NOFOAFRLAFOSR20250003.pdf

NOFOAFRLAFOSR20250003

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (NOFO) #

for the

AFRL FY25 Compositional Optimization, Dynamical Systems and Control

(CODAC) UNIVERSITY CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

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Reference Key Dates

OVERVIEW INFORMATION

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) describes a newly proposed initiative of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) concerning standing up a University Center of Excellence (uCoE) for “Compositional Optimization, Dynamical Systems and Control (CODAC)” with educational institutions in the United States. The uCoE is defined as a joint effort among multiple technical directorates (TDs) of the Air Force Research Laboratory to include: the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Information Directorate (RI), Autonomy Capability Team (ACT3), and Munitions Directorate (RW), referred to collectively as “we, our, or us,” in this NOFO, and an outstanding university or team of universities that will perform high priority unclassified and collaborative basic / applied (6.1/ 6.2) research which addresses the United States Air Force (USAF) and United States Space Force (USSF) research needs in the CODAC area with relevance to joint optimization and decision making.

AFOSR anticipates making at least one grant award of up to $1,150,000 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 uCoE passes a midterm “go/no-go” review at the 2.5-year point. By agreement, AFOSR and the participants AFRL/RI, AFRL/ACT3, and AFRL/RW can ramp-up funding in beginning years or ramp-down funding in the final years to a uCoE. All funding decisions are at the Government’s discretion and are subject to the availability of funds.

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

NOFO.

White Papers briefly summarizing the proposing institution’s ideas are required. The AFOSR program officer will coordinate with the sponsoring Information Directorate (AFRL/RI), Autonomy Capability Team (AFRL/ACT3) and Munitions Directorate (AFRL/RW) leads to provide feedback to white papers and will share responsibility for ensuring the success of a uCoE.

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 uCoE. This is modeled on the National Science Foundation Data Management Plan. This uCoE will focus on the interactions between several technical elements that form the foundations of compositional optimization, dynamics, and control.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

No direct communications with AFOSR and AFRL TD personnel related to this announcement will be permitted. All questions must be submitted in writing as per the instructions and cut off dates in the Key Dates table.

Applicants should be alert for any amendments that may modify this announcement.

Amendments to this original funding opportunity announcement (NOFO) will be posted to the Grants.gov Webpage: https://www.grants.gov/.

https://www.grants.gov/

SUMMARY FUNDING OPPORTUNITY INFORMATION

FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY NAME

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

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TITLE

CENTER OF EXCELLENCE: Compositional Optimization, Dynamical Systems and Control (CODAC)

ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE

Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). This is the initial announcement.

NOFO NUMBER

CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA) NUMBER(S)

12.800 – Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program

KEY DATES

Event Date Eastern Time Solicitation Posted by Government on Grants.gov Tuesday, 21 January 2025 No Later Than (NLT)

11:59 PM

Cut-Off Date for Q&A’s to AFRL Technical personnel

Submit questions by email to: Elizabeth.Burzenski@us.af.mil

Please include in the subject line

“CODAC uCoE Pre-White Paper Inquiry”

Your questions will generally be consolidated with other questions and posted on Grants.gov so everyone gets the same information. AFOSR may provide an individual response by email if your question does not apply to anyone else.

Friday, 07 February 2025 (NLT) 11:59 PM mailto:Elizabeth.Burzenski@us.af.mil

Pre-White Paper Q&As published as an amendment to the solicitation on Grants.gov

(No direct communications with AFRL Technical personnel related to this announcement will be permitted until award selection and non-selection notices are issued.)

Monday, 24 February 2025 (NLT) 11:59 PM

White Paper Due Date.

Submit White Papers to:

https://community.apan.org/wg/afosr/p/submitawhitepaper

White paper submissions should clearly articulate the logic and key elements of the proposed approach as per the instructions set forth in Section D.II.2.

(White papers shall have a four (4) page limit, single-sided)

Monday, 03 March 2025 (NLT) 11:59 PM

White Paper Feedback provided and

Notice of Selection or Non-Selection of White Paper for a Proposal Submission Invitation.

Provided by email from the Grants Officer to the Applicant email addresses cited in the White Paper submission

Monday, 24 March 2025 Approximately

Cut-Off Date for Pre-proposal Q&As prior to Submission

Submit questions by email to: Elizabeth.Burzenski@us.af.mil

Please include in the subject line “CODAC uCoE Pre-proposal Inquiry”

Your questions will generally be consolidated with other questions and posted on Grants.gov so everyone gets the same information. AFOSR may provide an individual response by email if your question does not apply to anyone else.

