FA955026S0003FY27YIPFINAL.pdf

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Fiscal Year 2027

I. OVERVIEW INFORMATION

This is a special Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcement (NOFO) sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), which will hereafter generally be referred to as “we”, “us”, “our”, or “AFOSR.” The Fiscal Year 2027 Air Force Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) intends to support individual early career scientists and engineers who have received their Ph.D. or equivalent degrees by 01 April 2019 or later showing exceptional ability and promise for conducting basic research. The program objective is to foster creative basic research in science and engineering; enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators; and increase opportunities for the young investigators to recognize the Air Force and Space Force mission and related challenges in science and engineering.

Individual awards are made to U.S. institutions of higher education, industrial laboratories, for-profit, or non-profit research organizations where the principal investigator (PI) is employed on a full-time basis and holds a regular, non-contractor position. A YIP PI must be a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident. Researchers working at a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), or a Department of War (DoW) Laboratory are not eligible for this competition.

YIP awards are funded up to $150,000 per year for three years, for a total of $450,000. No single year may exceed $150,000. Please review the remainder of this announcement for additional information.

Under this competition, an anticipated thirty-seven (37) traditionally funded YIPs and three (3) YIPs funded in partnership with the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS) in the Quantum Information Sciences research discipline may be awarded. There may be potential for an additional 37 YIPs funded from other AFOSR research funding. All actions are based on the availability of funds.

Proposers are encouraged to confer with the designated AFOSR Program Officer(s) prior to submitting a full proposal. We will evaluate proposals using an internal review panel. AFOSR reserves the right to select and fund all, some, or none of the proposals from any of the topics below. AFOSR provides no funding for direct reimbursement of proposal development costs.

Technical and budget proposals (or any other material) submitted in response to this NOFO will not be returned. It is the policy of AFOSR to treat all white papers and proposals submitted under this NOFO as sensitive competitive information and to disclose their contents only for the purposes of evaluation.

White papers briefly summarizing the proposed institution’s ideas are required. Submit white papers to our whitepaper portal, which is linked below. The topic points of contact (POCs) will coordinate to provide feedback on the white papers.

The proposals will need to include a data management plan, outlining how samples and data collected in the program will be stored and managed. This includes but is not restricted to issues such as standards for data and metadata collection, content and format, data archiving, database management, and data sharing within, outside the awardee and beyond the lifetime of the grant.

This precondition is modeled on the National Science Foundation Data Management Plan requirement (e.g., https://www.nsf.gov/eng/data-management-plans).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Applicants should be alert for any amendments that may modify the announcement. Amendments to the original Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will be posted to the Grants.gov Webpage: https://www.grants.gov/.

Hyperlinks have been embedded within this document and appear as underlined, and or blue-colored words in the midst of paragraphs. The reader may “jump” to the linked section within this document by “clicking” (CTRL + CLICK, or CLICK).

II. BASIC INFORMATION

FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY NAME

Air Force Office of Scientific Research 875 North Randolph Street, STE 325, Room 3112 Arlington, VA 22203

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TITLE

Air Force Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Young Investigator Program (YIP)

ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE

Initial Announcement

ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER

FA955026S0003

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER

12.800 Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program

The authorization to make awards under this funding opportunity may be found via the Assistance Listing (CFDA) Number on sam.gov.

FUNDING DETAILS

AFOSR intends to fund a minimum of thirty-seven (37) awards, in the amount of $150,000 per year, for a maximum of three (3) years. The expected value of each award is anticipated to be $450,000. The total amount of funding and the number of awards is based on the quality of the proposals and the availability of funds.

KEY DATES

Pre-proposal inquiries and questions, regarding white papers and the submission of those white papers, must be received in writing by electronic mail to the address(es) of this NOFO not later than 17 September 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time to be considered. The Government will respond to any pre-proposal inquiries or questions via public posting, or individual responses, no later than COB on 24 September 2026.

Whitepapers must be received by 09 October 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time via submission to https://afosr.gov1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eKuTqm9qezoDYep to be considered. White paper evaluation is meant to initially assess the capability of a proposed effort. White papers must be no more than five (5) pages in length. References and CV/bios will not count against the page limit. Please review this announcement in its entirety prior to submitting a white paper.

The government will respond to the white paper determination before COB on 06 November 2026.

https://afosr.gov1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eKuTqm9qezoDYep

Proposals must be received electronically through Grants.gov by 04 December 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time to be considered.

We anticipate that we will notify proposers of selection or non-selection for award no later than 26 April 2027. We anticipate awards to be made by 01 May 2027, barring delays.

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE:

The NAICS code for contracts under this announcement is 541715.

