Funder: Office of Naval Research
Due Dates: April 11, 2025 (Questions) | April 25, 2025 (Applications due by 5:00 PM ET)
Funding Amounts: Typical awards: $50,000–$3,000,000 for 12 months; total program funding ~$34M; rare exceptions above $3M possible with justification.
Summary: Supports U.S. universities in acquiring major research equipment or instrumentation to advance research and education in areas relevant to Department of Defense missions.
Key Information: Applications must be validated by Grants.gov by the deadline—submit at least 2 business days early to ensure timely processing.
Description
The Department of Defense (DoD) Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) provides funding to accredited U.S. institutions of higher education for the acquisition of major research equipment or instrumentation. The program aims to enhance the research and research-related education capabilities of universities in scientific, engineering, and mathematical disciplines that are important to national defense. DURIP is administered jointly by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Army Research Office (ARO), and Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR).
Proposals must demonstrate how the requested equipment will:
- Enhance the quality of DoD-funded or DoD-relevant research and education,
- Contribute to new or existing research capabilities in DoD priority areas,
- Improve the institution’s ability to educate students through research in disciplines critical to DoD missions.
Due Dates
- Application Inquiries and Questions: April 11, 2025 (11:59 PM ET)
- Full Applications Due: April 25, 2025 (5:00 PM ET)
- Applications must be submitted and validated by Grants.gov by the deadline. Validation can take up to 48 hours; early submission is strongly recommended.
Funding Amount
- Total Program Funding: Approximately $34 million (pending appropriations)
- Typical Award Size: $50,000 to $3,000,000 per grant for a 12-month period
- No-cost extensions for up to 12 additional months may be requested with justification.
- Exceptions: Requests above $3,000,000 are rare and require strong justification or institutional cost sharing; AFOSR will not consider requests above $7,000,000.
- Number of Awards: ~95 anticipated
Eligibility
- Eligible Applicants:
- Accredited U.S. institutions of higher education with degree-granting programs in science, mathematics, and/or engineering (excluding for-profit institutions)
- University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) are eligible
- Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) are not eligible
- Other Notes:
- No cost sharing or matching is required, but voluntary cost sharing is allowed.
- Multiple proposals per institution are permitted; a single proposal may be submitted to more than one administering agency, but only one agency will fund it if selected.
Application Process
- Submission Platform: Grants.gov
- Required Registrations:
- System for Award Management (SAM)
- Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)
- Application Components:
- SF-424 (R&R) cover page
- Project summary/abstract (≤4,000 characters, publicly releasable)
- Technical proposal (≤25 pages, PDF)
- Budget and justification (itemized, based on recent quotes)
- Biographical sketches and current/pending support for key personnel
- Facilities and resources description
- Additional attachments as needed
- Formatting: Times New Roman 12pt, 1-inch margins, single-spaced
- Allowable Costs: Acquisition of major equipment/instrumentation, reasonable costs for design/installation, travel for equipment testing/acceptance
- Unallowable Costs: Building construction/modification, general-purpose computing, purely instructional equipment, salaries, general research costs
Additional Information
- Research Areas: Must align with DoD interests as defined by ONR, ARO, and AFOSR. Applicants are encouraged to consult the relevant agency’s research priorities and contact technical program officers before submission.
- Evaluation Criteria (equal weight):
- Impact on DoD-funded or DoD-relevant research
- Importance to DoD missions
- Enhancement of research-related education in DoD-relevant disciplines
- Security and Compliance: Proposals and key personnel are subject to DoD risk-based security review for foreign influence and compliance with federal regulations.
External Links
Contact Information
- For general ONR inquiries: ONR Contact Page
- Grants.gov support: 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov