FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2023-0006 FINAL.pdf

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FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT

OVERVIEW INFORMATION

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) describes the research objectives of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) university Center of Excellence (COE) in Intelligent Structures for Morphing High Speed Vehicles, which addresses research objectives of the United States Space Force (USSF) and the United States Air Force (USAF). A university COE is defined as a joint effort among Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Air Force Research Laboratory Technology Directorates (AFRL TDs), and an outstanding university or team of universities to perform high-priority collaborative research. This center is a joint project between AFOSR, the Munitions Directorate (AFRL/RW), Aerospace Systems Directorate (AFRL/RQ), and the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate (AFRL/RX).

AFOSR anticipates making at least one grant award of up to $1,000,000 per year per award, for a maximum of five years. The base period is for three years, which the AFOSR intends to incrementally fund, followed by an option to extend an additional two years provided the COE passes a midterm “go/no-go” review at the 2.5-year point. All funding decisions are at the Government’s discretion and are subject to the availability of funds.

Proposers are highly encouraged to confer with the designated AFOSR program officer as soon as possible. AFOSR will evaluate proposals using a peer review panel and the criteria specified in section E: “Application Review Information.” While AFOSR reserves the right to select and fund all, some, or none of the proposals, AFOSR anticipates making one grant award under this announcement. AFOSR will not provide funding for reimbursement of proposal or application costs associated with responding to this FOA.

White Papers briefly summarizing the proposing institution’s ideas are highly encouraged. The AFOSR program officer will coordinate with the sponsoring Munitions Directorate (AFRL/RW), the Aerospace Systems Directorate (AFRL/RQ), and Materials and Manufacturing Directorate (AFRL/RX) technical leads to provide feedback to white papers and will share responsibility for ensuring the success of a COE.

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Proposals may choose to include a data management plan that outlines 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 and outside the COE. This is modeled on the National Science Foundation Data Management Plan1. This COE will focus on development of basic research foundations within a Sense-Assess-Respond (SAR) feedback control framework to fully exploit performance opportunities from morphing aircraft at high-speed.

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).

SUMMARY FUNDING OPPORTUNITY INFORMATION

1. FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY NAME

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

2. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TITLE

CENTER OF EXCELLENCE (COE): Intelligent Structures for Morphing High Speed Vehicles

3. ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE

Initial Announcement

4. ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER

FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2023-0006

5. CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER

12.800 Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program

6. KEY DATES

Pre-proposal inquiries and questions must be received in writing by electronic mail not later than 01 March 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time (ET) to be considered.

White papers are highly encouraged and must be submitted electronically at https://community.apan.org/wg/afosr/p/submitawhitepaper by 17 March 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time to be considered. White paper evaluation is meant to initially assess the capability of a proposed effort and is NOT a selection process. White papers can be up to 8 pages in length plus references. White papers should adequately articulate:

1. An initial list of members of the proposed team with a short bio or CV for each (CVs and/or bios will not count against page limit)

2. The main technical components of the proposed research and how it aligns with the goals of the solicitation.

3. The specific proposed activities to establish a relationship with AFRL/RW, RQ, https://community.apan.org/wg/afosr/p/submitawhitepaper

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RX, and AFOSR.

4. The specific plans to educate students/postdoctoral fellows, expose them to research opportunities with AFRL’s Technical Directorates, and ultimately further the interests of the USAF/USSF.

The Government will respond to white papers before COB on 24 March 2023.

Proposals must be received electronically through Grants.gov by 14 April 2023 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time to be considered.

We anticipate that we will notify proposers of selection or non-selection for award by 12 May 2023.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

1. SUMMARY

2. BACKGROUND

3. OBJECTIVE AND RESEARCH CONCENTRATION AREAS

4. COE- TECHNICAL DETAILS OF PROPOSED RESEARCH

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

1. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

a. Qualified and Responsible United States Educational Institutions

b. HBCU/MI, Tribal College and University Applicants Encouraged

c. Ineligible Entities

2. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

3. OTHER

a. Research Personnel Facility Access Requirements and Restrictions…………………….17

b. Acknowledgment of Support and Disclaimer Requirements

c. Expectation of Public Dissemination of Research Results

d. Representation for Tax Delinquency, Felony Conviction and Internal Confidentiality Agreements

e. Conflict of Interest

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

1. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE

2. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

a. Pre-proposal Inquiries and Questions

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b. The Application as a Whole