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

Each award under this announcement will be governed by the general terms and conditions in effect at the time of the award that conform to DoW’s implementation of OMB guidance applicable to financial assistance, as follows:

a. For Universities and Non-Profit Entities, these terms and conditions are identified in Parts 1126 through 1138 of the DoDGARS (2 CFR Parts 1126 through 1138, which comprise 2 CFR 1100 Subchapter D).

b. For For-Profit Entities, requirements to be included in the general terms and conditions are identified in Part 34 of the DODGARS (32 CFR Part 34).

c. For All Entities, National Policy Requirements are identified in Part 1122 of the DoDGARS (2 CFR Part 1122).

Any resulting awards will be subject to the DoD Research and Development (R&D) General Terms and Conditions (Ts&Cs), located at: https://www.nre.navy.mil/work-with-us/manage-your-award/manage-grant-award/grants-terms-conditions. The specific version of the DoD R&D General Terms and Conditions applicable to any resulting award will be dictated by the date of award issuance. In addition, the AFRL Addendum to the DoD R&D General Ts&Cs and AFRL Award-Specific Ts&Cs (attached to this NOFO) include additional Ts&Cs that may be applicable to any resulting awards. This AFRL document is a supplement to the DoD R&D General Ts&Cs. To understand the entire AFRL requirement for a given article, the DoD R&D General Ts&Cs must be read in tandem with this document.

NATIONAL PRIORITY

In accordance with Executive Order 14332, all technical program descriptions contained in this NOFO reflect the basic research priorities for the Department of the Air Force and are defined to advance the administration and agency priorities (c.f., OMB memo M-25-34 “Fiscal Year 2027 Administration Research and Development Budget Priorities and Cross-Cutting Actions”). More information about the Department of the Air Force Priorities can be found at www.af.mil.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Fiscal Year 2027 Air Force Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) intends to provide support for individual scientists and engineers who have either received Ph.D. or equivalent degrees post 01 April 2019. These scientists and engineers must have shown exceptional ability and promise for conducting revolutionary basic research.

The program’s objective is to foster creative and revolutionary basic research in science and engineering;

enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators; and increase opportunities for the http://www.af.mil/ young investigators to recognize the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force missions and related challenges in science and engineering.

We seek unclassified proposals from qualified and responsible individual applicants in the research areas of interest identified in the most recent Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) titled “Research Interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research” published on Grants.gov at https://simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/de479d2e-aad1-466a-acc3-d5d11cf7918d.

Note: The AFOSR open BAA updates annually in the March/April time frame. Please make sure you coordinate your topic ideas with the appropriate Program Officer (PO) to ensure the topic area is still relevant to the Air Force.

Additionally, the AFOSR has partnered with the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS) to award additional outstanding YIP proposals in the field of gate-based quantum computing under the “Quantum Information Sciences” research portfolio area (Section A.3.f of the AFOSR open BAA). Proposals for both experimental and theoretical research are encouraged. The primary focus is on innovative research to advance the state of the art in quantum computing systems by understanding and mitigating challenges, developing revolutionary new approaches, tracking, characterizing, and reducing noise, and developing supporting technology. Specific research topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

understanding and mitigating the impact of ionizing radiation on qubits, improving the gate and readout speed and fidelity in multi-qubit systems, investigating promising new qubit modalities that address existing qubit challenges, developing novel control and readout schemes, and exploring schemes for modular quantum computing. Proposals should describe the long-term vision of the proposed work and how it relates to gate-based quantum computing research. Proposals should also describe the expected technical challenges and steps to overcome them. For submissions in the area of quantum computing, please format the title of your submission as, “Quantum Computing – Title of Project” to ensure that your application is properly sorted.

YIP proposals may be submitted for only one research portfolio area.

It is important that your proposal shows strength in as many of the evaluation areas as practicable for maximum competitiveness.

Individual awards are made to U.S. institutions of higher education, industrial laboratories, for-profit, or non-profit research organizations where the individual principal investigator is employed on a full-time basis and holds a regular, non-contractor position. YIP primary investigators must be a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident. We discuss this more in section C.1. Eligible Applicants. Researchers working at the Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and DoW Laboratories are not eligible for this competition.

AGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION

a) Technical Inquires and Questions

You should submit your questions in writing by electronic mail to the specific Program Officer responsible for your topic(s) of interest from A. Program Description. You should include the NOFO number in the subject line.

Please submit all inquiries in written format to ensure a response.

https://simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/de479d2e-aad1-466a-acc3-d5d11cf7918d

b) General Inquires and Questions

You must send all general questions and inquiries about this announcement by email. Your questions will generally be consolidated with other questions and posted on grants.gov so everyone gets the same information. We may provide an individual response by email if your question does not apply to everyone else.