Monday, 31 March 2025 (NLT) 11:59 PM

Proposal Submission Q&As published as an amendment to the solicitation on Grants.gov

Monday, 07 April 2025

(NLT) 11:59 PM

Proposal Submission Due Date (by invitation only from White Paper Selection notice)

Submitted electronically on the Grants.gov website

Monday, 21 April 2025 (NLT) 11:59 PM

Notification of Selection or Non-Selection for Award

Provided by email from the Grants Officer to the Applicant email addresses cited in the Proposal Submission SF 424.

Monday, 19 May 2025 Approximately

Contents

OVERVIEW INFORMATION

SUMMARY FUNDING OPPORTUNITY INFORMATION

KEY DATES

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

I. SUMMARY

II. BACKGROUND

III. OBJECTIVES AND KEY SCIENTIFIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR RESEARCH CONCENTRATION AREAS, WHITE PAPER, AND FULL PROPOSAL EVALUATION

IV. UNIVERSITY CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

1. Technical Details

2. Planned Mechanisms for Collaboration

3. Access to DoD Resources

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

I. AWARD INFORMATION

II. KEY DATES

C. ELIGIBILITY

I. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

1. Qualified and Responsible United States Educational Institutions

2. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) / Minority Institutions (MI), Tribal College and University Applicants Encouraged

3. Eligibility Notice for All Applicants

4. Ineligible Entities

5. Research Personnel Facility Access Requirements and Restrictions

6. Agency Review of Risk Posed by Applicants

II. DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST (COI) / CONFLICT OF COMMITMENT (COC)

1. Disclosure of COI / COC for covered individuals

2. Codes of Conduct

III. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

IV. OTHER

1. Acknowledgment of Support and Disclaimer Requirements

2. Expectation of Public Dissemination of Research Results

3. Security Risk Review

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

I. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION PROCESS

II. WHITE PAPER TECHNICAL Q&A’S AND WHITE PAPER SUBMISSION

1. Pre-white paper Inquiries

2. White Paper Content

3. White Paper Evaluation Criteria

4. White Paper Submission

III. PROPOSAL APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

1. Address to Request Application Package

2. Pre-proposal Inquiries

3. The Proposal Application as a Whole

4. Proposal Format

5. Proposal Length / Page Limitations

6. No Confidential or Proprietary / Privileged Information

7. Electronic Form and Proposal Attachments

IV. GRANTS.GOV APPLICATION SUBMISSION AND RECEIPT PROCEDURES

1. How to Register to Apply through Grants.gov

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

V. COMPONENT PIECES OF THE APPLICATION

1. SF 424 (R&R) Application for Federal Assistance Form (Required)

2. SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities Form (If Applicable)

3. R&R Other Project Information Form (Required)

4. R&R Publicly Releasable Project Abstract Summary (Required)

5. Project Narrative (Required)

6. Bibliography and References Cited (Required)

7. R&R Senior / Key Person Profile (Expanded) Form (Required)

8. R&R Personal Data Form (Optional)

9. R&R Prime (Applicant) Budget Form (Required)

10. R&R Subaward Budget Form & Subaward Budget Justification (If Applicable)

11. R&R Subaward Budget Attachments Form (If Applicable)

12. Prime (Applicant) Budget Justification (Required)

13. R&R Project / Performance Site Locations Form (Required)

14. Data Management Plan (Optional)

VI. REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

VII. UNIQUE ENTITY IDENTIFIER (UEI), CAGE, and SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (SAM) .. 48

1. SAM Registration Required

2. SAM Exemption or Exceptions Not Available Under This Announcement

3. Questions about SAM Registrations and Updates

4. Consequences of Non-Compliance with SAM Registration Requirements

VIII. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DATE AND TIME DETERMINATION

