Issue: ORN-2026-08
NJIT Research Newsletter includes recent awards, and announcements of research related seminars, webinars, national and federal research news related to research funding, and Grant Opportunity Alerts (with links to sections). The Newsletter is posted on the NJIT Research Website https://research.njit.edu/funding-opportunities.
Special Announcements
CTR Workshop on PFAS Challenges:
Translational Research and Technology Innovations for PFAS Decontaminations
Full Announcement and Preliminary Program: Click Here
Sponsored by
NSF ART (Accelerating Research Translation) Program at NJIT
National Academy of Inventor (NAI) – NJIT Chapter
Co-organizers and Co-Chairs
Atam Dhawan, Senior Vice Provost for Research, NJIT; Executive Director – Center for Translational Research
Nick DeNichilo, Vice Co-Chair, NJIT Board of Trustees; Former President &CEO at Mott MacDonald – North America (retired)
Siavash Isazadeh, Ph.D., P.E., Sr. Technical. Director, Technical, Strategy & Innovation, Veolia-North America
Richard Calbi Jr. P.E., P.P., Director of Operations – Ridgewood Water, NJ
Stewart Abrams, Director of Remediation Technology, Langan Engineering & Environmental Service
Date and Venue: April 24, 2026, 8.00 AM – 5.00 PM; Ballroom A&B, NJIT Campus Center
Breakfast and Light Lunch Provided
Registration Requested: Please Click Here to Register Now
The Center for Translational Research (CTR) workshop on PFAS Challenges is focused on translational research and innovative technologies for detecting and managing PFAS related contaminants in water, soil, air, infrastructure and consumable products. The CTR Workshop will engage faculty, research staff, undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs and external partners including major NJ universities, industry, utilities, business accelerators, government and community stakeholders who are pursuing or are interested in translational research and innovative technology development for removing the PFAS related contaminations in water, soil, air, infrastructure and environment for sustainable societies.
Who Should Attend: Faculty, research staff, undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs and external partners including major NJ universities, industry, utilities, business accelerators, government and community stakeholders who are pursuing or are interested in translational research and innovative technology development for removing the PFAS related contaminations in water, soil, air, infrastructure and environment for sustainable societies should attend and would be benefited from the workshop.
Why You Should Attend: As a follow up to the 2025 CTR PFAS Workshop on PFAS Challenges, the 2026 CTR workshop will focus on the recent advances and developments in PFAS detection, monitoring, destruction and remediation technologies with a new strategic initiative of establishing the New Jersey PFAS Partnership Innovation Consortium (NJ PFAS-PIC) as an industry-university-government-community ecosystem.
The CTR 2026 workshop attendees will have the opportunity to learn about recent developments and current and future challenges in PFAS decontamination technologies and associated regulatory policies for its societal impact from the leaders in industry, academia and government sectors.
In addition, the Industry-University-Community Showcase on Technology Innovations in PFAS Decontamination will feature more than 30 companies, academic research centers and laboratories, and global, national, state and regional utilities working in the cutting-edge of technology innovations and deployment for addressing the critical challenges of PFAS management in environment, soil, water, consumable products and infrastructure.
Seats are limited. Please Register Here Now.
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New: NJII Market Pathways Program
NJII is launching the NJII Market Pathways Program, a new initiative designed to help NJIT researchers, including faculty, postdocs, PhD students, and research staff, explore whether their work has potential to become the foundation of a startup through the NJII Venture Studio. Through the program, selected NJIT researchers are paired with Venture Builders — experienced founders, startup operators, and/or industry experts — to assess together the market demand, use cases, and commercialization potential of the researcher’s NJIT innovation. Additional support and oversight will be provided the NJII Venture Studio team. Participants aren’t required to become founders or leave academia.
Researchers interested in having their innovation considered are encouraged to submit the intake form to learn more and participate. Questions? Email maryjane.durkin@njii.com.
