DoD issues 23 contracts for multidisciplinary university research
NewsApril 17, 2017
WASHINGTON. Department of Defense (DoD) officials will issue 23 contract awards that total $163 million to academic institutions to perform multidisciplinary basic research. The awards are for a five-year period, subject to satisfactory research progress and the availability of funds.
“The Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative program (MURI) supports research by funding teams of investigators that include more than one traditional science and engineering discipline in order to accelerate the research progress,” explains Dale Ormond, principal director for research in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. “Most of the program's efforts involve researchers from multiple academic institutions and academic departments.”
Ormond also stated that, “MURI awards also support the education and training of graduate students in new, cutting-edge research.”
The highly competitive MURI program complements other DoD basic research efforts that support traditional, single-investigator university research grants, officials say. By supporting multidisciplinary teams with larger and longer awards in carefully chosen and timely research topics identified for their long-term importance, DoD and the military services enhance the potential for significant and sustained advancement of the research in critical areas.
The Army Research Office, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Office of Naval Research solicited proposals in 23 topic areas important to the DoD and the military services. In response to the initial solicitation the department received 315 white papers.
After two rounds of merit-based reviews, a panel of DoD experts narrowed the proposals to 89 from which the 23 final awards were selected. Based on the proposals selected in the 2017 competition, 55 U.S. academic institutions are expected to participate in 2017 MURI program.
Topics for this year's MURI program awardees include foundations of interactive protocols for quantum computation and communications, bio?inspired low energy information processing; autonomous research systems for materials development; beam/wave dynamics in geometrically complex systems with emitting boundaries, and atmospheric disturbances at high altitudes.
To view the list of awardees and topics, click here.