1. Pre-proposal Inquiries Deadline

2. How Submission Time for Pre-proposal Inquiries is Determined

3. Effect of Missing Pre-Proposal Inquiries Deadline

4. Proposal Submission Deadline

5. How Proposal Submission Time is Determined

6. Grants.gov Tracking Number is Application Receipt

7. Other Submission Requirements

8. Effect of Missing the Proposal Submission Deadline

IX. INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVIEW

X. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS

1. Proposal Preparation Costs

2. Air Force Office of Scientific Research No Cost Extension (NCE) Policy

3. Air Force Office of Scientific Research Additional Funding Request

4. Equipment Vesting

5. Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements – Representation

E. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

I. EVALUATION CRITERIA

1. Principal Evaluation Criteria

2. Additional Evaluation Criteria

II. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

1. Merit-based, Competitive Procedures

2. Cost / Price Analysis

III. DISCLOSURE OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSING BY CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL

IV. NO GUARANTEED AWARD

F. FEDERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

I. SELECTION NOTICES

1. Electronic Notification

2. Selection for Possible Award Does Not Authorize Work

II. AWARD NOTICES

1. Federal Award Document

2. Electronic Federal Award Distribution

III. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

1. Certification Regarding Disclosure of Funding Sources (Supplement to SF424 (R&R), block 17, Financial Assistance Certifications and Representations)

2. Certification on Lobbying Activity

3. Unpaid Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under Any Federal Law – DoD Appropriations

4. Reporting of Matters Related to Recipient Integrity and Performance

5. Agency Review of Risk Posed by Applicants

6. Cross-Cutting National Policy Requirements

7. Acknowledgement of Research Support

8. Disclaimer Language for Research Materials and Publications

9. Grants - Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements ... 60

10. Grants - DoD Research and Development General Terms and Conditions

11. Conditions of Award for Recipients Other Than Individuals

12. Minimum Record Retention Requirements

IV. REPORTING & OTHER DELIVERABLES

1. Monitoring and Reporting Program Performance

2. Standard Form (SF) 298 Report Documentation Page

3. Technical Performance Report Format

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

5. Standard Form (SF) 425 Federal Financial Report

6. Scientific Publications

7. Research Computer Codes

8. uCoE “working” website

9. Electronic Payment Requests and Electronic Payment

10. Property Reports

11. Other Reports

12. Electronic Submission of Reports

G. AGENCY CONTACT

I. TECHNICAL INQUIRIES

II. GENERAL INQUIRIES

H. OTHER INFORMATION

I. OMBUDSMAN

II. GRANTS AND CONTRACTING OFFICER AUTHORITY

III. ADDITIONAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

I. SUMMARY

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) seeks unclassified research proposals from educational institutions in the United States for a University Center of Excellence (uCoE) for “Compositional Optimization, Dynamical Systems and Control (CODAC).” Proposals must not contain any confidential, or proprietary / privileged information.

This uCoE is a joint project among multiple technical directorates (TDs) of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL): Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Information Directorate (RI), Autonomy Capability Team (ACT3), and Munitions Directorate (RW), referred to collectively as “we, our, or us” in this funding opportunity announcement (FOA), and an outstanding university or team of universities to perform basic / applied (6.1 / 6.2) research in nature to address the needs of United States Air Force and United States Space Forces in the CODAC area with relevance to joint optimization and decision making.

II. BACKGROUND

This uCoE is to conduct fundamental research into Compositional Optimization, Dynamical systems, and Control (CODAC). We are motivated by the difficulty of making many decisions with non-trivial interdependencies in a dynamic, contested environment, such that some cohesive set of objectives or desirable steady states can be reached.

Despite the difficulty, the US Department of the Air Force (DAF), including both the US Air Force and US Space Force, is tasked with such problems daily. It must decide what tasks are worth doing, how to allocate resources to tasks, how to optimally complete tasks with given resources, how to control platforms during the execution of tasks, and so on.

Underlying each decision there is typically some optimization problem, potentially with governing dynamics, that would yield an acceptable decision if solved in isolation.

Even so, every decision the DAF makes should be in support of the mission of the DoD:

"deter war and ensure our nation’s security.” Automated tools that assist in this overarching goal necessarily focus on small components. As a result, the solutions produced by such tools are not expected to optimally support the DoD's mission. For example, a tool used to generate an Air Tasking Order, i.e. to assign tasks to platforms, possibly does not interface with a tool used to plan the mission for a participating platform.

Such disconnects introduce suboptimality into the plans generated (sometimes even infeasibility), and necessitate heavy human involvement in the planning process, thereby limiting the speed, scale, contingencies, and analysis that can be done in a finite planning window.