c. Proposal Format

d. Proposal Length

e. No Confidential or Proprietary Information

f. Electronic Form and Proposal Attachments

3. GRANTS.GOV APPLICATION SUBMISSION AND RECEIPT PROCEDURES

a. Electronic Delivery

b. How to Register to Apply through Grants.gov

c. How to Submit an Application to AFOSR via Grants.gov

4. COMPONENT PIECES OF THE APPLICATION

a. SF 424 (R&R) Application for Federal Assistance

b. Representation for Tax Delinquency, Felony Conviction, and Internal Confidentiality Agreements

c. SFLLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities Form

d. Certification Regarding Lobbying Form

e. R&R Other Project Information Form

f. R&R Publicly Releasable Project Summary / Abstract

g. Project Narrative

h. Bibliography and References Cited

i. R&R Senior / Key Person Profile Form

j. R&R Budget Form

k. R&R Sub award Budget Form

l. Budget Justification

m. R&R Project / Performance Site Locations Form

n. Data Management Plan (Required)

o. R&R Personal Data Form

5. INFORMATION YOU MUST SUBMIT IF SELECTED FOR POSSIBLE AWARD

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

MANAGEMENT (SAM)

a. SAM Registration Required

b. SAM Exemption or Exceptions Not Available Under This Announcement

c. Questions about SAM Registrations and Updates

d. Consequences of Non-Compliance with SAM Registration Requirements

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7. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES

a. Pre-Proposal Inquiries and Questions Deadline

b. How Submission Time for Pre-Proposal Inquiries and Questions is Determined

c. Effect of Missing Pre-Proposal Inquiries and Questions Deadline

d. Proposal Submission Deadline

e. How Proposal Submission Time is Determined

f. Grants.gov Tracking Number is Application Receipt

g. Effect of Missing the Proposal Submission Deadline

8. INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVIEW

9. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS

a. Proposal Preparation Costs

b. Air Force Office of Scientific Research No-cost Extension (NCE) Policy

c. Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements--Representation

d. Other Submission Requirements

E. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

1. CRITERIA

a. Principal Evaluation and Selection Criteria

b. Additional Evaluation and Selection Criteria

2. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

a. Merit-based, Competitive Procedures

b. Cost Analysis for Reasonableness and Realism

3. DISCLOSURE OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSING BY CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL

4. NO GUARANTEED AWARD

F. FEDERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

1. SELECTION NOTICES

a. Electronic Notification

b. Selection for Possible Award Does Not Authorize Work

2. AWARD NOTICIES

a. Federal Award Document

b. Electronic Federal Award Distribution

3. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

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a. Reporting of Matters Related to Recipient Integrity and Performance

b. Agency Review of Risk Posed by Applicants

c. Cross-Cutting National Policy Requirements

d. Acknowledgment of Research Support

e. Disclaimer Language for Research Materials and Publications

f. Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements

g. DoD Research and Development General Terms and Conditions

h. Conditions of Award for Recipients Other Than Individuals

i. Minimum Record Retention Requirements

4. REPORTING

a. Monitoring and Reporting Program Performance

b. Technical Performance Report Format

c. Department of Defense (DD) Form 882 Report of Inventions and Subcontracts

d. Standard Form (SF) 425 Federal Financial Report

e. Electronic Payment Requests and Electronic Payment

f. Property Reports

g. Other Reports

h. Electronic Submission of Reports

G. AGENCY CONTACTS

1. TECHNICAL INQUIRES AND QUESTIONS

2. GENERAL INQUIRIES AND QUESTIONS

H. OTHER INFORMATION

1. OMBUDSMAN

2. GRANTS AND CONTRACTING OFFICERS AUTHORITY

3. ADDITIONAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

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A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

1. SUMMARY

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) seeks unclassified proposals from educational institutions in the United States for a University Center of Excellence (CoE) in Intelligent Structures for Morphing High Speed Vehicles.

This center is a joint project between AFOSR and the Air Force Research Laboratory, Munitions Directorate (AFRL/RW), Aerospace Systems Directorate (AFRL/RQ), and Materials and Manufacturing Directorate (AFRL/RX), referred to collectively as “we, our, or us” or “AFRL” in this announcement. This Center of Excellence is anticipated to extend the research interests and capabilities of AFRL in this area. and provide opportunities for a new generation of US scientists and engineers to address United States Space Force (USSF) and United States Air Force (USAF) research needs. Proposals must not contain any proprietary information.

We will consider proposals for up to five (5) years with a three-year (3) base period and a two-year (2) option period.

We will evaluate proposals using peer review panels and the criteria specified in Section E of this FOA (Application Review Information).

We anticipate making at least one award under this competition for a team proposal with no more than two universities.

