologies for space astrophysics that have the potential to enable major scientific breakthroughs; and to foster new talents by putting early career instrument builders on a trajectory towards long-term positions. NASA is committed to supporting deserving early career researchers by selecting several Roman Technology Fellows every year. This program is not linked to the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (formerly WFIRST).

This program consists of two components with two different submission procedures. The first component is the one-page application from an early career individual to be named a Roman Technology Fellow (RTF), see Section 2. The second component is the subsequent submission of a proposal for up to $500K in Fellowship Funds by a previously selected RTF once that individual obtains a permanent or permanent-track position, in order to start a laboratory or develop a research group at the Fellow’s institution (see Section 3). Please see Section 2.1 for the definition of an early career position, and Section 4.1 for the definition of a permanent or permanent track position.