Our goal with this uCoE is to rectify the situation described above. Using what is currently known about optimization, dynamical systems, and optimal control, let us assume that one could construct a single large optimization problem that approximates all the decisions that the DAF makes daily. This is an extremely dubious proposition, as even writing such a problem down without making mistakes seems a daunting task. But further, such an artifact is difficult to manage and understand. Properties of the problem such as structure, conditioning, tractability, applicability of approximation schemes, are potentially difficult to recover. We therefore seek fundamental scientific advances at the intersection of the fields of optimization, dynamical systems, and optimal control that focus on flexible compositionality: an understanding of the coupling of the properties of a composite artifact with the properties of the dynamic components and the means by which they are composed.

To further understand the nature of the problems faced, consider an autonomous UAV.

The controllers on this UAV adjust components like ailerons and rudders to drive the system towards some objective state. Perhaps the objective state is chosen by a higher-level optimization problem that is governing the actions of multiple UAVs, leading to composite optimization problems where higher-level decisions are made in conjunction with lower-level problems. Such a pattern continues up the echelons of the military, with flight level problems governing element problems, squadron level problems governing flights, and on until one reaches a joint force or coalition problem. Even the structure of the composite problem itself is something that could be optimized, for example to allow for maximal decentralization. Such optimal problem structure could be context dependent; for example, depending on the communications available between platforms, the UAVs may be operating truly autonomously, in concert with one another, or somewhere in between. Depending on the mission the UAVs may need to be highly reactive, necessitating that a fast approximate solver or learned controller be used in place of a more exact solver. They are more continuous in nature than those solved at an AOC, where discrete decisions such as task assignments are made at a slower time scale. Differences in temporal resolution also lead to some decisions being made before their effect on a larger composite system can be considered. Individual solvers and models of dynamical systems have associated error bounds and uncertainties that compound as more platforms work together. We believe that effectively modeling, understanding, and solving composite problems arising from patterns like those described above will require significant advances in the study of optimization problems and dynamical systems.

III. OBJECTIVES AND KEY SCIENTIFIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR RESEARCH

CONCENTRATION AREAS, WHITE PAPER, AND FULL PROPOSAL

EVALUATION

The desiderata of the CODAC CoE are as follows. We seek a fundamental, fresh formulation of dynamical systems and optimization that is inherently hierarchical/heterarchical and modular, addressing how approximation error, measures of optimality, robustness, uncertainty, and more propagate across problem composition, distribution, and decentralization. Moreover, we require implemented solvers capable of exploiting the structure given by problems built in pieces and resulting in an understanding of the properties of composite problems from properties of their constituents. Therefore, formalisms should be developed with computational tractability in mind. These advances shall be developed so as to enable the capability to deploy problems and solvers in distributed and decentralized schemes, considering robustness to platform attrition, communications failures, adversarial actions, and unexpected threats.

Proposed compositional formalisms should address all of the following challenges:

(C1) Scale – The problems faced by the DAF have an extreme number of decision variables. In addition to traditional challenges posed by large scale optimization problems such as the need for approximation and heuristic algorithms, distributed solving, leveraging high performance computing, we face a challenge of being modeler friendly. A proposed formalism should help not only to facilitate the exploitation of problem structure and properties for faster solving, but also aid modelers in the construction of composite problems. Even further, perhaps problems can be re-written or automatically generated as one might do in implementation theory, to facilitate maximal decentralization, robustness, or some combination of desirable properties.

(C2) Heterogeneity – Composite problems are going to mix sub-problems that are heterogenous in many ways, for example a mixed integer program and a linear one, problems with differing temporal resolutions, multi-objective and scalarized, and so on.

In addition to making sense of how to compose such problems in the first place, we seek to understand how approaches suited for solving subproblems can be made into a composite approach. For example, what information can a non-gradient based algorithm share with a gradient based one? And further, how can one describe properties like convergence rates or stability of such a composite algorithm? How can we structure algorithms from various disciplines (e.g., guidance, navigation, control etc.) in a hierarchical and modular fashion to enable greater autonomy solutions.

(C3) Partial Specifications and Solutions – In cases where the full problem structure is not modeled before decisions need to be made, how can we leverage partial problem specifications to make decisions with confidence, or provide options that will stand up to new information arriving? How do we reuse partial solutions in new problems in a principled way to mitigate the need to re-solve a composite problem when local changes occur? How do we determine the most relevant information for autonomy-driven systems? How can we make system-wide decisions based on partial information? How can we update models with sparse data?

