FY26 DEPSCoR Research Collaboration Grant 2026–2027: Up to $600,000 for DoD-Relevant University Research

FY26 DEPSCoR Research Collaboration Grant 2026–2027: Up to $600,000 for DoD-Relevant University Research

The Department of Defense has opened the FY26 Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) Research Collaboration competition for university researchers in designated states and territories. The program is aimed at a very specific pairing: a newer Department of Defense researcher who has never been the principal investigator on a prior DoD directly funded research prime award, and an experienced collaborator who has held a qualifying DoD prime research award and can provide active mentorship.

This is a research grant made to an eligible institution of higher education, not an unrestricted personal scholarship or an individual cash prize. The competition anticipates up to 24 awards, with up to $200,000 in total cost per year for three years, or $600,000 per award. The anticipated program total is $14.4 million, subject to the availability of funds. No cost sharing or matching is required.

The opportunity is open now, but the application has two important gates. The team must submit an eligibility-checked white paper and supporting documents through RunGrants by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 12, 2026. Only teams selected after that review may submit the full proposal through Grants.gov, with the invited full proposal due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 5, 2027. This guide explains the fit, the unusual collaborator requirement, the 12 research topics, the submission sequence, and the evidence a serious team should assemble before it uploads anything.

Key details at a glance

What the DEPSCoR grant supports

DEPSCoR is designed to build long-term science and engineering research capacity at institutions that receive less Department of Defense research and development support than the program’s statutory threshold. The Research Collaboration track is not simply looking for a finished product or a short consulting project. Its stated objectives include increasing the number of university researchers able to conduct competitive, DoD-relevant science and engineering research, strengthening institutional research capabilities, and improving the likelihood of future competitively awarded federal support.

The award therefore has two connected outcomes. The proposed research must make a credible contribution to basic research in a DoD-relevant area, while the collaboration must give the newer applicant a real path to learning how to develop and execute a competitive research program. A nominal name on a proposal is unlikely to satisfy that purpose. The experienced collaborator is expected to provide research collaboration and mentorship throughout the process.

Funds are awarded to the applicant’s institution of higher education. The notice says funds may support students and postdoctoral researchers in eligible states when they support the research effort of the applicant and collaborator. A small portion of the budget may be directed through a subaward to a non-university partner, such as industry or a national laboratory, if that partner is in an eligible state or territory and the cost is justified in the white paper. Build the budget around the scientific work and the people needed to carry it out; do not describe the award as a personal stipend.

The 12 research topics

The FY26 competition publishes twelve topic areas. They span multiple DoD research offices, so a project should be mapped to one topic with care rather than described as generally “defense-related.” The topics are:

1. Space Biosciences
2. Dynamic Data and Information Processing
3. Condensed Matter Physics
4. Aerodynamic Sciences
5. Earth Materials and Processes
6. Dynamical Influences on Performance
7. Wireless Communications Networks
8. Electrochemistry
9. Nonlinear Transforms for Dynamical Systems
10. Social Cognition in Local Communities
11. Fundamental Mechanisms and Materials for Shock Mitigation for Warfighter Protection
12. Fundamental Research on Efficient Packaging and Deployment of Unmanned Aircraft Systems

The official notice provides a separate program officer for each topic. The topic descriptions range from life processes in space environments, adaptive data processing, and fundamental condensed-matter physics to fluid mechanics, rocks and soil, human performance, tactical communications, electrochemical interfaces, mathematical transforms, local information environments, protective composites, and morphing or deployable unmanned aircraft structures.

A good topic match is narrower than a list of related keywords. Start with the scientific question, identify the topic’s stated basic-research interest, and explain why the proposed work advances knowledge rather than merely delivering a commercial system. The notice strongly encourages applicants to contact the relevant program officer before submitting a white paper. That conversation can help test whether the state of the art, proposed method, and expected insight belong in the selected portfolio. Record the contact and discussion accurately because the white paper asks for the program officer contacted about the work, if applicable.

