Multidisciplinary, Multi-Institutional Science and Technology Competitions

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate is requesting applications from accredited U.S. colleges and universities to conduct multidisciplinary research. These organizations should demonstrate expertise in an individual or combined research area described in this funding opportunity announcement. DHS S&T is congressionally mandated in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to “establish a coordinated, university-based system to enhance the Nation’s homeland security.” Therefore, eligible applications under this funding opportunity will be submitted by a lead organization (accredited U.S. college and university) with a specific plan to partner with at least one other organization in order to fully address the required multidisciplinary research components. DHS S&T is requesting applications in one of the four topics as follows: 1) Community Participation and Resilience, 2) Multiple Sensor Integration 3) Port Systems Resilience, or 4) Immigration Security. Each topic is of interest to multiple DHS S&T Divisions and DHS component agencies and crosses the subject matter expertise of multiple universities, existing DHS Centers of Excellence (COE), and other research consortia. Institutions may submit applications for more than one topic. However, they must be separate applications. DHS’s intent in funding this competition is to take advantage of the existing scientific expertise and technological capabilities of multiple research centers and institutions to address complex and difficult problems facing DHS that no one institution can address adequately on its own.