AFRL invites proposals for research in the areas described in detail below. The schedule for this announcement is given in Section B, Federal Award Information. This research effort will consist of multidisciplinary teams of researchers with the skills needed to address the relevant research challenges necessary to meet the program’s goals. Multi- investigator teaming is encouraged. University teaming (up to two) is allowed. Under no circumstances will the Government help to create teams.

2. BACKGROUND

The purpose of this CoE is to develop basic research foundations within a Sense-Assess- Respond (SAR) feedback control framework to fully exploit performance opportunities from morphing aircraft at high-speed1. The extent of performance gain holds promise for transformational impact to the USAF and USSF mission areas. Future intelligent aircraft must continuously adapt its shape at high rates while maintaining robust operation through an uncertain and changing atmosphere. Yet, the challenge of rapidly tracking and maintaining morphed configurations in real-world conditions reveals broad scientific gaps in the basic components of current feedback control architectures.

1 High-speed morphing refers to smooth outer mold line shape change in supersonic or greater flight regimes

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Figure 1 The sense, assess, respond context for morphing actions. Left: Representative schematic of essential elements in closed loop feedback process for morphing. Right: Innovation opportunities for morphing feedback control: advancing sensing materials, creating sensing motifs that are inherently compatible with adaptive materials, locally embedding assess operations into the sensor material response, and expanding the physical knowledge base of morphing vehicles for multi-objective control.

To access new aircraft performance regimes, a primary objective of a morphing control system is improved aerodynamics. Responsive aerodynamics require active control of near surface flow pressure and velocity fields, which may be unsteady with large spatial gradients. Application of modern flight control technologies leads to the selection of electromagnetic, pneumatic, or hydraulic servomotor actuators for morphing, a set of internally mounted sensors (e.g. inertial measurement units) or embedded sensors on rigid surfaces (e.g. pressure transducers), and a centrally processed digital control law. This approach inherently works with dramatically lower spatial and temporal fidelity than the flow physics that are to be controlled. Therefore, current control outcomes are limited as compared to the true performance opportunity that morphing provides.

Herein, a Sense-Assess-Respond (SAR) feedback loop provides framework for robust and efficient control. The complex dynamic environment of morphing high-speed aircraft presents significant challenges for the collecting and processing of sensor data at sufficient time scales for real-time decision authority. Bottlenecks in sensor transduction and transmission to central processors can generate response lags that preclude the real-time leveraging of local changes in aerodynamic loading and thermal transients. Shortening the sense-to-response time is anticipated to unlock a new level of performance gains and operational benefits for Department of Defense (DoD) systems. For example, recent computational fluid dynamics studies suggest that higher spatial fidelity of local flow information may detect the onset of dynamic stall events, allowing an expansion of the flight envelope to near-stall operation. Similarly, missile vortex shedding and shock wave interactions are other examples of opportunity for local flow information to enable more agile and efficient maneuvering.

Increasing control resolution for morphing aircraft will incur significant cost, size, weight, and power (C-SWaP) tradeoffs that may reduce potential morphing aircraft performance gains.

Wiring of a sensor network to a centralized processor (weight), thermal management of conventional electronics (power), and integrating a high-fidelity sensing system within geometric packaging constraints (size) are emblematic of the challenges facing this vision. To locally exploit complex flow physics and other environmental stimuli, fundamentally new approaches must be considered. AFRL requires new algorithms, sensing methods, actuation

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schemes, information transmission, and integration strategies to consolidate the sensor-to-actuator decision pathway.

The vision of this CoE is to discover novel feedback concepts for a high-speed morphing structure through a holistic evaluation of synergies and innovations achievable within the SAR framework:

1. Sense: exploratory sensor materials and concepts with plausible survivability, power, size, bandwidth, output transmission, and integration within high strain substrates;

2. Assess: visionary information processing hardware and algorithms for feedback of sensory data at sufficient time scales to control and leverage novel unsteady flow dynamics, and;

3. Respond: novel compact, yet high performance, actuation through adaptive materials, collocated near assessment capabilities with appropriately matched physics to reduce overhead while achieving required morphing states under load.

The local flows associated with the intelligent structure, as opposed to a full aircraft outer mold line, are also a crucial element of this research. Continuous local shape change is an opportunity to study complex or unsteady flows that may hold aerodynamic benefits to future aircraft. Such flows are also relevant to test hypotheses related to the envisioned SAR function.

Competitive proposals will balance integrated and multidisciplinary research among the above SAR topics. A predominant focus on engineering solutions that combines high-performance subcomponents to achieve traditional feedback loop efficiencies in an intelligent structure will be considered non-responsive. Rather, we seek proposals that apply an information-theoretic approach to discover new sensor modalities, new information abstractions, and unconventional processing implementations through a holistic understanding of the SAR feedback loop.