Who can apply

The applicant and collaborator must both be faculty members at institutions of higher education in the FY26 DEPSCoR-eligible locations. The announcement lists these 36 states and territories: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Both institutions must have an advanced degree-granting program in science, mathematics, or engineering. The relevant geography is the institutional address where the personnel are employed or where an eligible subawardee is physically located. It is not enough for an individual researcher to live in an eligible state while working for an institution elsewhere.

The two roles have different prior-funding tests:

• The Applicant must be a full-time faculty member who has never served as the PI on a prior DoD directly funded research prime award. Serving as a co-PI or sub-PI on an earlier award does not, by itself, make the applicant a prior DoD prime PI under this rule.
• The Collaborator must have served as the PI on a DoD directly funded research prime award active between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2026. A DoD-funded subaward, an indirect flow-through award, or a role listed only as co-PI, sub-PI, or site lead does not establish the required prime-PI status.
• Both roles require a tenured or tenure-track appointment. If a short-term appointment is being considered under the notice’s exception, the team must provide a qualifying letter from the institution stating that the person will be considered for a tenured or tenure-track position.

Federal agencies, federally funded research and development centers, and military schools cannot receive funding under this announcement. One white paper may contain only one applicant and one collaborator. An applicant may submit only one DEPSCoR-RC white paper, while a collaborator may participate with more than one applicant. That flexibility does not remove the expectation that the collaborator has enough time to provide meaningful mentorship.

Timeline and application route

This competition uses a staged process, so a team should not wait until April 2027 to begin. The RunGrants site opened for white-paper submissions on August 10, 2026. Registration and the cutoff for questions to program officers are listed as October 7, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. The white paper and supporting documents are due in RunGrants by October 12, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

The white paper review is a gate, not an optional preliminary exercise. Teams that do not register and submit the required white paper package on time are not eligible for the later full-proposal stage. The planned notification of white-paper selection is January 8, 2027. Invited teams then submit the full proposal electronically through Grants.gov by April 5, 2027. The notice lists July 23, 2027 as the planned selection notification date and says the award start is most likely in October 2027.

Submit early enough to allow for account setup, two-factor authentication, document conversion, upload time, and an email confirmation. The notice specifically places responsibility on the applicant to complete the form, upload the files, and press the submission button before the deadline. Keep the confirmation and a final copy of every uploaded file in the institution’s records.

What belongs in the white paper package

The required white paper is not a generic three-page research abstract. The package has several components, each answering a different review question. The white paper PDF must include:

• A cover page naming the applicant, institution, proposed research title, topic number, and program officer contacted, if one was contacted.
• An abstract of no more than 500 words covering the research problem, objective, technical approach, and anticipated outcomes. The abstract must be suitable for release without proprietary restrictions.
• A single-sided, three-page program description narrative stating the defense challenge or research topic, basic scientific approach, state of the field, innovation, expected knowledge or insight, comparison with alternative approaches, and approximate yearly costs.
• A one-page collaboration composition statement explaining the roles of both researchers and how the collaboration advances DEPSCoR’s purpose.
• A one-page basic research statement explaining why the proposed work meets the DoD definition of basic research and what extraordinary outcomes could result.
• A one-page description of anticipated human-subject or vertebrate-animal research, when applicable.
• A two-page, single-sided curriculum vitae for each researcher.
• A list of prior DoD research-relevant funding for both people. If the applicant has no prior DoD funding, the notice requires the statement, “The Applicant has never received DoD funding.”

The package also requires a copy of at least one qualifying collaborator DoD prime research award document. If an appointment requires it, include the qualifying institutional letter as well. These supporting documents are uploaded as separate PDF files. The notice specifies 8.5-by-11-inch pages, one-inch margins, single spacing, and 12-point Times New Roman, along with prescribed file naming conventions. Follow the full announcement’s naming instructions exactly.

How to prepare a convincing case

The strongest preparation begins with eligibility evidence, not prose. Ask the research office to verify the institutional state, advanced-degree program, appointment status, SAM registration, and the applicant’s and collaborator’s award histories. Obtain the collaborator’s complete prime-award documentation early; discovering that an apparently relevant project was actually a subaward after the white-paper deadline cannot be repaired with a stronger narrative.