AFOSR/RBKR1

GRANTS OFFICER

Email: afosryip@us.af.mil mailto:afosryip@us.af.mil

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. OVERVIEW INFORMATION

II. BASIC INFORMATION

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

C. ELIGIBILITY

C.1. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

C.2. COST SHARING

C.3. GOLD STANDARD SCIENCE

C.4. OTHER

C.5. AFOSR-SPECIFIC FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH SECURITY RISK REVIEW (FRSR) INFORMATION

D. APPLICATION CONTENTS AND FORMAT

D.1. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE

D.2. APPLICATION CONTENTS

D.3. GRANTS.GOV APPLICATION SUBMISSION

D.4. COMPONENT PIECES OF THE APPLICATION……………………………………………..28

D.5. INFORMATION YOU MUST SUBMIT IF SELECTED FOR POSSIBLE AWARD

D.6. UNIQUE ENTITY IDENTIFIER (UEI), CAGE, AND SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (SAM)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………...…36

E. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES

E.1. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

E.2. OTHER SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

F. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

F.1. CRITERIA

F.2. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

F 3. DISCLOSURE OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSING BY CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL42

F.4. NO GUARANTEED AWARD

G. AWARD NOTICES

G.1. SELECTION NOTICES

G.2. ADMINISTRATION AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

H. POST-AWARD REQUIREMNTS AND ADMINISTRATION

H.1. MONITORING AND REPORTING PROGRAM PERFORMANCE

H.2. REPORTS

I. OTHER INFORMATION

I.1. TECHNICAL INQUIRIES AND QUESTIONS…………………………………………….…..48

I.2. OMBUDSMAN………………………………………………………………………………….…49

I.3. GRANTS AND CONTRACTING OFFICERS AUTHORITY………………………………...49

I.4. FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES …………………………………………………………………..49

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Fiscal Year 2027 Air Force Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) intends to provide support for individual scientists and engineers who have either received Ph.D. or equivalent degrees post 01 April 2019. These scientists and engineers must have shown exceptional ability and promise for conducting revolutionary basic research.

The program objective is to foster creative and revolutionary basic research in science and engineering; enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators; and increase opportunities for the young investigators to recognize the Air Force and Space Force mission and related challenges in science and engineering.

We seek unclassified proposals from qualified and responsible individual applicants in the research areas of interest identified in the most recent Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) titled “Research Interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research” published on Grants.gov at https://simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/de479d2e-aad1-466a-acc3-d5d11cf7918d.

Note: The AFOSR open BAA updates annually in the March/April time frame. Please make sure you coordinate your topic ideas with the appropriate Program Officer (PO) to ensure the topic area is still relevant to the Air Force.

Additionally, the AFOSR has partnered with the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS) to award additional outstanding YIP proposals in the field of gate-based quantum computing under the “Quantum Information Sciences” research portfolio area (Section A.3.g of the AFOSR open BAA).

Proposals for both experimental and theoretical research are encouraged. The primary focus is on innovative research to advance the state of the art in quantum computing systems by understanding and mitigating challenges, developing revolutionary new approaches, tracking, characterizing, and reducing noise, and developing supporting technology. Specific research topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: understanding and mitigating the impact of ionizing radiation on qubits, improving the gate and readout speed and fidelity in multi-qubit systems, investigating promising new qubit modalities that address existing qubit challenges, developing novel control and readout schemes, and exploring schemes for modular quantum computing. Proposals should describe the long-term vision of the proposed work and how it relates to gate-based quantum computing research. Proposals should also describe the expected technical challenges and steps to overcome them. For submissions in the area of quantum computing, please format the title of your submission as, “Quantum Computing – Title of Project” to ensure that your application is properly sorted.

YIP proposals may be submitted for only one research portfolio area.

It is important that your proposal shows strength in as many of the evaluation areas as practicable for maximum competitiveness.

Individual awards are made to U.S. institutions of higher education, industrial laboratories, for- profit, or non-profit research organizations where the individual principal investigator is employed on a full-time basis and holds a regular, non-contractor position. YIP primary investigators must be a U.S.

citizen, national, or permanent resident at the time of proposal submission.

Researchers working at the Federally Funded Research and Development Centers and DoW Laboratories are not eligible for this competition.

https://simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/de479d2e-aad1-466a-acc3-d5d11cf7918d

Access to DoW Resources

Proposals may request access to Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) facilities or DoW high-performance computing resources in order to conduct the proposed research. If authorized, there is no cost to the research for these resources. Applicants are advised that routine access of educational institution researchers to AFRL buildings and facilities is limited to U.S. citizens. Individuals eligible for access are subject to background checks.

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

Most YIP awards are three (3) years in duration, funded up to $150,000 per year for a total of approximately $450,000. Annual budget requests must not exceed $150,000 per year. Proposals exceeding the annual $150,000 limit, the overall $450,000 threshold, or the three-year duration may be rejected without review.

At the discretion of the Program Officer, and subject to the availability of fund and satisfactory progress, further effort may be identified at a later time and funded up to an additional $300,000 over a period of up to two (2) years without further competition.

The YIP projected start date is determined at the time of the award but is most likely projected no later than 01 May 2027 based on funding availability.

