FY2018 Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI) Program | N00014 17 S F017

Opportunity Information: Apply for N00014 17 S F017

The FY2018 Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI) Program is a Department of the Navy (DoN) research grant opportunity, administered by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), designed to strengthen the STEM pipeline and expand the presence of minority professionals in the defense research community. At its core, the program funds basic, naval-relevant research at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) while also building those institutions research and education capacity. It emphasizes not only advancing science and technology that supports the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps mission, but also creating meaningful hands-on research experiences that engage students, including underrepresented minorities, in high-need STEM areas tied to national defense.

The program is structured to do three main things through research performed at HBCUs and other eligible MSIs: improve research and educational capabilities in fields important to the Navy, encourage collaboration across institutions (including cross-institutional teams) in naval research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDTandE), and increase student involvement in defense-relevant STEM research. Practically speaking, the FOA is geared toward white paper submissions first, with full proposals submitted by invitation. The intent is to identify promising ideas early, then selectively invite more developed proposals that align tightly with Navy priorities.

Technically, proposed work must fit within research priorities described in the Naval Research Development Framework. The FOA highlights three large mission areas. The first is Information, Cyber, and Spectrum Superiority, which targets the Navy need to sense, communicate, and decide faster in contested environments. Within this area, topics include Assured Command and Control (C2), which focuses on protected data transport, resilient networks, trusted applications, and decision support that shortens the "data to decisions" timeline; Electromagnetic Maneuver Warfare (EMW), which covers advanced spectrum management and ways to blend communications, sensing, and electronic warfare to shape the battlespace (including wideband monitoring and more efficient spectrum use); and Full Spectrum Cyber technologies, aimed at protecting networks, data, and control systems through resilient architectures, automated defenses, host hardening, and data assurance for operations in degraded or adversarial conditions. Example research interests named under this umbrella include advanced RF electronics and materials, communications and networking, decision-making computation, data science and analytics, electronic warfare, sensors and sensor processing, machine learning and reasoning, resource optimization, and precision navigation and timekeeping.

The second mission area is Mission Capable, Persistent, and Survivable Sea Platforms, centered on improving the performance, endurance, maintainability, and survivability of ships and submarines operating in more distributed and contested settings. This includes power and energy technologies for surface ships, especially as electric weapons and high-power sensors drive new demands for energy management and pulsed power. It also includes modeling and computational tools to understand how platforms interact with operational environments and threats, supporting integrated protection concepts such as stealth, counter-directed-energy approaches, electronic warfare integration, and tactical decision aids. Undersea dominance is explicitly called out, reflecting concerns about increasingly quiet submarines fielded by competitors and the need for advances in materials, acoustics, intelligent control, and countermeasures. The FOA also stresses sustainment and affordability, encouraging modularity, improved interface standards, reduced maintenance burden, and validated design tools that can rapidly assess novel platform concepts. Representative research topics include naval engineering, advanced naval power systems, survivable sea platform concepts, unmanned sea platforms and autonomy (including their power needs), advanced naval materials, undersea weapons and energetics, environmental quality, and corrosion control.

The third mission area is Aviation, Force Projection, and Integrated Defense, which focuses on future naval aviation and weapon systems capable of operating at longer ranges, higher speeds, and against sophisticated threats. Key themes include layered defense and force projection enabled by directed energy and counter-directed-energy systems, networked weapons that improve probability of kill while reducing redundant targeting, and advanced energetic and warhead materials that can reduce size while maintaining effectiveness. The FOA also points to electromagnetic launch concepts, precision strike and decision support for naval fires across domains (air, surface, undersea, expeditionary), improved aerodynamic control for unconventional aircraft designs, next-generation propulsion such as variable-cycle technologies, and structures/materials that reduce life-cycle cost while improving strength-to-weight performance. Autonomy is another major pillar, framed as a way to reduce risk, improve mission performance, and enable persistent and responsive capabilities that may be impractical with traditional approaches. Research interests listed here include directed energy and counter-DE, aerodynamics, flight dynamics and control, propulsion, structures and materials, energetic materials, hypersonics, and autonomy.

Eligibility is tightly defined. Awards are limited to U.S.-based MSIs that are degree-granting institutions in STEM. The FOA states eligibility is open to institutions eligible for assistance under Title III or Title V of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or other accredited post-secondary MSIs, consistent with the relevant statutory authority. If an applicant is an MSI but not formally designated as an HBCU or Tribal College or University (TCU), it must provide a current academic year letter from the U.S. Department of Education verifying Title III or Title V eligibility; without that letter at the white paper stage, the submission is deemed ineligible and will not be reviewed. In addition, the Principal Investigator and all proposed personnel must be U.S. citizens as of the white paper due date, which is an important compliance constraint for team composition.

From the funding opportunity metadata, this is a discretionary grant opportunity (CFDA 12.300) run by ONR under funding opportunity number N00014-17-S-F017. The original closing date listed is April 30, 2018. The FOA does not clearly state an award ceiling in the provided text excerpt, and the number of expected awards is not specified there either, but the overall structure signals a competitive process where white papers are screened for fit and promise before ONR invites full proposals.

• The Office of Naval Research in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY2018 Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI) Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.300.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-09-28.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-04-30. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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