How to Find Existing Broad Agency Announcements
by Jeff Decker, PhD and Nilay Papila, PhD, Technology Transfer for Defense, Stanford University
The Defense Department offers various funding opportunities for research initiatives totaling approximately $9 billion per year. Here are our 4 steps for successful research grant applications. The first step of the process is to identify existing funding opportunities.
There are several ways to identify Defense Department grants. The Army, Navy, Air Force, and DARPA all maintain websites listing grant opportunities. However, Grants.gov is Stanford University’s Technology Transfer for Defense’s preferred method for identifying research grants. Grants.gov is the federal government's largest and most prominent grant database. Grants on the database range in funding up to $10M for durations up to 3 years. Grants.gov is widely accessible and broadly encompassing is one of the best ways to learn about the details of an award.
1. Initiate search on grants.gov: To access grants on grants.gov, simply visit the website and click on the "search grants" option. From there, you can explore available opportunities by filtering your search based on criteria such as agency, category, and keywords.
2. Keyword Entry: In order to refine your search and find information tailored to your interests, enter relevant keywords such as "batteries."
3. Opportunity Status: Define the search by selecting both "forecasted" and "posted" as opportunity statuses. Making these refinements ensures you cover both upcoming opportunities and currently available for application.
4. Funding Instrument Type: Specify the funding instrument type as "grants" to focus specifically on opportunities aligned with this financial mechanism. This ensures a targeted search approach tailored to your grant-seeking objectives. Alternative funding mechanisms are cooperative agreements and procurements and these are mostly available funding avenues for companies.
5. Eligibility Criteria: Selecting eligibility criteria like "public or private higher institution" caters directly to the specific needs of a college or university, ensuring that only opportunities applicable to an institution’s status are considered. This targeted approach streamlines the search process, saving time and resources by excluding irrelevant options and focusing solely on relevant opportunities for universities.
6. Agency Selection: Selecting "All Department of Defense" provides a broad view of opportunities across the entire department, while choosing a specific unit from the dropdown menu allows for a more targeted search within a particular division. If necessary, after selecting "All Department of Defense", you may select one of the Defense Units to narrow down your search.
7. Search Opportunities: When conducting a keyword search on Grants.gov, clicking the “Search” button initiates a process to generate a table displaying currently available grants as well as upcoming opportunities that match your search criteria. This feature allows users to input multiple keywords, enabling a more refined search process to find grants that align closely with their specific interests or needs. By entering multiple keywords, users can further narrow down the results and increase the relevance of the opportunities presented to them.
8. View Grant Opportunities: Once you find a grant that looks interesting and you click on it, you will be taken to the grant opportunity page. On the "View Grant Opportunities" page you will see the Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs) and see there are four tabs (circled in in the figure below). The "Synopsis of the BAA" tab provides a concise overview of the announcement's objectives and requirements. The "Version History" tab tracks any updates or modifications made to the BAA document over time. The "Related Documents" tab houses supplementary materials and references associated with the BAA. Lastly, the "Package" tab offers detailed information about the application process and submission requirements. These tabs collectively offer users comprehensive insights and resources for engaging with the available grant opportunities. Click on the links to understand more about the grant opportunity.
Grants.gov is our preferred way to identify existing research grants. However, we also like engaging Program Managers to understand their research needs and propose research topics that align. A future article will outline the steps we have successfully used to create research topics and secure Defense Department funding.
Technology Transfer for Defense 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.