(C4) Distribution / Decentralization – The nature of contested DoD operations dictates that a centralized decision-making process cannot be assumed. Real-time human/machine execution of optimized plans frequently entails diversions from the plan due to differences in local information, unanticipated environmental conditions, or adversarial actions. Communications constraints and different clock rates for controllers make perfect, instantaneous syncing infeasible, so techniques are needed to provide decentralized optimization with inconsistent syncing. Modular, decentralized optimization strategies that are robust to frequent inconsistencies and syncing errors are needed. What representations and algorithms are required to ensure, within bounded levels of uncertainty, that local solutions are still composable for globally acceptable solutions? How do we implement new or improve existing problem structure for decentralized decision-making in a communication constrained environment?

(C5) Context Dependence – The best choice of problem formulation, solver, controller, model of dynamics, and so on can depend on a number of factors including uncertainty, adversarial models, status of communications, availability of data, problem scale, and so on. We seek a formulation that enables context dependent employment of different solvers and models. A “corollary” would be a formalism for meta-optimization, i.e. some governing algorithm that decides what other algorithms to use given some context or provides context-dependent constraints, invariants, or symmetries. For example, how can we formalize a principled controller that switches from data-driven solutions that are more computationally expensive to analytic/robust solutions that are faster to compute, depending on situational context? How does such a controller integrate with other pieces of the holistic puzzle?

IV. UNIVERSITY CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

Proposals for this uCoE are sought that articulate the technical details of the proposed research as well as the planned mechanisms to enable collaboration. Below, we outline what a strong proposal must provide.

1. Technical Details

A strong proposal should outline, as specifically as possible, the technical details of the proposed research. In addition, proposals should articulate how research goals address each of the five challenges C1-C5, outlined in the previous section. Make sure to address not only how the team is interdisciplinary but also how each member will holistically contribute to the project.

Because of the breadth of research that spans our challenge categories, it is expected that groups that submit proposals will include researchers of diverse technical perspectives and technical backgrounds. Computational tractability needs to be considered in addition to rigor. Finally, efforts integrating a variety of approaches, with a spectrum ranging from basic to applied are preferred to those using a single approach, especially as these may provide increased opportunities for technology transfer to AFRL.

2. Planned Mechanisms for Collaboration

A strong proposal should outline specific activities that enable proposers to work with each other and to work with AFRL scientists. Examples include student internships and faculty visits at AFRL sites, hosting AFRL scientists at university sites, development of joint papers and workshops, etc. We encourage proposers to define activities that provide learning opportunities for AFRL researchers, specifically those that facilitate the translation of advances made under this uCoE to the applied problems in AFRL. Proposers should specify how data, code, and other artifacts of the project will be shared with AFRL. As will be noted elsewhere in this document, a primary goal of uCoEs is to recruit new government researchers from the academic teams: proposers should offer mechanisms and activities that are organized specifically for this purpose. Given all of the above, proposals should highlight any history of collaboration with AFRL or other government research labs.

3. 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 Section D.V.5.iv of the proposal narrative section of this announcement.

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. Section C.I.5 - Research Personnel Facility Access Requirements and Restrictions provides more information.

Award(s) under this announcement are not restricted to U.S. citizens, but access to DoD facilities is limited for non-U.S. citizens, which could add coordination challenges. An objective of this uCoE is to establish relationships between researchers at the performing universities, AFOSR, and the relevant AFRL Directorates. If relevant, proposals should include information on U.S. and non-U.S.

personnel, describing their roles in the research effort.

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

I. AWARD INFORMATION

AFOSR anticipates making at least one grant award, though potentially two grant awards, based on proposal quality and funding availability from this announcement. Any award(s) made under this competition will support a University Center of Excellence (uCoE) in “Compositional Optimization, Dynamical Systems and Control (CODAC)” and is subject to the availability of funds. AFOSR executes discretionary research and development funds appropriated to the USAF and the USSF for awards. AFOSR can only make award(s) if sufficient funds are available.

AFOSR anticipates the grant award(s) will be to a team(s) comprising of about 5 - 7 members, with an award value not to exceed $1,150,000 per year, for a maximum of five years. The grant award will consist of a three-year basic funding period and a two-year optional funding period depending upon the success of the basic period, with a potential total funded ceiling on the grant award(s) of $5,750,000. The determination whether to exercise the two-year option will be dependent upon the uCoE passing 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.