We anticipate approximately thirty-seven (37) traditionally funded YIPs, and three YIPs funded in partnership with the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS) in the Quantum Information Sciences research discipline may be awarded under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 4001 in the form of grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts. Potential for an additional 37 funded research disciplines core funded YIPs may be awarded. We rely on discretionary appropriated funds for this program. Awards are only made if funds are available.

We select what kind of award instrument we can use based on requirements in the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act 31 U.S.C. 6301 – 31 U.S.C. 6308.

• A grant or cooperative agreement award may be made to U.S. institutions of higher education (IHE) or nonprofit organizations as described in 2 CFR 200.1 including foreign public entities and foreign organizations operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, charitable, or similar purposes in the public interest.

• A grant or cooperative agreement may be awarded to applicants with a for-profit organization type as described in 2 CFR 25.400, or to any applicant that requests a fee or profit.

Individual awards are made to U.S. institutions of higher education, industrial laboratories, for-profit, or non-profit research organizations where the individual PI is employed on a full-time basis and holds a regular, permanent position. A YIP PI must be a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident at time of proposal submission. There may not be co-PIs except in cases where the potential proposed individual PI transfers institutions post-closing date of the announcement and the primary institution agrees to add the PI’s receiving institution as a sub-award. Researchers working at a Federally Funded Research and Development Center or a DoW Laboratory are not eligible for this competition.

No domestic or foreign collaborators, funded or non-funded, are allowed for this single investigator award.

2 CFR 1108.115 defines co-principal investigator as “any one group of individuals whom an organization that is carrying out a research project with DoW support designates as sharing the authority and responsibility for leading and directing the research intellectually and logistically, other than the one among the group identified as the primary contact for scientific, technical, and related budgetary matters (see the definition of “principal investigator”).”

The YIP award is to an institution. However, YIP highlights outstanding individuals and should the awardee transfer institutions after the announcement closing date, the agency may attempt to accommodate these changes if funds are available and approved by the Program Manager, PO, and Contracting office. Potential options may include: (1) grant remains at awarded YIP institution with a new PI, identified by the YIP awardee, (2) primary institution must identify a replacement PI and agree to sub-contract to the new institution of the YIP awardee (must be PI listed on the original YIP proposal), or (3) termination of YIP grant with new award to the YIP awardee as a traditional AFOSR grant or any combination of the above. The new PI must meet the stated YIP eligibility requirements.

Awards may start any time during the year. The actual start date is determined at the time of award and may be different than the date you propose. We discuss this more in section G. AWARD NOTICES .

Awards are made under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 4001 in the form of grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts. We rely on discretionary appropriated funds for this program. We can only make awards if enough funds are made available. We select what kind of award instrument we can use based on requirements in the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act 31 U.S.C. 6301 – 31 U.S.C. 6308.

Awards may take the form of contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, technology investment agreements and other transaction agreements as appropriate. The following provides a brief description of potential instrument types:

• Grant. A legal instrument consistent with 31 U.S.C. 6304, is used to enter into a relationship:

• The principal purpose of which is to transfer a thing of value to the recipient to carry out a public purpose of support of stimulation authorized by a law or the United States, rather than acquire property or services for the Federal Government’s direct benefit or use.

• In which substantial involvement is not expected between the Federal Government and the recipient when carrying out the activity contemplated by the grant.

• No fee or profit is allowed.

• Cooperative Agreement. A legal instrument which, consistent with 31 U.S.C 6305, is used to enter into the same kind of relationship as a grant, except that substantial involvement is expected between the Federal Government and the recipient when carrying out the activity contemplated by the cooperative agreement. No fee or profit is allowed.

We reserve the right to select and fund for award all, some, part, or none of the proposals received in response to this announcement. There is no guarantee of an award.

C. ELIGIBILITY

C.1. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

C.1.a. General You are eligible to submit an application if you are a qualified and responsible organization from academia, the non-profit sector, and industry. Academia includes educational institutions http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=de4cb739ce90fc71f364a622e495a608&amp%3Bamp%3Bmc=true&amp%3Bamp%3Bnode=se2.1.200_138&amp%3Bamp%3Brgn=div8 https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title10-section4001&num=0&edition=prelim https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title31-chapter63&edition=prelim in the United States as defined at 10 U.S.C. 2194 and 20 U.S.C. 1001. Educational institutions mean a local educational agency, college, university, or any other non-profit institution dedicated to improving science, mathematics, and engineering education. We review your application, proposal, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) designated repositories of government-wide public and non-public data, including comments you have made, as required by 41 U.S.C. 2313 and described in 2 CFR 200.206 and 32 CFR 22.410 to assess risk posed by applicants, and confirm applicants are qualified, responsible, and eligible to receive an award.

