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Technology Transfer for Defense

Getting Defense Department Grants: A Researcher's Roadmap to Funding

by Jeff Decker, PhD and Nilay Papila, PhD, Technology Transfer for Defense, Stanford University

So, you want to secure funding for your research? You’ve come to the right place. Stanford University’s Technology Transfer for Defense (TT4D) program is helping guide researchers on the basics of how to get Defense Department grants by laying out a step-by-step roadmap to securing research funding.  

In the past six years, the Stanford Technology Transition for Defense team has supported more than three dozen early-, mid-, and late-career researchers and helped them win tens of millions of dollars in Defense Department grants. TT4D primarily focuses on STEM disciplines. The result has been tens of millions of dollars secured to fund research and transitioning technologies from academic labs to the government personnel that need it the most.

Photo by Theodor Horydczak

The Defense Department has been funding basic and applied research since 1947. In 2023, it spent approximately $9 billion. There are numerous organizations supporting research such as the Department of the Air Force (that includes Space Force), the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy (including the Marine Corps), as well as DARPA, the Defense Microelectronic Activity, and more. These organizations fund a range of research and are often willing to entertain ideas for research projects. Researchers in nearly every discipline can find relevant Defense Department grants for their research. 

The good news is that there is no shortage of research funding opportunities. The bad news is that researchers will need to find these organizations, engage their Program Managers, and identify potential research opportunities to take advantage of them. TT4D has the experience to help and has created a guide to to walk you through how to get started learning the ropes of identifying and winning Defense Department research grants.

Categories of Government Grants and the Purpose of Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs)

Let’s clarify some terms that will be helpful for any researcher interested in pursuing federal grants. The term “government grants” refers to financial support provided by governments for specific projects or activities. The rough order of magnitude for government research grants in the US annually is in the billions of dollars, which is approximately 2-3% of the total federal budget.

 Photo by Khary Ratliff 

Defense Department Grants Provide Funding and Much More 

Grants come in several different categories to include funding for research, scholarships, instrumentation, prototyping, and events.

  • Research Funding Grants provide resources for conducting in-depth studies, fueling the advancement of knowledge across various fields.
  • Scholarships offer financial support to researchers, enabling access to learning opportunities and academic growth. 
  • Prototyping and Instrumentation Grants facilitate the development of prototypes and experimental models, fostering innovation and technological advancement. 
  • Event Support Grants provide funding for organizing conferences, workshops, and symposiums, fostering collaboration, knowledge exchange, and networking within academic and professional communities.

Here are a few examples of BAAs within these categories:

Research Funding Grants

There are two types of research funding grants that should be on every researcher's radar: Multi-year research grants and prestigious awards. Multi-year research grants are the most valuable research grants are multi-year grants, which provide sustained funding over an extended period, allowing researchers to delve deeply into complex topics, track developments over time, and produce comprehensive findings. Examples of a valuable multi-year research grant include the following opportunities for Single Investigators. These programs provide multi-year funding to researchers in academia, supporting their innovative research ideas with the potential to address critical defense challenges. Recipients of these programs are typically awarded grants for a duration of two to three years, allowing them to conduct in-depth research and develop cutting-edge technologies that could significantly impact national security.

Photo by David McNally

Scholarships

There are several prestigious awards offered by the Defense Department that are known to accelerate faculty careers. The following grants are known to be particularly prestigious and are designed to help raise awareness about your research.

  • DARPA Young Faculty Award, Army Research Office (ARO) Air Force (AF), and Office of Naval Research (ONR) similarly have Young Investigator Programs. All of these programs provide the majority of DoD basic research funding, typically advertised through BAA with awards averaging $100,000 to $200,000 over three years. 
  • Class of 2024 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship Program supports innovative basic research within academia and fosters the development of the next generation of defense-focused scientists and engineers. This program employs a two-stage application process, offering awards of approximately $3 million over three years.

Prototyping and Instrumentation Grants

Defense Department grants are useful for gaining access to people who will test the technology you are developing.  The best part about these grants is that researchers gain access to the people who will likely use the research outputs. For example, a researcher developing a new type of sonar might connect with a Sonar Operator (known in the Navy as Acoustic Warfare Analyst Submariner) who can provide feedback on the areas of your research that are most impactful. Exposure for researchers is useful to researchers in helping them select meaningful research questions, engagement demonstrates value to Defense Department funding organizations, and will ultimately transition the technology from lab to defense capability. Instrumentation awards are aimed at enhancing research capabilities of defense-related technologies and research. These also tend to fall under prestigious awards. 

These are not exhaustive lists. Rather, they are meant to be a starting point for you to become aware of the different types of grants and some of the more general grants available. TT4D encourages all researchers to explore these research opportunities to familiarize themselves with some of what the government has to offer.

Event Support Grants

The Defense Department offers various grant programs and event support initiatives, primarily focused on research, development, and other defense-related activities. However, specific event support grants may vary depending on the department or agency within the Defense Department. 

  1. Air Force Defense Research Sciences Conference and Workshop Support The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) manages the basic research investment for the Air Force and provides partial support for conferences and workshops in special areas of science. These events serve as forums for research and technology interchange. Funding requests are considered from U.S. institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations, including certain foreign entities primarily focused on scientific, educational, or charitable purposes. Proposals must be submitted at least six months prior to the event start date, and submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. The detailed information about this support can be found in the most recent version of AFOSR's general BAA titled, "Research Interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research”.
  2. Army Conference and Symposia Grant Award The Army supports conferences and symposia in areas of science that bring experts together to discuss recent research or educational findings or to expose other researchers or advanced graduate students to new research and educational techniques. The detailed information about this support can be found in the most recent version of Army's general BAA titled, “DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory Broad Agency Announcement for Foundational Research” (W911NF-23-S-0001)

Bottom line

The Defense Department has four major categories of research funding in which it spends billions of dollars each year. All fields and disciplines of research can be supported. While there is an abundance of opportunity, identifying the opportunities most useful to you is difficult. Learning the ins and outs of Defense Department grants can be daunting but this article introduced the different types of Defense Department grants and listed a few grants that we recommend to help you get started. The next article will introduce a 4-step process to identifying and winning Defense Department grants. 

 

Please drop any comments or questions in the comments section below and we are happy to work with you to help facilitate this process. For details on which of these awards are right for you, check out our article here. Sign up to this Substack to receive detailed information about how to find and win Defense Department grants.   

Technology Transfer for Defense (TT4D) specializes in matching Defense Department funding with academic research projects. Over the past six years, TT4D has worked with dozens of faculty members to win Defense Department grants and transition academic technologies from lab to defense capabilities. TT4D is run by Jeffrey Decker, PhD, program director, Precourt Institute for Energy, Fu-Kuo Chang, professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Nilay Papila, PhD, senior program manager, Precourt Institute for Energy.