3. OBJECTIVE AND RESEARCH CONCENTRATION AREAS

The overarching goal of this CoE is to develop basic research foundations within a Sense- Assess-Respond (SAR) control framework to fully exploit performance opportunities from morphing aircraft at high speed.

To create a focal point for collaborative and integrated research among the three core research areas below, a geometric abstraction for an intelligent structure, such as a plate, fin, wing, cylinder, cone, or combination body is recommended. Of greatest interest are geometric abstractions motivated from vehicle performance, such as maneuverability, aerodynamic efficiency, or stability augmentation. Morphing actions of interest include bending, twisting, extension, compression, and other relevant shape change actions. The intelligent structure may be predetermined or part of a discovery process worked in parallel to the SAR research.

The SAR framework underlying the intelligent structure must be studied in the context of the flow environment. Flows involving boundary layer unsteadiness, vortex development, or large spatio-temporal variation in properties are of interest, particularity when associated with vehicle performance gains. A detailed vehicle definition is not of interest, although a suitable high-speed vehicle abstraction may be helpful to define a relevant intelligent structure geometry and morphing actions.

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Discovery and investigation of flow physics of high-speed morphing actions will enrich and guide research within the SAR framework. Therefore, a component of this CoE should involve continued research to understand and model the flow physics of the proposed morphing abstractions. We pose research questions to prompt the proposer to evaluate whether their ideas address the concepts of interest:

Research Question: How do flow properties change under morphing action at high speed for the proposed intelligent structure abstraction and how are flow changes expected to provide performance gains?

3.1 SENSE: Broaden Sensor Materials Characteristics

Significant challenges exist in sensor materials that require high strength, modulus, and toughness for temperatures and pressures associated with high-speed morphing environments.

Silicon-based microelectromechanical designs, silicon carbide, and refractory metals face challenges at elevated temperatures, while ceramics, ceramic matrix composites and single crystals are difficult to machine. We seek research that advances existing sensor materials or identifies new options for integration within the intelligent structure framework.

Research Question: How do the Assess and Response functions affect the desired sensory material and response characteristics?

Sensor integration decisions significantly influence research directions. Here, surface or internally mounted sensor concepts are of interest. Surface embedded materials experience the harshest environment, while allowing a more direct response from surface pressure and shear forces. Robust integration within a high-strain host substrate without jeopardizing surface integrity becomes a challenge with surface integrated concepts. In contrast, internally embedding sensory materials avoids these challenges, yet also couples flow information with morphing component structural response. While typically viewed as a noise source, such coupling is also an opportunity to leverage information contained within the structure.

Research Question: What is the relationship between information quality and sensor survivability as sensors are placed further subsurface?

Surface and internally embedded sensing are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Morphing actions work through local flow changes from environment or the morphed state. Therefore, sensor motifs that incorporate different modalities to observe salient fluid and structural processes relevant to intelligent structure function may be appropriate. We do not seek strategies that focus on optimized layouts. Instead, we seek approaches that address sensor characteristics driven by environment, interdependencies with Assess and Response functions, robust integration, and leveraging information contained within the host structure.

Research Question: Regarding interdependency between Sense and Assess, how may relevant information contained within host structure response improve the quality of information?

3.2 ASSESS: Consolidate Sense and Response Processes

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Innovative Algorithms: Efficient transduction, representation, and interpretation of sensor information is critical for viable processing of local information at the spatial, temporal, and frequency resolutions of interest. Opportunities to improve this efficiency exist at all points along the sensor-to-actuator decision pathway.

Research Question: How may the representation of sensory data be most compatible and functionally relevant to requisite computing tasks?

Physics-based models often inform the type and placement of sensors. Such model-driven sensor strategies offer the advantage of human interpretability of the sensor-to-actuator decision pathway, improving perceived robustness, and potentially a reduced number of required sensors.

However, human interpretability can generate inefficiencies as data representations are selected to facilitate human intuition versus representations aligned with machine processing. In addition, models inevitably will not capture all of the complexities of the loading environment for the diverse flight regimes of interest. A single sensor placement strategy comes with inherent tradeoffs between intelligent structure functional requirements driven by operational goals and various associated flight conditions.

New strategies are needed to balance competing demands of human intuition and machine processing efficiency, as well as to guide the design and analysis of the Sense-Assess-Respond feedback loop. Reduced order analysis (e.g., manifold projections) between model-based and data-driven approaches is one potential direction to consider. Comparison between reduced order models derived from computational and experimental models will inform the validity of model assumptions, the requirements of spatial-temporal fidelities, and motivate new directions for sensor attributes.