The AFOSR reserves the right to fund all, some, a portion of a proposal, or none of the proposals received under this announcement. The total amount of funding and the number of teams funded may vary based on the quality of the proposals received, and the availability of funds. AFOSR will provide no funding for direct reimbursement of proposal development costs.

The award start date is determined at the time of the award but is most likely projected for an early September 2025 start date.

Authority for 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.

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

II. KEY DATES

Reference the key dates table in the Summary Funding Opportunity Information section.

C. ELIGIBILITY

I. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

1. 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.

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.

2. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) / Minority Institutions (MI), Tribal College and University Applicants Encouraged

Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions 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.

3. 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 qualified and responsible, you are not eligible to receive an award.

4. Ineligible Entities

None of the following entity types are eligible to submit proposals as primary or subaward recipients under this announcement:

i. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs)

ii. Individual persons or people

iii. Foreign entities.

iv. Military universities, warfare centers, and DoD and civilian agency laboratories are not eligible to receive an award under this announcement and must not submit either white papers or applications in response to this announcement.

v. For-profit institutions.

vi. Federal agencies

Ineligible entities may collaborate on the research but may not receive CODAC uCoE funds directly or via subaward.

5. Research Personnel Facility Access Requirements and Restrictions

A key aspect of this uCoE is workforce development. It is envisioned that students and post-docs working under this uCoE 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 uCoE be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Additionally, AFRL contains facilities and equipment that could be useful to the uCoE. Access to these facilities is restricted to U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

6. Agency Review of Risk Posed by Applicants

i. AFOSR must review information available about you and entities included in your proposal through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) designated repositories of government-wide eligibility qualification and financial integrity information. Our risk review is required by 31 U.S.C. 3321 and 41 U.S.C. 2313 and includes both public and non-public information.

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You must be qualified and responsible as described at 32 CFR 22.415 Standards to receive a grant award.

ii. AFOSR must consider the non-public segment of the Federal Awardee

Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) within the System for Award Management (SAM) for all awards exceeding the current simplified acquisition threshold of $250,000.

iii. At a minimum, the information in the system for a prior Federal award recipient must demonstrate a satisfactory record of executing programs or activities under Federal grants, cooperative agreements, or procurement awards; and integrity and business ethics. We will consider any comments you provide, in addition to the other information in the designated integrity and performance system, when making our risk judgment about your integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards.

AFOSR may make an award to a recipient who does not fully meet our standards as described at 2 CFR 200.206(a)(2) if it is determined that the information is not relevant to the current Federal award under consideration or there are specific conditions that can appropriately mitigate the effects of the non-Federal entity's risk in accordance with 2 CFR 200.208 Specific conditions.

iv. AFOSR must comply with the guidelines on government-wide suspension and debarment described in 2 CFR 200.214 and must require you to comply with these provisions for all work we fund.

These provisions restrict Federal awards, sub-awards, and contracts with certain parties that are debarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participation in Federal programs or activities.

II. DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST (COI) / CONFLICT OF

COMMITMENT (COC)

1. Disclosure of COI / COC for covered individuals

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 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-32/subtitle-A/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-22/subpart-D/section-22.415 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-32/subtitle-A/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-22/subpart-D/section-22.415 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-200.206 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-200.208 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-C/section-200.214 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 materials 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/conflict-of-interest mitigation plan after you submit 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.

2. Codes of Conduct

Applicants for assistance are required to comply with 2 CFR 200.318(c), to prevent real or apparent conflicts of interest in the award and administration of any contracts by which a recipient or subrecipient purchases property or services, supported by federal funds.

III. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

Cost sharing or matching is neither required nor an evaluation criterion for proposals under this announcement.

IV. OTHER

1. Acknowledgment of Support and Disclaimer Requirements

You must acknowledge support provided by the Government in all materials based on or developed under our awards. The requirement extends to copyrighted and non-copyrighted materials published or displayed in any medium.

The following language must be used unless the award document provides different instructions:

“This material is based upon work supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under award number FA9550-25-X-XXXX”.

Some materials based on or developed under our awards must include special disclaimer language. You must include this language in all materials except scientific articles or papers published in scientific journals unless your award document provides different instructions:

“Any opinions, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Defense.”