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VentureWell is inviting student innovators to apply for the Summer 2026 E-Team Program
The E-Team Program, part of the VentureWell Accelerator, supports student ventures as you embark down the path you’re likely to take as an innovator and entrepreneur. We help you advance your invention through a powerful mix of up to $25,000 in grant funding, entrepreneurship training, mentorship by dedicated staff, national recognition, and networking with peers and industry experts.
Do you have an idea that can change the world? Every year, we award over $800,000 in non-dilutive E-Team Program grants to early-stage innovator teams that develop scalable innovations which aim to solve a large social, health, or environmental challenge. Teams can receive up to $25,000 to advance their innovation, and there are info sessions and resources available to help applicants. The program is open to students at U.S.-based institutions and supported by partners like The Lemelson Foundation, Cooley LLP, and Qualcomm.
Grant Opportunity Alerts
NSF: Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems (PESOSE)
NIH: Forecast: NextTech: Translational Development of Next-Generation Diagnostic and Therapeutic Devices (R18); Forecast: NLM Institutional Grants for Research Training in Biomedical Informatics, Data Science, and AI
Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: ERDC Broad Agency Announcement
Department of Energy: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs)
NASA: B.2 Heliophysics Foundational Research
Recent Research Grant and Contract Awards
In the News
Tech bills of the week: Updated AI innovation; expanding cybersecurity for SNAP; and more: Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., reintroduced their Future of AI Innovation Act on Thursday, a bill that seeks to establish uniform standards for AI research and development, as well as promote innovation in the private sector. Initially introduced in 2024, the measure aims to support U.S. leadership in AI through multiple vehicles, including public-private partnerships, codification of the Center for Artificial Intelligence Standards and Innovation within the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, increased interagency coordination and international coalitions to further promulgate unifying AI standards and metrics.
“This legislation brings together private sector and government experts to develop voluntary standards for AI, create new assessment tools, and conduct testing that will ensure the United States leads in AI-driven innovation and competitiveness for decades to come,” Cantwell said in the press release. “The NIST Center for AI Standards and Innovation, testbeds at our national labs, and grand challenge prizes will accelerate new advancements while helping companies and consumers better use AI in a safe and secure manner.” A spokesperson for Young said that the big difference between the two versions of the bill is that the 2026 version reflects priorities outlined in President Trump’s AI Action Plan, as well as the Commerce Department’s pro-innovation rebranding of CAISI. More information is posted on the NextGov website.
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Air Force Research Lab seeks more national approach for innovation: The Air Force Research Laboratory is asking industry, investors and academia to weigh in on how a national research network can be stood up and aid in efforts to accelerate dual-use technology development. "Dual-use" is the common lingo used to describe products, services and research primarily designed for civilian and commercial applications that can also be adapted for national security purposes. Artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, computer chips and software are often spoken about in that context. In a sources sought notice posted Wednesday, AFRL says it is looking to expand on a previous regional hub network pilot focused on turning dual-use tech into operational capability for the Air Force and Space Force. AFRL essentially wants to take a more national approach to that network’s operating model and wants ideas on how to get there. More information is posted on the NextGov website.
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Trump unveils Big Tech pledge to offset rising data center energy costs: During Tuesday night's State of the Union address, President Donald Trump announced a new initiative to ensure data center owners and operators absorb surges in electricity costs associated with artificial intelligence use. “We're telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs,” Trump said. “They can build their own power plants as part of their factory so that no one's prices will go up, and in many cases, prices of electricity will go down for the community, and very substantially down.” He added that the current grid infrastructure in the U.S. is dated and can’t handle the current and future electricity demands. The solution in the pledge lies in tech companies constructing new power plants to support the energy needs from their individual technologies. More information is posted on the NextGov website.
Webinars and Events
Research Grant Opportunities:
National Science Foundation
National Institutes of Health
Department of Defense
Department of Energy
NASA
Proposal Submission and Streamlyne Information
The NJIT Proposal Submission Guidelines and Policy provides the expected institutional timeline for proposal submission. Streamlyne User Manuals are posted on https://research.njit.edu/streamlyne. For contact information on proposal submission, pre-award services and post-award grant management, please visit research website https://research.njit.edu/researchers and https://research.njit.edu/contact.