Research Questions: How may reduced order projections of diverse sensor data streams align with intelligent structure decision making? What high dimensional sensor motifs and placement strategies map into a reduced subspace that is balanced for Assess efficiency and interpretability?

Remote sensing and inverse problem techniques are also research directions of interest to achieve information processing in the challenging thermomechanical environment of high-speed systems.

Innovative Hardware Approaches: Bottlenecks and information loss occur at points of data conversion, such as transduction from mechanical loading to an electronic signal, or analog-to-digital signal. Minimizing the incidence of these conversion points, or strategically placing them in the signal pipeline for efficiency, is an important area for feedback design rule development. Additionally, pre-processing local environmental cues directly in their respective physics would improve data efficiency by consolidating state information before transmitting it to a processing node and further reduce the bandwidth requirements of the data conversion process. Advances in unconventional computing hardware and processing techniques are needed to exploit this opportunity, such as physical reservoir computing. Reservoir computing is a powerful machine learning method based on recurrent neural networks (RNNs) that exploit the topological diversity and nonlinearity in dynamical processes to perform computational

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mappings. In the context of this CoE, reservoir computing could be a potential strategy to perform pre-processing of the dynamic loading environment by designing sensor modalities that better promote signal separation between loading profiles.

Research Questions: What material/structural nonlinearities and dynamics can be leveraged for physical computation? How does an unconventional processing approach regulate the type and quality of loading information accessible and the efficient mapping to a morphing response?

Executing computational tasks directly in the physics of the loading signal or through the dynamic response of the aero-structure offers several advantages. Direct physical processing minimizes the bottleneck challenges due to signal conversion, as pre-processing is performed in the physics of the load. It also addresses SWaP by reducing the wiring requirements to a central processor. We anticipate this CoE will push the collection and processing tasks to the edge of the sensor train to stimulate the development of new strategies that consolidate the Sense and Assess tasks of the feedback control process.

3.3 RESPOND: Morphing Actuation and Integration Strategies

It is also expected that 1) appropriate amounts of physical collocation for consolidating the sense and assess tasks or 2) matching the underlying physics with the approaches will realize intelligent structure SWaP and response time benefits. Examination of multiple data sources (flow, structural, sensory, etc.) is expected to identify integration approaches that accomplish complex tasks without centralized control.

Collocating response with assessment: It is also desired to examine how morphing response will realize improved efficiencies by considering how information should be distributed to actuators.

Research Questions: As Sense and Assess become collocated, how does also localizing actuation also benefit overall response time and cost? How can this be interpreted from the perspective of locality of information transmitted to actuators?

Actuation approaches do not necessarily need to be completely localized, but it is presumed that an actuation system that is not completely dependent upon a centralized approach could reduce SWaP and increase metrics, such as half-power bandwidth, by not necessarily being dependent upon a common clock. Additionally, actuators operating over differing timescales for different purposes are expected to benefit from decentralization and collocation. Specifically, reduced overhead for the long-timescale actuation and improved bandwidth for the short-timescale actuators is expected.

Research Question: Integrating with Sense and Response, how may a sensor array support decentralization to reduce overhead while enriching the required information throughput-to nearby actuation?

Selecting novel actuation techniques: Current strategies for outer mold line morphing rely on pneumatic and electromechanical actuation. These approaches are well established, but state of

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the art instances lead to SWaP requirements that can outweigh system-level performance gains.

Key to future morphing concepts are the relatively lightweight and compact adaptive materials.

Shape memory alloys, piezoelectrics, or carbon nanotube (CNT)-doped yarns exhibit some of the desired SWaP properties. However, unlike pneumatic and electromechanical options, adaptive materials alone may lack performance (e.g. maximum rate, stroke, power density, or work density).

The required morphing actions may involve simultaneous high displacement and rates under mechanical and thermal loads. Advancements in adaptive materials may allow direct actuation.

However, indirect actuation, where the adaptive material is integrated within a mechanism or structure (e.g., compliant mechanisms) to improve properties as an overall transducer, is also of interest.

Research Question: What is the appropriate combination of novel actuation to reduce sensor train and improve response time when considering the integration of the previous sense and assess tasks?

These practical considerations for realizing novel actuation must also be balanced with the desired SWaP gains that are expected from physics-matching and appropriate collocation of the novel actuation with its sensing and assessment modalities.

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4. UNIVERSITY CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

Proposals for this multidisciplinary COE are sought that articulate the technical details of the proposed research and the planned mechanisms to educate a new generation of professionals.