You must require any sub-recipients or subcontractors under a resultant award from this announcement to include this acknowledgment, too.

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

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-D/subject-group-ECFR45ddd4419ad436d/section-200.318

2. 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 9 July 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 you are given an explicit, written exclusion to these policies from the AFOSR Program Officer and Grants Officer. 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 Air Force and Space Force funds to our Program Officer.

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

3. Security Risk Review 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=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

(1) Security Risk Review. Each proposal submission will be subject to a Security Risk Review prior to selection for award. The Security Risk Review 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 policy 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 or as otherwise required by the Department of the Air Force or the Department of Defense. Those submitting proposals are advised that any significant conflict of interest/conflict of commitment identified may be a basis for the rejection of an otherwise awardable proposal. The funding agency may also conduct subsequent conflict of interest/conflict of commitment reviews of proposals after their selection for funding. Offerors are advised that any significant conflict of interest/conflict of commitment identified may be a basis for the termination of an awarded proposal. Submission of a proposal constitutes consent by the submitter to the initial and any subsequent reviews.

(2) 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, publicly available information, and information contained in internal U.S. Government databases will be utilized in risk reviews.

Nationality or citizenship is not a factor in the security risk reviews.

(3) 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 generally looks at five factors, or risk areas, but with authority for expanded review as noted in OSD R&E Memorandum dated 6 Jun 2023. The potential security risk factors are set forth below:

Potential security risk factors:

(4) 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:

(a) Standard Form 424, “Research and Related Senior and Key Person Profile (Expanded) AND;

(b) Security Program Questionnaire (See Appendix 1) AND;

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

(i) In the event a security risk is identified, and the Government has determined the security risk exceeds the acceptable threshold, the Applicant/Recipient will be notified and informed of the decline of award. The Government will only provide a general statement of the reasoning due to Government OPSEC measures.

(ii) By submission of the Research and Related Senior Key Person Profile and Security Program Questionnaire, the Applicant/Recipient agrees to comply with the following:

(a) 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).

(b) To establish and maintain an internal process or procedure to address foreign talent programs, conflicts of commitment, conflicts of interest, and research integrity.

(c) To exercise due diligence to identify Foreign Components or participation by Senior/Key Personnel in Foreign Government Talent Recruitment Programs and agree to share such information with the Government upon request.

(5) Action Required by Covered Individuals

(i) 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. See 42 U.S.C. § 6605, Definitions. (Note: For purposes of a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) solicitation, “covered individuals” are all Senior/Key Personnel.)

(ii) 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. The Government may require an updated disclosure during the performance of any research project selected for funding. The Government will require an updated disclosure whenever covered individuals are added or identified as performing under the funded project.

(iii) 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)

(iv) 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.

(6) Actions required by Applicants/Recipients during period of performance

(i) Applicant/Recipient will be required to re-submit the Research and Related Senior and Key Person Profile as an annual requirement. 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 Person Profile will be required prior to continued performance.

(ii) If, at any time, during performance of this award, the Applicant/Recipient learns that its Senior/Key Research Personnel (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 5 business days of awareness.

(iii) 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.

(iv) Failure of the Applicant/Recipient to reasonably exercise due diligence to discover or ensure that neither it nor any of its Senior/Key Research Personnel involved in the subject award are participating in a Foreign Government Talent Program or have a Foreign Component with a strategic competitor or country with a history of targeting U.S.

technology for unauthorized transfer may result in the Government exercising remedies in accordance with federal law and regulation.

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

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

I. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION PROCESS

The application and submission process are completed in two-stages:

1. White Paper submission by email to https://community.apan.org/wg/afosr/p/submitawhitepaper. (Required)

2. Proposal Submission Package via grants.gov. (Required)

(This is by invitation only)

II. WHITE PAPER TECHNICAL Q&A’S AND WHITE PAPER SUBMISSION

1. Pre-white paper Inquiries

All pre-white paper Q&A’s related to the technical requirements of this announcement shall be submitted in writing only to the following email address:

Elizabeth.Burzenski@us.af.mil by the cut off date listed in the Key Dates table.

Please include in the subject line “CODAC uCoE Pre-White Paper Inquiry”.

Please note: No direct communications with AFRL Technical personnel related to this announcement will be permitted until award selection and non-selection notices are issued.