VDD - Opening Remarks - NAIR.pdf

UNCLASSIFIED

June 23, 2021

Basic Research at the Department of Defense

Dr. Bindu Nair Director, Basic Research Office

OUSD(R&E)/DDRE(RT)

How does DoD define Basic Research?

DoD policy states that basic research is the

“systematic study directed toward greater knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena and of observable facts…”

How does DoD define basic research?

6.7 Operational Systems Development

6.6 RDT&E Management Support

6.5 System Development Demonstration

6.4 Advanced Component Development Prototypes

6.3 Advanced Technology Development

6.2 Applied Research

6.1 Basic Research

Why DoD Funds Basic Research

Quest for fundamental understanding

Consideration for use

DoD

6.1

Basic

Research

Donald Stokes: ‘Pasteur's Quadrant’

The Truth about Funding

PRECONCEIVED NOTION #1:

DOD HAS LARGE BUDGET; VAST RESOURCES FOR

RESEARCH FUNDING

Chem/Bio Defense

Defense Threat

Reduction Agency

Office of the

Secretary of

Defense (OSD)

~8%

$232 M

DARPA

ARMY

AIR FORCE

NAVY

Chart Title

• Over two-thirds of funds to extramural programs

• Major funder of basic research in math, physics, and engineering

• 3rd largest funder of basic research to universities

$2.3B

Funding across the DoD Basic Research Enterprise

Defense Health Program < 0.5%

Research Budget by Federal Agencies

Life Sciences

Psychology

Social Sciences

Physical Science **

Math & Stat *

Engineering *

Computer Science *

4.8%

6.8%

8.1%

15.0%

25.5%

41.4%

43.7%

Source: NSF, National Center for S&E Statistics, special tabulations (2018) of Higher Education R&D Development Survey (HERD).

Top Areas funded by DoD out of entire $41B budget

Academic R&D Funds by Agency

USDA

NASA

DoE

Other

NSF

DoD

HHS

23%

14%

13%

8%

8%

*1st largest funder

** 3rd largest funder

$41B

The Truth about the Funding Process

PRECONCIEVED NOTION #2:

DoD PROGRAM OFFICERS ARE HARD TO ENGAGE

Email preferred for most POs Phone (hit or miss due to travel)

Ways To Engage with tri-Service Program Officers

AFOSR - Current broad agency announcement

(Research Interests of the Air

Force Office of Scientific

Research)

ARO – current

AFOSR ARO ONR

https://www.wpafb.af.mil/afrl/afosr/

On grants.gov search using keyword(s)

“Research Interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research” to see the latest core announcement. The current funding opportunity number for general research interests is

FA9550-19-S-0003

https://www.aro.army.mil/

Select “Broad Agency Announcements” in the

“Business” section to see the most recent ARO

Core Broad Agency Announcement for

Fundamental Research for 1 April 2017 - 31

March 2022 https://www.onr.navy.mil/

Select “Work With Us” then “Funding

Opportunities” and then “BAAs, FOAs and Special Program

Announcements” to see the Long

Range Broad Agency Announcement for Navy and Marine Corps Science and Technology, N00014-21-S-B001.

Navigate to https://www.onr.navy.mil/our-research/our-program-managers for a list of program officers and their specific program.

https://www.wpafb.af.mil/afrl/afosr/ https://www.aro.army.mil/ https://www.onr.navy.mil/

Basic Research Investments Across DoD

Pre-doctoral Fellowships

•NDSEG

•Minerva Training Grants

Research Funding to University Laboratories

• VBFF

•Minerva projects

•MURI

•Single- Investigator Awards

•Young Investigator Program

Expanding the Research Base

•DEPSCoR

•HBCU/MI

Equipment and Facility Funding

•DURIP

Transition to DoD

•Minerva transition to Professional Military Schools

•LUCI

•UARCS

Technology Transfer

•I-Corps

Service Programs green Cross- Service Programs orangeOSD Programs purple

Ongoing Programs

© GeoNames, Microsoft, TomTom Powered by Bing

27 3

11 2

US Landscape of VBFF Awards

Series1

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Disciplines

Other Networks Sensors Bio-engineering

Electronics and electromagnetic Nanoscience or Nanomaterials Cognitive and Neurosciences Physics

Mathematics Materials Quantum

Years: 2008-2020Program Goals:

• VBFF supports transformative, high-risk, basic research

• Attract distinguished, productive, and creative candidates and sustain career-long association between Fellows and DoD

• Establish a group of experts that can study and advise DoD on emerging scientific and technical challenges

Defense Department’s largest single-investigator program:

5-year fellowship with up to $3M for research with potentially extraordinary outcomes

Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship

Awards

Universities

Award Dollars

$310M

VBFF Fellow make transformative discoveries and transform their careers

Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship

Applications: state-of-the-art spacecraft, submarines, nuclear reactors, jet aircraft

University Of California Santa Barbara

Prof. Tresa Pollock VBFF Fellow (2017)

Topic: Structural Materials

Select Publications

1. Science Magazine (2020) : Multiplicity of dislocation pathways in a refractory multiprincipal element alloy

2. Nature Communications (2020): A defect-resistant Co–Ni superalloy for 3D printing

3. Science Magazine (2020) : Closing the science gap in 3D metal printing

4. Acta Materialia (2019) : Dislocation dynamics in a nickel-based superalloy via in-situ transmission scanning electron microscopy