This CoE brings together the fields of morphing aerospace science, adaptive and sensing materials, information theory, and feedback control. This CoE is expected to lead to the cross-pollination of the adaptive structures community with the information theory and data fusion communities. As such, multi-investigator teaming across departments and disciplines is highly encouraged. We anticipate the program will be a mix of theory, algorithm and hardware development. Particular emphasis should be placed on transformative concepts, over incremental efficiency gains, to innovate solutions within the Sense-Assess-Respond feedback loop. Developing students with cross-expertise in the areas listed above and the ability to effectively communicate between these technical communities is paramount.

We expect researchers from the CoE to work collaboratively with the AFRL researchers to address critical USAF and USSF challenges. The CoE researchers will coordinate research projects with AFRL researchers, share information and best practices, author joint studies and publications, and provide a number of learning opportunities and applications for students and the defense community overall. Regular interactions, joint conferences, workshops, and other research exchange activities are expected. AFRL is open to leveraging the existing AFRL, AFOSR, and National Research Council (NRC) Summer Faculty Fellowship and Post-Doctoral programs. In this manner, educational institution staff and students with the appropriate credentials can be hosted at AFRL with minimal additional administrative overhead, in a coordinated fashion with the existing visiting faculty and summer research programs. Applicants are encouraged to consider providing personnel exchange opportunities that can foster AFRL activities that parallel graduate research groups at universities, i.e., closely integrated researchers under research advisors geared toward journal and conference paper publication and thesis/dissertation accomplishment.

AFRL is seeking both traditional and innovative approaches that strengthen and result in long term research collaborations with academia.

Described below is what a strong proposal should provide.

4.1 Technical Details of Proposed Research

A strong proposal should outline, as specifically as possible, the technical details of the proposed research. In addition, proposals should articulate how research goals align with the research objectives outlined in the previous section. Proposers can enhance or deviate from these topics if they provide reasonable technical arguments and if they are still addressing the required objectives. Efforts integrating a variety of approaches are preferred to those using a single approach, especially as these may provide increased opportunities for information and technology transfer to AFRL.

4.2 Investigator Qualifications

In line with the basic research vision of this COE, proposals should highlight the following qualifications of the proposed academic collaborators:

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1. Strong history of published research that is both principled and foundational in the fields of morphing aerospace science, adaptive and sensing materials, information theory, and feedback control.

2. Expertise within the academic team covering the range of aerospace engineering, materials science, engineering mechanics, computer science and electrical engineering with potential contributions from mathematics and/or physics.

3. Willingness to collaborate on and commit resources to jointly defined projects with AFRL scientists and engineers (S&Es).

4.3 Interactions and Information Exchange

Proposals should address plans for the following interactions between AFRL S&Es and academic collaborators:

1. One or more research projects, jointly defined by the academic collaborators and S&Es at AFRL that are in line with collaborators’ expertise, AFRL interest, and the goals of this COE.

2. Commitment from academic collaborators of graduate students and/or post-doctoral associates to work on the aforementioned project(s) both at the academic institutions and embedded with S&Es at AFRL, working on USAF and USSF data and learning tasks.

3. A yearly workshop, independent of annual meetings, where topics are jointly defined by the academic collaborators and AFRL S&Es. Such a workshop would be organized by the academic collaborators, include invited speakers, and be located at an AF/DoD facility.

4. If applicable, how the COE will leverage other institutional resources to expand the participation of students and postdoctoral fellows in the COE, establish dedicated facility and office space, and/or other means of promoting research.

Proposers are encouraged to confer with the designated points of contact as soon as possible.

Their contact information can be found at the end of this announcement. Coordination with AFOSR, AFRL/RW, AFRL/RQ, and AFRL/RX prior to proposal submission is encouraged but is not required.

5. ACCESS TO DOD RESOURCES

Proposals may request access to AFRL facilities or DOD high performance computing resources in order to conduct the proposed research. Proposals should make this request in accordance with the instructions given in the D.4.g. Project Narrative section of this announcement. If authorized, there is no cost to the research for these resources.

Applicants are advised that routine access of educational institution researchers to AFRL/RW, RQ, and RX buildings and facilities is limited to U.S. citizens. Individuals eligible for access are subject to background checks. Section C.3.a. Research Personnel Facility Access Requirements and Restrictions provides more information.

Award(s) under this FOA are not restricted to US citizens, but access to DoD facilities is limited for non-US citizens, which could add coordination challenges. An objective of this COE is to establish relationships between researchers at the performing universities and the relevant AFRL Directorates. If relevant, proposals should include information on US and non- US personnel, describing their roles in the research effort.