As the individual Principal Investigator, you must hold a full-time, non-contractor permanent, career-competitive, or tenure-track position (based on your institution’s definition) with your organization, or your proposal must include a letter from your organization stating that you will be considered for a permanent, career- competitive, or tenure-track non-contractor position if you currently hold a short-term appointment. This is in addition to the requirement you are a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident. You are not eligible to submit a proposal if you do not meet these requirements. You must have permanent residency at the time of proposal submission.

Individual awards are made to U.S. institutions of higher education, industrial laboratories, for-profit businesses, or non-profit research organizations where the individual principal investigator is a U.S. citizen, national, or has permanent residency at time of proposal submission; employed on a full-time basis and holds a permanent position. All PIs must meet all eligibility requirements.

Eligible Applicants must also meet the following criteria:

(i) Doctorate no earlier than 01 April 2019

C.1.b. Eligibility Notice for All Applicants

We review your application, proposal, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) designated repositories of government-wide public and non-public data, including comments you have made, as required by 31 U.S.C. 3321 and 41 U.S.C. 2313 and described in 2 CFR

200.205 and 32 CFR 22.410 to assess risk posed by applicants, and confirm applicants are qualified, responsible, and eligible to receive an award. If we cannot determine you or your organization are qualified and responsible, you are not eligible to receive an award.

C.1.c. Ineligible Entities

None of the following entity types are eligible to submit proposals as primary award recipients under this announcement.

• Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs)

• Department of War (DoW) Laboratories

• Individual persons or people

C.2. COST SHARING

We do not require cost sharing for proposals under this announcement (except as may be required for transactions other than contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements entered into under 10 U.S.C.

4021). Cost sharing is not an evaluation or selection criterion.

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=dc0e04ed18bcc6c499bee1e082d0eaea&amp%3Bamp%3Bmc=true&amp%3Bamp%3Bnode=se2.1.200_1205&amp%3Bamp%3Brgn=div8 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-32/subtitle-A/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-22/subpart-D/section-22.410

C.3. GOLD STANDARD SCIENCE

C.3.a. Definition of Gold Standard Science

IAW EO 14303, Gold Standard Science (GSS) is science conducted in a manner that is:

(1) reproducible;

(2) transparent;

(3) communicative of error and uncertainty;

(4) collaborative and interdisciplinary;

(5) skeptical of its findings and assumptions;

(6) structured for falsifiability of hypotheses;

(7) subject to unbiased peer review;

(8) accepting negative results as positive outcomes; and,

(9) without conflicts of interest.

C.3.b. Expectation of Adherence to Gold Standard Science and EO 14332

AFOSR expects the highest standards of scientific rigor, integrity and adherence to appropriate tenets of GSS. For more on these standards and DoW expectations, see https://www.cto.mil/gold-standard-science-implementation-plan/.

To meet EO14332, applications/proposals shall:

(1) Include clear benchmarks for measuring success and progress towards relevant goals; and

(2) Include a commitment to complying with administration policies, procedures, and guidance respecting GSS.

By responding to this NOFO, you explicitly agree to the following statements:

(1) Our institution understands the definition of Gold Standard Science as outlined above.

(2) Our institution and all personnel involved in the proposed project will adhere to all administration policies, procedures, and guidance respecting Gold Standard Science in the execution of this project, if funded.

C.4. OTHER

C.4.a. Acknowledgement of Support and Disclaimer Requirements

You must include the G.2.g. Acknowledgement of Research Support on all materials created or produced under our awards.

You must include the G.2.h. Disclaimer Language on materials as required.

Our award document may provide additional instructions about specific distribution statements to use when you provide research materials to us. You are not eligible to submit a proposal if you cannot accept these terms.

C.4.b. Expectation of Public Dissemination of Research Results

We expect research funded by this announcement will be fundamental. We expect public dissemination of research results if you receive an award. This is a basic requirement for https://www.cto.mil/gold-standard-science-implementation-plan/ https://www.cto.mil/gold-standard-science-implementation-plan/ unclassified research results.

We intend, to the fullest extent possible, to make available to the public all unclassified, unlimited peer-reviewed scholarly publications and digitally formatted scientific data arising from research and programs funded wholly or in part by the DoW as described in the OUSW, AT&L Memorandum, “Public Access to Department of Defense-Funded Research” dated 09 Jul 2014.

We follow DoD Instruction 5230.24 and DoD Instruction 5230.27 policies and procedures to ensure broad dissemination of unclassified research results to the public and within the Government. The DoD Instruction 5230.27 policy and procedures allowing publication and public presentation of unclassified fundamental research results will apply to all research proposed under this competition unless the Program Officer gives you an explicit, written exclusion to these policies with the Grants or Contracting Officer’s advice and consent. All exclusions must be authorized or required by law and must cite a valid legal authority.

You must provide a copy of all peer-reviewed publications developed or produced from research conducted with Department of Air Force funds to our Program Officer.

You are not eligible to submit a proposal if you cannot accept these terms, and by your submission, you agree to the terms set forth herein.

