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FY26 DEFENSE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH (DEPSCoR) – RESEARCH COLLABORATION (RC)

The Department of Defense (DoD) announces the fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) – Research Collaboration (RC) opportunity.

From	Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Who can apply	others (see eligibility notes)
Eligibility notes	This funding opportunity aims to create basic research collaborations between a pair of researchers, namely 1) Applicant/Principal Investigator (PI), henceforth referred to as Applicant, a full-time faculty member who has never served as a PI on a prior DoD…
How much	$200K to $600K per award; about 24 awards; $14 million total
Deadline	Mon, Apr 5, 2027 (164 days left)
Category	Science, Technology and Research
Type	Grant
Opportunity #	NOFOAFRLAFOSR20260004
Assistance listing	12.431
Posted	Mon, Aug 10, 2026

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From the notice

The Department of Defense (DoD) announces the fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) – Research Collaboration (RC) opportunity. The program is sponsored and managed by the Basic Research Office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD [R&E]), awarded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), and administered through the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The DoD plans to award FY26 DEPSCoR appropriations through this announcement. DEPSCoR's objectives are to:(1) increase the number of university researchers in eligible States/Territories capable of performing science and engineering (S&E research responsive to the needs of the DoD; and(2) enhance the capabilities of institutions of higher education (IHE) in eligible States/Territories (listed below) to develop, plan, and execute (S&E) research that is relevant to the mission of the DoD, and competitive under the peer-review systems used for awarding Federal research assistance;(3) increase the probability of long-term growth in the competitively awarded financial assistance that IHE in eligible States receive from the Federal Government for S&E research. Consistent with these long term objectives of building research infrastructure, the DoD intends to competitively make, and fund from fiscal year 2026 appropriations, multiyear awards for S&E research in areas relevant to the DoD’s mission and important to national security.

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