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.
Awards:
$1,150,000 per year per award, for a maximum of five years
Anticipated Funding Amount:
$5,750,000
Letter of Intent:
White Paper required by Monday, 03 March 2025
Full Proposal Submission Deadline:
By invitation only from White Paper selection: Monday, 21 April 2025