C.4.c. Disclosure of Conflict of Commitment and Conflict of Interest

This announcement requires that all current and pending research support, as defined by Section 223 of the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act must be disclosed at the time of proposal, for all covered individuals. Such disclosure will be updated annually during the performance of any research project selected for funding, and whenever covered individual are added or identified as performing under this project. Covered Individuals are those who are listed as key personnel on proposals including but not restricted to the principal investigator or co-principal investigator.

Any decision to accept a proposal for funding under this announcement will include full reliance on the applicant’s statements. Failure to report fully and completely all sources of project support and outside positions and affiliations may be considered a material statement within the meaning of the federal False Claims Act, and constitute a violation of law.

The funding agency may conduct a pre-award conflict of interest/conflict of commitment review of any proposal selected for funding, as defined in the National Security Strategy for United States Government-Supported Research and Development (NSPM-33). Offerors are advised that any significant conflict of interest/conflict of commitment identified may be a basis for the rejection of an otherwise awardable proposal.

(1) General Requirement for Disclosure You and your organization must disclose any potential or actual scientific or non-scientific Conflict of Interest(s) to us. You must also disclose any potential or actual conflict(s) of interest for any subrecipient you include in your proposal.

You must provide enough information for us to evaluate your disclosure. We may have to ask you more questions if we need more information.

At our discretion, we may ask you for a conflict-of-interest mitigation plan after you submit https://discover.dtic.mil/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/memo_public_access_kendall_20140709.pdf https://discover.dtic.mil/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/memo_public_access_kendall_20140709.pdf https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/523024p.pdf?ver=2020-06-12-112557-280 https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/523027p.pdf?ver=2019-04-04-095230-883 https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/010422-NSPM-33-Implementation-Guidance.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/010422-NSPM-33-Implementation-Guidance.pdf your proposal. Your plan is subject to our approval.

(2) Scientific Conflict of Interest

Scientific collaborations on research and development projects are generally the result of close collaboration prior to the submission of applications for support. Accordingly, virtually all of these collaborations might be considered to include a potential conflict of interest. The potential conflict is mitigated by the disclosure of these collaborations, and the list of current and pending support you provide for senior and key researchers.

C.5. AFOSR-SPECIFIC FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH SECURITY REVIEW (FRSR)

INFORMATION

(1) Security Risk Review. Each proposal submission will be subject to a risk-based Security Review, hereafter referred to as the Fundamental Research Security Review (FRSR), prior to selection for award. The FRSR is applied to federally funded research designed to help protect Department of the Air Force Science and Technology (S&T) by identifying possible vectors of undue foreign influence. AFRL will follow all policies and procedures outlined in Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Instruction AFRLI 61-113, Science and Technology Protection for the Air Force Research Laboratory and Department of the Air Force Instruction DAFI 63- 101/20-101, Integrated Lifecycle Management. The FRSR will be conducted in accordance with OUSD(R&E)’s “Policy for Risk Based Security Reviews of Fundamental Research” (as updated).

(2) Covered Individual. An individual who contributes to a substantive, meaningful way to the scientific development or execution of a research and development project proposed to be carried out with a research and development award from a federal research agency; and is designated as a covered individual by the federal research agency concerned. AFOSR further defines that all positions identified in the proposal are Covered Individuals and thereby subject to disclosure requirements and should have a corresponding Standard Disclosure Forms for Biosketch, Current and Pending (Other) Support, and Collaborators and Other Affiliations. See 42 U.S.C.§ 6605, Definitions. (Note: For purposes of a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) solicitation, “covered individuals” are all Senior/Key Personnel.)

(3) Security risk review for these subject proposals will be developed for all proposed Senior/Key personnel and “Covered Individuals”. These risk reviews will be based on information disclosed in a Research and Related Senior and Key Person Profile and Security Questionnaire. In addition, any accompanying or referenced documents, and publicly available information, will be utilized in risk reviews. Nationality or citizenship is not a factor in the security risk reviews.

(4) External Engagements. When considering all external engagements, AFRL incorporates a holistic decision-making process that encompasses technical and security factors. The security review method implemented by AFRL measures risk factors to identify the appropriate Risk Acceptance Level (RAL) within the organization. The objective analysis of the security risk factors is conducted to empower AFRL’s S&T leaders to make risk-informed decisions. The review process looks at the risk factors indicated in the most up to date DoW Decision Matrix.

