National Nuclear Security Administration's Defense Programs Academic Alliance

The Defense Programs Academic Alliance (DPAA) develops and maintains the pipeline of specialized scientific and technical talent needed to meet the nuclear security enterprise's workforce needs by supporting university research relevant to NNSA's Def

The purpose of this listing is to describe support provided under DPAA to university-based consortia in three core areas: (1) Nuclear, Materials, and High Energy Density (HED) Science; (2) Predictive Science; (3) Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Science.

Institutions of higher education (See Title 20 U.S.C. § 1001 for the definition)

Financial support in whole or in part may be provided for such purposes as the salaries, materials and supplies, equipment, travel, publication costs, training costs, and services required for conducting research, training, related activities, and advanced technology projects or assessments. Funding is provided to advance research in the physical sciences, predictive sciences, and engineering fields with relevance to NNSA's Defense Programs technical mission areas. Restrictions on use of funds depend on award provisions. Funding is provided for the purpose of scientific inquiry and workforce development that does not unnecessarily duplicate work already in progress by NNSA.

Must comply with 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards

Mission Relevance and Technical Merit: Alignment of the proposed scope with the specific research areas defined in the notice of funding opportunity. The extent to which the application if successfully carried out, will make an original and/or important contribution to the technical scope defined in the notice of funding opportunity (i.e., Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Science; Nuclear, Materials, and HED Science; or Predictive Science) and the objectives of the DPAA Program. Structure and Approach: The extent to which the proposal meets the intent of a successful multi-university consortia. The concept, design, methods, analyses, management strategy, and investigator roles and relationships are properly established or developed, well-integrated, and appropriate. The degree of interaction with NNSA laboratory or production plant personnel and the potential to contribute to a long-term recruiting pool for the nuclear security enterprise. Feasibility: The likelihood that the goals of the proposed consortia will be successfully accomplished by the investigators and/or technical staff, given their experience and expertise, past accomplishments, resources available or proposed, institutional commitment, developed or proposed partnerships, and access to technologies.

Proposals will be screened for programmatic relevance and then reviewed for scientific and technical merit by qualified individuals. The review and selection process for each funding opportunity are included in the solicitation. Decisions to approve are made by a Headquarters program official within the Program Office, and selected proposals will be forwarded to NNSA Partnership Acquisition Services for negotiations leading to award.