Next, make the collaboration concrete. Identify what the applicant will lead, what the collaborator will teach or contribute, how meetings and technical exchanges will work, and how the partnership improves the applicant’s ability to pursue future competitive research. The statement should show complementarity, not simply that both people work in the same broad field.

For the science, define one tractable basic-research problem and tie it to the selected topic’s language. Reviewers need to see the gap in knowledge, the method for testing the idea, the expected result, and why the result would matter even if a near-term product does not emerge. Treat the three-page narrative as a compressed argument: problem, current knowledge, hypothesis or objective, approach, innovation, expected insight, and annual cost.

Use the pre-submission program-officer discussion well. Ask whether the proposed question fits the topic, whether the state of the art is understood correctly, and whether the planned scale is plausible for a three-year effort. Do not present informal feedback as an endorsement or promise of funding. The notice makes clear that program officers do not have authority to make commitments for the government.

Build the cost story before the final draft. The award can support students and postdocs, but the budget should show why each major cost is necessary for the research plan and collaboration. Because voluntary committed cost sharing is included in the total award value, avoid adding a contribution merely to make the proposal look larger. Cost realism and reasonableness are reviewed, even though technical merit and DoD relevance are central.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most serious errors in this competition are threshold errors. Applying under the DEPSCoR Capacity Building number instead of the Research Collaboration number can send a team into the wrong competition. A collaborator’s indirect university subaward may look like DoD funding but does not satisfy the required directly funded prime-PI test. A researcher’s home address does not make an out-of-state institution eligible. A proposal that names several applicants or several collaborators does not follow the one-pair structure.

Other avoidable problems include treating the white paper as optional, omitting the collaborator award document, exceeding page limits, submitting a classified document, using an abstract with proprietary restrictions, failing to explain basic research, and waiting until the closing hour to upload large PDFs. The notice also requires eligible teams to accept public dissemination expectations for unclassified research results and applicable research-security, conflict-of-interest, conflict-of-commitment, and federal award requirements. The institution should review those conditions before submission.

FAQ

Is this funding paid directly to a professor? No. The award is made to an eligible institution of higher education. The institution may budget faculty effort, students, postdocs, and justified partner costs within the grant rules.

Can an applicant with prior DoD involvement apply? Possibly. The key restriction is serving as the PI on a prior DoD directly funded research prime award. A co-PI or sub-PI role does not automatically fail the applicant test, but the institution should verify the exact award record and the wording of the current notice.

Does the collaborator have to be from the same university? The announcement describes a pair of researchers and requires both institutions to be in eligible states or territories. It does not require the two researchers to be at the same institution. The applicant’s institution submits the proposal.

Is cost sharing required? No. Cost sharing or matching is not required and is not an evaluation criterion. Voluntary committed cost sharing, if proposed, is included in the total award value.

Can I submit a full proposal now? No. Full proposals are accepted only from collaborations invited after white-paper review. The immediate task is RunGrants registration, eligibility verification, and the complete white-paper package.

Where should I confirm the current rules? Use the official Grants.gov listing for the controlling announcement, attachments, deadline, and application package. Use the DEPSCoR RunGrants page for registration and white-paper submission. Because amendments can change instructions, reread both pages immediately before uploading.

Official next steps

This is a strong fit for a first-time DoD prime investigator who already has an experienced, eligible collaborator and a research question that clearly belongs to one of the twelve listed topics. It is not a broad university innovation grant, a general faculty development award, or a personal fellowship. Before investing in a full narrative, confirm the two institutional locations, appointment status, advanced-degree program, applicant history, collaborator prime-award evidence, and topic fit.

If those checks pass, register in RunGrants, contact the appropriate topic program officer before the question cutoff, draft the three-page research narrative around a precise basic-research gap, and assemble the supporting PDFs well before October 12, 2026. Keep the April 5, 2027 full-proposal date on the research office calendar, but treat it as conditional on receiving a white-paper invitation.

Official resources:

• Grants.gov opportunity listing: NOFOAFRLAFOSR20260004
• DEPSCoR Research Collaboration RunGrants page