5. Acta Materialia (2017) : On slip initiation in equiaxed α/β Ti-6Al-4V

Research Highlight: Professor Pollock

Collaborated with NRL Scientists to Make

Breakthroughs in Multiprincipal Alloys

Supported 3 Graduates

And 1 Postdoc

38 High Impact Publications

Citing VBFF and 1 patent ~2.5 years

Image: Mutiprincipal Alloys

Laboratory University

Collaboration Initiative

Fellow:

Keith Knipling

Science 02 Oct 2020:

Vol. 370, Issue 6512, pp. 95-101

Tri-service program that supports basic research teams intersecting with more than one traditional science and engineering discipline

Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative

Program Goals:

• Educate scientists and engineers in the interdisciplinary areas important to national defense

• Promote rapid technology transition directly to Service applications

• Complement other DoD programs that support university research through the single-investigator awards.

• MURI awards are 3-5 years, with teams funded up to $1.5M/year.

1986 Press Release: “This team approach in research with cross-facilitation among disciplines will stimulate the growth of newly emerging technologies….

Tri-service program that supports basic research teams intersecting with more than one traditional science and engineering discipline

Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative

Selected topics from most recent funding call:

Bio-architected Responsive Materials with 3D Nanoscale Order, Nonlinear Optical Material Design with Extreme Interband

Nonlinearities, Synthetic Quantum Matter, Irregular Metamaterial Networks, Self-learning for Real-world Perception

White paper inquiries and questions

Spring

White papers due

Late May – early June

Full proposals due

Late Summer

Selection of Proposals

Early winter

FY 2020 Budget:

$185 million for

26 research teams

Success

~12-40%

Success

~16-50%

AFOSR 2017 MURI

Scientific Autonomous Reasoning

Agent: Integrating

Materials Theory, Experiment and

Computation

Lead: Cornell University

PI: Dr. Robert Bruce van Dover https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html?keywords=muri https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html?keywords=muri

Defense University Research Instrumentation Program

Funding mechanism for purchasing research instrumentation and equipment so that university labs can conduct high-quality research

DURIP awards are made to research institutions with current

DoD basic research grants

Range: $50,000 to

$1,500,000

Fiscal Year 2022

Competition: Opens

Spring 2021

Awards

Universities

$48.9M

Budget

Fiscal Year 20 Competition (announced Nov. 2019)

Nick Glumac

Three Fiscal Year 2020 DURIP Awardees

Western Michigan University

Plasma-Assisted

Combustion Diagnostics

AFOSR

University of Illinois

Flash X-Ray System

ONR

Claudia Fajardo-Hansford Suzanne Shontz

More Information:

ONR: https://www.onr.navy.mil/en/Education-

Outreach/Sponsored-Research/University-Research-

Initiatives/DURIP

ARO: https://www.arl.army.mil/business/broad-agency-announcements/

AFSOR: https://www.afrl.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Fact-

Sheet-Display/Article/2282120/afosr-funding-opportunities-university-research-initiative-uri/

University of Kansas

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)

Infrastructure

ARO

Program Goals:

• Connect social science insights and methods to improve decision-making

• Build fundamental understanding of social, cultural, and psychological forces that shape strategically important regions of the world

• Help DoD better understand and prepare for future challenges, particularly those prioritized in the National Defense Strategy.

Project average budget of $1.5 million lasting 3 to 4 years

DoD’s basic social sciences program to better understand the social and cultural forces shaping security

Minerva Research Initiative co-PI: Dr. Victor Asal

Institution: SUNY Albany

Power Projection, Deterrence Strategies, and Escalation Dynamics in an Era of Challenging

Near Peers, Rogue States, and Terrorist and Insurgent Organizations www.Minerva.defense.gov http://www.minerva.defense.gov/

National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship

The NDSEG fellowship supports graduate students in science and engineering disciplines of military importance

Funding for 3 years:

Covers full tuition, mandatory fees, & health insurance cost up to $1200/year, travel costs up to $500 for the fellowship duration

Fellows also receive a monthly stipend of $3200.

Applications Open

September

Applications Due

December

Panel Review

February

Awards Announced

Late March/April

Informational webinar, project descriptions available on website http://www.ndsegfellowships.org http://www.ndsegfellowships.org/

National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship

The NDSEG fellowship supports graduate students in science and engineering disciplines of military importance

Since its inception in 1989…

3,600 Fellowships Awarded

15 Disciplines Supported

Awards

Universities

$45M

Budget

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Psychology & Neuroscience

Civil Engineering

Geosciences

Chemical Engineering

Biomedical Engineering

Oceanography

Mathematics

Chemistry

Cognitive, Neural, and Behavioral…

Materials Science and Engineering

Biosciences

Mechanical Engineering

Aeronautical and Astronautical…

Electrical Engineering

Computer and Computational…

Physics

FY 2019 NDSEG Fellows Disciplines

AFOSR ARO ONR

FY 2019

THANK YOU

@DoD_STIx https://basicresearch.defense.gov/Pilots/DEPSCoR

-Defense-Established-Program-to-Stimulate-

Competitive-Research/ https://basicresearch.defense.gov/Pilots/DEPSCoR-Defense-Established-Program-to-Stimulate-Competitive-Research/