C.5.a. Actions Required by Applicants/Recipients at Proposal Submission

In accordance with AFRLI 61-113, S&T Protection, Applicants/Recipients are required to submit the following documentation with their proposal:

(1) Standard Form 424, “Research and Related Senior and Key Person Profile (Expanded) (Included in Application Package for all Covered Individuals);

(2) Common Disclosure Forms: Biosketch, Current and Pending (Other) Support, and Collaborators and Other Affiliations (to be submitted with SF-424);

(3) Security Program Questionnaire (See Appendix 1);

(4) “Privacy Act Statement” consent form for each Covered Individual that is also signed by the Applicants/Recipients as the Individual’s Sponsors (See “Covered Individual” section below and Appendix 2);

(5) Certification(s) of Covered Individual’s Research Security Training. AFOSR accepts and recommends the Research Security Training module on the National Science Foundation (NSF) SECURE website; however, Universities may submit certifications from substantially similar training(s). AFOSR requires all Covered Individuals listed on the application for a research and development award to take the training in the 12 months prior to proposal submission. Upon acceptance of proposal, Covered Individuals must submit and maintain annual certifications showing this course was taken yearly.

(6) Compliance Attestation. You must certify your institution’s compliance with OUSW’s Research Protection policies as articulated in the most up to date OUSW DoD Component Decision Matrix to Inform Research Proposal Mitigation Decisions on official university letterhead, and attest for the duration of the grant that the recipient confirms that the Covered Individuals participating in the grant are:

(1) not actively participating in a malign foreign talent recruitment program (MFTRP);

and,

(2) not involved in active collaboration on fundamental research with a Section 1286 Prohibited Entity or employee of a Prohibited Entity.

For example: [The University] certifies that the information provided is current, accurate, and complete. This includes, but is not limited to, information related to current, pending, and other support (both foreign and domestic) as defined in 42 U.S.C. §6605.

[The University] also certifies that, at the time of submission, no Covered Individual listed is a party in a malign foreign talent recruitment program.

[The University] understands that misrepresentations and/or omissions may be subject to prosecution and liability pursuant to, but not limited to, 18 U.S.C. §§287, 1001, 1031 and 31 U.S.C. §§3729-3733 and 3802.

Signature3: [Business Office, Provost, Dean, or someone with the authority to legally obligate the University]

Date:

https://www.secure-center.org/training https://www.secure-center.org/training https://www.nsf.gov/policies/nspm-33/definitions#malign-program

In the event a security risk is identified, and the Government has determined the security risk exceeds the acceptable threshold and cannot be mitigated, the Applicant/Recipient will be notified and informed of the declination of award. The Government will provide an unclassified rationale for any rejection of a proposal due to security risks.

By submission of the required forms, the Applicant/Recipient agrees to comply with the following: To certify that each covered individual who is listed on the application has been made aware: 1) of all relevant disclosure requirements, including the requirements of 42 U.S.C. § 6605; and, 2) that false representations may be subject to prosecution and liability pursuant to, but not limited to, 18 U.S.C.§§287, 1001, 1031 and 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733 and 3802. See National Science and Technology Council Guidance for Implementing National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33) on National Security Strategy for United States Government-Supported Research and Development (January 2022).

C.5.b. Actions Required by Covered Individuals. Federal law requires that all current and pending research support, as defined by 42 U.S.C. §6605, must be disclosed at the time of proposal submission, for all covered individuals.

(1) Research and Related Senior/Key Personnel Profile (Expanded) to include:

• Biosketch Form; and,

• Current and Pending (Other) Support. AFOSR requires information on all current and pending support for ongoing projects and proposals. AFOSR accepts NSF’s Current and Pending (Other) Support, https://www.nsf.gov/policies/nspm-33/common-form-cps. This document contains a list of an individual's proposed and active projects and sources of support. It is used by AFOSR to assess:

• The capacity of the individual to carry out the proposed research.

• Any potential scientific and budgetary overlap or duplication across projects.

• The potential the individual is overcommitting themselves with the proposed project.

What to include in your Current and Pending (Other) Support document:

• A brief outline of the information you will need to include is provided below.

• Identifying information.

• Organization and location.

• Projects/proposals, including the following:

• Project/proposal title.

• Status of support.

• Source of support.

• Primary place of performance.

• Start date.

https://www.nsf.gov/policies/nspm-33/common-form-cps

• End date.

• Total award amount.

• Person-months (or partial person-months) per year committed to the project/proposed project.

• Overall objectives.

• Statement of potential overlap.

• In-kind contributions.

• Certification that the information you've provided is current, accurate and complete.

• Senior/key personnel are required to certify that the information is current, accurate and complete. This includes, but is not limited to, information related to current, pending and other support (both foreign and domestic).

(2) Collaborators and Other Affiliations. AFOSR accepts the template format required by NSF applicants, https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/coa_template.xlsx?VersionId=uaz022di3.2KK DC7uauIadw7yeI3Xf.1, for identifying this information. AFOSR uses Collaborators and Other Affiliations information during the merit review process to help manage reviewer selection. To expedite identification of potential reviewers, having a standard, searchable format for this information is essential. If you are using a Microsoft Excel document, you must submit it as a PDF document through Grants.gov. A brief outline of the information you will need to include is provided below.

• Your name and organizational affiliation.

• The names of anyone whose relationship to you precludes their service as a reviewer — including personal, family or business relationships — and what type of relationship you have with them.