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B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

AFOSR anticipates making one award under this announcement, through an issued grant. Any award made under this competition will support a University Center of Intelligent Structures for Morphing High Speed Vehicles and is subject to availability of funds. AFOSR executes discretionary research and development funds appropriated to the USAF and the USSF for awards. AFOSR can only make an award if sufficient funds are available.

The anticipated period of performance is a three-year base period, with one two-year option to continue performance. As a result, the total period of performance if all options are exercised is five (5) years.

AFOSR anticipates making at least one grant award of up to $1,000,000 per year per award, for a maximum of five years. The base period is for three years, which the AFOSR intends to incrementally fund, followed by an option to extend an additional two years provided the COE passes a midterm “go/no-go” review at the 2.5-year point. All funding decisions are at the Government’s discretion and are subject to the availability of funds.

This plan means proposers should plan on not more than $5,000,000 in funding for the entire five-year duration if all options are exercised; however, the total amount of funding and resources made available to fund a successful proposal may vary based on the quality of proposals received, and funds availability.

AFOSR reserves the right to select and fund for award all, some, part, or none of the proposals received. There is no guarantee of an award.

Our authority for an award under this competition is established at 10 U.S.C. 2192(b)(1)(B) for improvement of education in technical fields, and 10 U.S.C. 4001 for basic and applied research.

We discuss regulations, terms, and conditions that generally apply to our awards in Section F.

Federal Award Administration Information.

KEY DATES

Schedule of Events

Event Date Eastern Time

Pre-proposal inquiries and questions regarding eligibility and technical requirements ** 01 March 2023 NLT 11:59 PM

Answers to questions posted 03 March 2023 White Papers Due (highly encouraged) 17 March 2023 NLT 11:59 PM

Notifications of Evaluations of White Papers 24 March 2023

Proposals due 14 April 2023 NLT 11:59 PM

Notification of Selection for Award 12 May 2023

Start of Award 26 June 2023*

*This date is an estimate as of the date of this announcement.

**Questions submitted after the Q&A deadline may not be answered.

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title10-section2192&num=0&edition=prelim

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C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

1. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

a. Qualified and Responsible United States Educational Institutions You are eligible to submit an application if you are a qualified and responsible educational institution in the United States as defined at 10 U.S.C. 2194, or an entity comprised of such educational institutions. Educational institution means a local educational agency, college, university, or any other nonprofit institution dedicated to improving science, mathematics, and engineering education. No other entities are eligible to submit applications under this competition. Any entities receiving subawards must meet these same criteria. Since the intent of this FOA is to fund a research center with co-located researchers and facilities, at least 40 percent of key personnel (i.e., PIs and co-PIs) for a proposed COE must be primarily employed by the institution submitting the proposal.

AFOSR reviews 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

200.205 and 32 CFR 22.410 to assess risk posed by applicants, and confirm applicants are qualified, responsible, and eligible to receive an award.

b. HBCU/MI, Tribal College and University Applicants Encouraged Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions (HBCUs/MSIs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities are encouraged to submit research proposals and join others in submitting proposals. However, no funds under this announcement are reserved or otherwise set-aside for any specific entity type. The Air Force will only use the E.1. Criteria for proposal selection.

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

(1) Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs)

(2) Individual persons or people

(3) Federal agencies (to include Military Educational Institutions)

(4) For-profit institutions

2. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

Cost sharing or matching is neither required nor an evaluation criterion for proposals under this announcement. Leveraging other institutional resources to increase the participation of students and postdoctoral fellows in the COE and/or promote research and relationships with AFRL to benefit the COE would enhance the collaboration plan that will be evaluated as part of the DoD relevance criterion for proposals under this announcement.

3. OTHER

a. Research Personnel Facility Access Requirements and Restrictions https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200 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

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A key aspect of this CoE is workforce development. It is envisioned that students and post-docs working under this CoE be able to collaborate with AFRL personnel at AFRL laboratories and facilities. As such, we require that any students and post-docs funded by this CoE be US citizens or permanent residents. Additionally, AFRL contains facilities and equipment that could be useful to this Center. Access to these facilities is restricted to US citizens or permanent residents.

b. Acknowledgment of Support and Disclaimer Requirements

You must include the F. 3.d. Acknowledgment of Research Support on all materials created or produced under our awards. The F. 3.e. Disclaimer Language must be included on materials as required. The 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. Expectation of Public Dissemination of Research Results

AFOSR expects public dissemination of research results if you receive an award. This is a basic requirement for unclassified research results.

