Funding Spotlight: FY20 Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR)

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research has released the FY20 Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) funding opportunity.

This basic research opportunity will fund up to $200,000 per year for three years.

Unlike many funding opportunities, this project will only fund a pair of researchers: an “applicant,” who has never received DoD funding before, and a “collaborator” who has served as a PI on a DoD-funded research award between Oct. 1, 2013 and Sept. 30, 2020.

The University is home to many faculty who have received DoD funded research. Feel free to reach out to any of the qualified faculty listed in the following table to discuss your research idea and see if they’re interested in collaborating. Please note that PIs and collaborators do not have to be from the same institution, but they must both be from an institution in an EPSCoR state.

Have you received DoD funding but don’t see your name in the following table? Email Proposal Capture Manager Carrie Bushá if you would like to be added.

University faculty who have served as a PI on a DoD-funded award actively between Oct. 1, 2013 and Sept. 30, 2020
Name Email Department College
David AuCoin daucoin@med.unr.edu Microbiology & Immunology UNR Med
Paul Brett pbrett@med.unr.edu Microbiology & Immunology UNR Med
Sarah Cowie scowie@unr.edu Anthropology College of Liberal Arts
Gail Craviso gcraviso@med.unr.edu Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology & Physiology UNR Med
Jill Heaton jheaton@unr.edu Geography College of Science
Casilde Isabelli isabelli@unr.edu World Languages and Literatures College of Liberal Arts
Monica Nicolescu monica@unr.edu Computer Science & Engineering College of Engineering
Andrew Nuss anuss@cabnr.unr.edu Nevada Agriculture Experiment Station College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources
Sue Liebman sliebman@unr.edu Department of Pharmacology UNR Med
Sushil Louis sushil@cse.unr.edu Computer Science & Engineering College of Engineering
Kevin Shoemaker kshoemaker@cabnr.unr.edu Natural Resources & Environmental Science College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources
Alireza Tavakkoli tavakkol@unr.edu Computer Science & Engineering College of Engineering
Floris van Breugel fvanbruegel@unr.edu Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering
Lei Yang leiy@unr.edu Computer Science & Engineering College of Engineering

DEPSCoR research topics

This competition seeks proposals addressing the following topics:

  1. Cognitive and Computational Neurosciences
  2. Space Science
  3. Agile Science of Test and Evaluation
  4. Materials with Extreme Properties
  5. Propulsion and Energetics
  6. Computational Architectures and Visualization
  7. Optoelectronics
  8. Probability and Statistics
  9. Molecular Structure and Dynamics
  10. Social and Behavioral Science
  11. Biotronics
  12. Aerospace Structures and Materials
  13. Ocean Acoustics
  14. Machine Learning, Reasoning and Intelligence
  15. Power Electronics & Electromagnetism, Adaptive & Machinery Controls and Advanced Machinery Systems

Proposal support

If you are interested in submitting to this funding opportunity, please reach out to one of the experienced grant administrators for your college.

Submission timeline

(all by 8:59 p.m. PST)

  • June 15 – AcquTrak online registration portal opens
  • June 29 – Technical or general pre-white paper questions due
  • July 20 – (Internal) Submit draft for external review
  • Sept. 14 – AcquTrak registration deadline
  • Sept. 1 – (Internal) Contact your college’s grant coordinator with intent to submit
  • Sept. 1 – (Internal) Submit draft for editing
  • Sept. 21 – White Paper due
  • Nov. 20 – Notification of White Paper selection
  • Feb. 15, 2021 – Full proposal due (by invitation only)  

Proposal development resources