• Names and organizational affiliations of your Ph.D. advisor and Ph.D.

thesis advisees.

• Names and organizational affiliations of any co-authors or project collaborators in the last 48 months. Names of editorial boards, editors-in-chief and co-editors you have interacted with in the last 24 months. Do not list editors or reviewers you have interacted with because of a paper submission.

(3) Certification(s) of Research Security Training. See above, C.4.a(5).

(4) The Government will require an updated disclosure whenever Covered

Individuals are added or identified as performing under the funded project.

The Government may require an updated disclosure during the performance of any research project selected for funding.

(5) Covered Individuals are also required to sign the “Privacy Act Statement” and provide such signed statement to the Applicant/Recipient for submission with the proposal. (See Appendix 2).

Any decision to accept a proposal for funding under this announcement will include full reliance on the individual’s statements. Failure to report fully and completely all sources of project support and outside positions and affiliations may be considered a material statement within the meaning of the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. 3729, and constitute a violation of Federal law.

C.5.c. Actions required by Applicants/Recipients during period of performance

(1) Applicant/Recipient will utilize a section of the Research Progress Performance Report

(RPPR) to provide disclosure updates for Senior/Key Research Personnel and Covered Individuals. In addition, whenever a new covered individual(s) is to be added or identified as performing under the funded project, a new Research and Related Senior and Key Personal Profile (Expanded), Biosketch, Current and Pending (Other) Support, and Collaborators and Other Affiliations forms and disclosures will be required prior to continued performance.

If, at any time, during performance of this award, the Applicant/Recipient learns that its Senior/Key Research Personnel and/or Covered Individual (including any sub awardee personnel who receive this designation) are or are believed to be participants in a Foreign Government Talent Program or have Foreign Components with a strategic competitor or country with a history of targeting U.S. technology for unauthorized transfer, the Applicant/Recipient will notify the Contracting/Grants/Agreements Officer within five (5) business days of awareness.

Foreign Component is defined as performing any significant scientific aspect of a project outside the United States. This applies whether the activity is conducted by the recipient or a researcher at a foreign organization, regardless of whether grant funds are used.

(2) This disclosure must include specific information as to the personnel involved and the nature of the situation and relationship. The Government will review this information and conduct any necessary fact-finding or discussion with the Applicant/Recipient. The Government’s determination on disclosure may include acceptance, mitigation, or termination of the award.

The Applicant/Recipient will be required to flow down this provision to all sub awardees who have personnel designated as Senior/Key Research Personnel or Covered Individual as a result of their involvement in the performance of the research.

Type of activity Documents requiring information

Professional preparation (e.g., education and training).

• Biographical

Sketch

Academic, professional or institutional appointments and positions, whether or not remuneration is received, and whether full-time, part-time or voluntary.

• Biographical Sketch

A list of products that demonstrate the individual's qualifications to carry out the project as proposed.

• Biographical Sketch

Type of activity Documents requiring information

Current and pending (other) support:

• All resources made available, or expected to be made available, to an individual in support of the individual's research and development efforts, regardless of whether the source is foreign or domestic;

• whether the resource is made available through the entity applying for a research and development award or directly to the individual; or

• whether the resource has monetary value; and includes in-kind contributions requiring a commitment of time and directly supporting the individual's research and development efforts, such as the provision of office or laboratory space, equipment, supplies, employees or students.

• Current and Pending (Other) Support

In-kind contributions with an estimated dollar value of $5,000 or more that support the research activity for use on the project/proposal being proposed.

• Current and Pending (Other) Support

In-kind contributions:

• with an estimated dollar value of $5,000 or more,

• not intended for use on the project/proposal being proposed, and

• have an associated time commitment.

• Current and Pending (Other) Support

Current or pending participation in, or applications to, programs sponsored by foreign governments, instrumentalities, or entities, including foreign government sponsored talent recruitment programs.

• Biographical Sketch

• Current and Pending (Other) Support

(Appropriate placement in each document may be contract dependent)

D. APPLICATION CONTENTS AND FORMAT

D.1. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE

All the application forms you need are available electronically on Grants.gov. From the “View Grant Opportunity” page, you can click on the “Package” tab to download the application package.

You can find the electronic application package on Grants.gov by searching for the announcement number shown on page one. We will not issue paper copies of this announcement.

Please contact us at afosr.baa@us.af.mil to request a reasonable accommodation for and accessibility requirements you may have.

Type of activity Documents requiring information

Consulting activities under the proposals and active projects section of the form when any of the following scenarios apply:

• The consulting activity will require the senior/key person to perform research as part of the consulting activity;

• The consulting activity does not involve performing research, but is related to the senior/key person's research portfolio and may have the ability to impact funding, alter time or effort commitments, or otherwise impact scientific integrity; or

• The consulting entity has provided a contract that requires the senior/key person to conceal or withhold…