AFOSR intends, 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 DoD as described in the OUSD, AT&L Memorandum, “Public Access to Department of Defense-Funded Research” dated 09 Jul 2014.

AFOSR follows 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 Officer’s advice and consent. All exclusions must be authorized or required by law and must cite a valid legal authority.

d. Representation for Tax Delinquency, Felony Conviction and Internal Confidentiality Agreements

You must complete the “Representation for Tax Delinquency, Felony Conviction, and Internal Confidentiality Agreements” provided with the Grants.gov package. More specific information about this requirement is provided in section D.4.b.

Your eligibility for funding cannot be determined unless this form is received.

https://discover.dtic.mil/public-access-requirements-incorporated-into-the-dod-stip/ https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/523024p.pdf?ver=JiZUVfNZrPKmcRMim_UnHg%3d%3d https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/523027p.pdf?ver=2019-04-04-095230-883 https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/523027p.pdf?ver=2019-04-04-095230-883

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e. Conflict of Interest

(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 sub recipient you include in your proposal. You must provide enough information for AFOSR to evaluate your disclosure. AFOSR may have to ask you more questions if more information is needed.

At AFOSR’s sole discretion, you may be asked for a conflict of interest mitigation plan after you submit your proposal. Your plan is subject to AFOSR 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.

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

You are not eligible to submit a proposal if you cannot accept these terms.

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

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 “Application 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. Paper copies of this announcement will not be issued.

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

2. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

a. Pre-proposal Inquiries and Questions You are encouraged to contact the Program Officer listed in section G.1. Technical Inquires and Questions before you submit your proposal.

https://www.grants.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/

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If you need help with general matters, you should contact the individuals listed in G.2.

General Inquiries and Questions.

Your pre-proposal inquiries and questions should be submitted not later than 11:59 PM Eastern Time on 1 March 2023. AFOSR may not be able to answer questions received later. This is discussed more in section D.7. Submission Dates and Times.

The Program Officer does not have the authority to make commitments for the government.

Grants and Contracting Officers acting within their warranted capacity are the only people authorized to make commitments for the Government.

b. The Application as a Whole You must submit your proposal electronically through Grants.gov. AFOSR will not accept or evaluate any proposal submitted by any means other than through Grants.gov. AFOSR must receive your proposal before the D.7.d. Proposal Submission Deadline.

You must use the electronic Standard Form (SF) 424 Research and Related (R&R) Form Family, OMB Number 4040-0001. The SF 424 (R&R) Application for Federal assistance form must be your cover page. No pages may precede the SF 424 (R&R).

You must mark your application with the announcement number.

A summary of what is required for a complete proposal is summarized below:

The forms and attachments in bold text are required with all applications Some applications require the attachments in italic More instructions are provided in D.4. Component Pieces of the Application

R&R FORM, OMB No. 4040-0001 FIELD ATTACHMENT SF 424 (R&R) Application for Federal 18. Representation for Tax Assistance, including an authorized Delinquency, Felony Signature Conviction, and Internal

Confidentiality Agreements

18. SFLLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities R&R Other Project Information Form 7. Project Summary /

Abstract

8. Project Narrative

9. Bibliography & References Cited

10. Facilities and Other Resources R&R Other Project Information Form 11. Equipment

12. Other Attachments R&R Senior / Key Person Profile Form Biographical Sketch

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Current & Pending Support R&R Budget Form Budget Justification R&R Sub award Budget Attachments Form Sub award Budget

Justification R&R Project / Performance Site None Locations Form R&R Personal Data (Optional) None

The SF 424 (R&R) must include the signature of an authorized representative from your organization. The signature is affixed electronically by Grants.gov upon submission. This signature is considered the signature for the application as a whole.

c. Proposal Format

Paper Size – 8.5 x 11-inch paper Margins – 1 inch Spacing – Single, 1.5, or 2.0-line spacing Font – Times New Roman or Garamond, 12 point Page Limitation – No more than twenty-five (25) single-sided pages. The cover page, table of contents, list of references, letters of support, curriculum vitae and list of on-going and pending research support are excluded from the page limitations. The pages of proposals exceeding the page limit may not be included in the evaluation.

Attachments – Electronic Portable Document Format (PDF) Content – As described below

d. Proposal Length

No more than twenty-five (25) single-sided pages. You must not include elaborate brochures, reprints, or presentations beyond those sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal.

AFOSR will not consider more than the maximum number of pages in its evaluation;

however, not all pages are counted. This list below is intended to help you understand how to calculate your page count.

NOT INCLUDED IN PAGE COUNT

• SF 424 (R&R)…