Call for White Papers
Overview: The Laboratory University Collaboration Initiative (LUCI), sponsored by the Basic Research Office, Office of Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD R&E), is a pilot program designed to support the DoD Laboratory researchers for their collaborations fostered between them and DoD funded university researchers on basic research projects in areas of critical interest to DoD.
Award information.
- Each awarded project will be eligible for up to $200,000/year for three years.
- Awarded funds may be used for a portion of the PI’s salary, new post-doctoral researchers or other contractors, travel to collaborators’ institutions, and supplies.
- Funds may also be used for part-time support of post-doctoral researchers and students at the collaborating University, but it is expected that most of the funds will be used within the DoD laboratory, and that the Government PI will commit sufficient time to the project.
- Government PIs are also encouraged to leverage the SMART Scholarship SEED Grant opportunity[1] for Phase 2 SMART scholars, if circumstances allow, although no preference will be given to proposals that can successfully do so.
Topics of interest include:
- Applied Mathematics and Computational Science
- Networks and Artificial Intelligence
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Fundamentals of Bioengineering
- Quantum Information Science
- Electronics, Photonics and Quantum Materials
- Engineered Materials and Structures
- Other fields of research, deemed of interest to the DoD.
Additional information.
White papers for the FY2021 Class of LUCI Fellows are being solicited from researchers in the DoD laboratories to conduct basic scientific research in collaboration with University researchers who participate in the Department-wide fundamental research programs, specifically: past and current Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellows (VBFF), and current and previous [Principal Investigators (PIs)] and co-PIs of the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI) Program. For the latter, PIs and co-PIs are defined as investigators in charge of a significant portion of the research work, and listed in the original MURI proposal. Other University researchers, funded by other DoD programs, are not eligible. While collaborators from previous and inactive VBFF and MURI awards are allowed, it is recommended that attention be focused on more recent ones unless well justified in the white paper. It is anticipated that for a successful white paper, the Laboratory researchers will spend a significant amount of time to perform research with universities. Joint white papers written by two DoD Laboratories from the same or different Services are allowed and encouraged, but will not receive additional funding. Similarly, a white paper may include more than one University PI that satisfies the criteria above (VBFF and MURI). In both cases, the number of laboratory PIs collaborators must be explained and justified in the white paper.
References: (click on the link(s))