Issue: ORN-2026-32
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
Financial Assistance Regulations-Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment Policy Requirements
Rules by the Energy Department on 07/16/2026
These rules take effect on August 17, 2026.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has finalized new regulations governing Conflict of Interest (COI) and Conflict of Commitment (COC) for all financial assistance awards. Because these requirements represent a significant departure from standard Public Health Service policies, especially regarding research security, foreign affiliations, and external commitments, immediate attention is required from anyone applying for or currently holding DOE funding.
Expanded Definition of "Covered Individuals"
The DOE now defines a Covered Individual extremely broadly. If an individual's biosketch, resume, or current and pending support form is submitted, they are automatically subject to these rules. This may include individuals beyond the PI alone.
New Scrutiny on Conflict of Commitment (COC)
The rules expand beyond traditional financial conflicts to include conflicts of commitment. You must disclose situations involving conflicting obligations of time and effort, such as:
- External employment and consulting
- Titled academic, professional, or institutional appointments (including voluntary, unpaid, visiting, or honorary positions)
- Participation in foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment programs.
Accelerated Review and Strict 15-Day Deadlines
- Pre-Proposal Review: All COI/COC disclosures for covered individuals -- including those for proposed subrecipients -- must be submitted and reviewed by the university prior to the submission of a funding application.
- 15-Day Updates: If a new actual, apparent, or potential COI/COC arises during your project, you must update your disclosure within 15 days.
Training Frequency
Training must be completed before you engage in any DOE-funded project, with refresher courses required every two years.
Immediate Next Steps for DOE Researchers
- Audit your affiliations: Double-check that all external appointments (paid or unpaid, domestic or foreign) are accurately reflected in your current and pending support documentation.
- Alert your project teams: PIs must inform any students, co-authors, or sub-investigators involved in their DOE projects that they are subject to these accelerated disclosure and training requirements.
- Watch for training updates: Our office will circulate a link to the required training shortly. Note that recent federal Research Security training modules (such as those tied to the CHIPS and Science Act) may satisfy this requirement; we will confirm your exact training status.
The Office of Research is actively working to comply with these federal mandates. If you have an imminent DOE proposal deadline and/or questions, please contact Shawn Chester, Associate Vice Provost for Research Collaborations at shawn.chester@njit.edu.
Grant Opportunity Alerts
NSF: Bioinnovation and Infrastructure (BI) Program; U.S. National Science Foundation State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs: Expanding Access to Compute for Scientific Discovery (AI Infrastructure Hubs)
NIH ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY FOR HEALTH (ARPA-H): FASTPASS: Fast Assessment of Solutions, Therapeutics, Pharmaceuticals, and Supplies
Department of War/US Army/DARPA/ONR: FY26 Defense Established Program To Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) – Capacity Building (CB); FY26 Defense Established Program To Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) – Research Collaboration (RC); Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Department of War (DoW) Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP)
NIH: Forecast: Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award (KR1); Forecast: Partnership with Common Fund Data Ecosystem Resources
Department of Energy: NOI: PROSPECT Program: Providing Opportunities for Specialized Education in Critical Technologies
Department of Transportation: Forecast: FY26 US DOT Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grants (DIIG) Program
NASA: Early Stage Innovations - In Situ Resource Utilization (ESI26 ISRU)
Recent Research Grant and Contract Awards
In the News
DARPA funds advancements in quantum networking: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is exploring how to scale the reliable transmission of quantum data and pave the way for a viable quantum internet by giving networking company Qunnect an award to further deploy networks designed to handle qubit traffic. Pursuant to the contract, Qunnect is granted new funding to further deploy its Carina quantum networking solution, the company announced on Thursday. Qubits are naturally more fragile than classical bits, and transmitting them from one node to another has been a persistent problem in scaling a viable quantum network. Carina addresses several outstanding problems in safely transmitting quantum data by operating at room temperature, stabilizing environmental noise, maintaining entanglement during transmission and other engineering challenges. Qunnect will specifically focus on refining Carina’s polarization compensation nodule, its internal system that helps reduce distortions in data transmission. “Quantum networking has mostly stayed in the lab for decades because entanglement can be lost as a result of environmental factors like heat, wind and other everyday fiber movement,” Noel Goddard, CEO of Qunnect, told Nextgov/FCW. “Carina is the only commercial product built to cancel that noise out in real time, like noise-cancelling headphones for both buried and aerial fiber. This is one of the keys to Carina distributing entanglement over existing infrastructure instead of requiring purpose-built fiber or being limited to pristine lab environments.” More information is posted on the NextGov website.
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Tech Bills of the Week: Leveraging AI for environmental evaluations; crafting a report on China’s AI ecosystem; and more: A bill introduced on Aug. 6 aims to fortify the U.S. military by improving the management of natural resources near military installations with the help of AI technology. The Military Readiness Through Resilient Lands Act — introduced by Reps. George Whitesides, D-Calif., Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla. — seeks to amend the Sikes Act of 1960 to modernize the Pentagon’s conservation efforts for natural resources located on military bases. The bill would support the conservation provisions stipulated in the Sikes Act by mandating the Department of Defense to assess and, as deemed appropriate, apply AI and other technologies to help develop and maintain site-specific conservation goals and metrics. AI would be used to support the “assessment of natural resources and ecosystem services as relevant to mission readiness, climate resilience, or community safety on military installations.” In applying advanced technologies like AI to evaluate the status of the environment and natural resources near military bases, Defense can then forecast and prevent natural disasters from impeding national security operations. More information is posted on the NextGov website.
Research Grant Opportunities:
National Science Foundation
ARPA-H
Department of War
National Institutes of Health
Department of Defense
Department of Transportation
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.