Department of Defense DEPSCoR
Call for Proposals FY07

INTRODUCTION
The Department of Defense (DoD) EPSCoR (DEPSCoR) Program is open to all faculty and researchers at Oklahoma universities.   The broad agency announcement (BAA) has now been released and can be accessed at:  http://www.arl.army.mil/main/main/default.cfm?Action=6&Page=8
 Last year, approximately $11.5 million was awarded nationally through DEPSCoR and Oklahoma received three grants out of the five submitted in our state package.  The funds available for the FY 07 competition will depend on the final appropriated budget. Twenty-one states (as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) including Oklahoma are eligible for DEPSCoR. 

The DEPSCoR Program for FY 07 contains no substantive changes from the FY 06 BAA.  The salient features of the FY07 BAA are as follows:

• Each state is asked to submit 5 proposals.
• The proposals should be for no less than $350,000 of federal funds.
• There is no maximum per proposal that can be requested, but history shows few awards over $700,000.
• There is no maximum amount per state.
• The matching fund requirement for 1 state dollar per 2 federal dollars remains.

DEPSCoR requires a 1:2 state cost match.  This means there must be $1.00 of match for every $2.00 of DoD funds.  This match will be divided 50/50 between the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education Matching Fund and the PI’s campus.  The matching funds will be allocated between the PI’s campus and the State Regents over the three years of funding as follows:
Year One: 100% provided by PI’s campus
Year Two: 50% provided by PI’s campus, 50% provided by State Regents
Year Three: 100% provided by State Regents
PIs should work with their campus research administration offices in preparing a preliminary budget for their preproposals and indicate how the campus portion of the match would be funded (i.e., from department, college, and/or central funds).  PIs may also seek cost matching from other sources.  Possible sources for campus cost match include the 1) unrecovered F&A (indirect costs) on the State Regents’ match, 2) direct dollar match from the campuses and 3) indirect costs on the campus match.  Please direct all questions regarding matching funds to your campus Office of Research Administration rather than to the EPSCoR Office.

INFORMATION ABOUT DoD RESEARCH NEEDS
The Army, Navy, and Air Force publish their specific research areas of interest in separate BAAs.  DEPSCoR research projects may address any of the technical areas listed in the respective Army, Navy, and Air Force BAAs.  BAAs and program descriptions are available on-line at the following addresses:

           U.S. Army Research Office:
           http://www.aro.army.mil  (select “For the Researcher”)
                      
           Office of Naval Research:
           http://www.onr.navy.mil  (select "ONR Science and Technology Departments")

           Air Force Office of Scientific Research:
           http://www.afosr.af.mil (select "For Researchers")
                       

PROJECT SELECTION

The Oklahoma EPSCoR Committee review panel will select projects for inclusion into the Oklahoma State Package.  Project selection will be based on review of preproposals using the following criteria:

1. The relevance of the proposal to DoD mission needs as demonstrated in part by the interaction and feedback of the PI's with DoD researchers and program officers.
2. The scientific merit of the proposal.
3. The relevance of the proposal to Oklahoma EPSCoR goals.
4. The likelihood of continuing support beyond the EPSCoR support.

PREPROPOSALS

The preproposals must include:

1. PI name(s), full contact information including email address, and affiliation(s).
2. Project Title.
3. Project Description (5 page maximum).  Literature references may be provided if necessary and they do not count toward this page limitation.
4. Preliminary Budget (1 page) Include both DoD and matching funds in the budget request and include F&A on the DoD funds.
5. Name of the DoD research agency and program the proposal is directed towards.
6. List of past, current and pending DoD research support.
7. Brief Vitae for PI (up to 2 pages).
8. Description (up to 2 pages) of how well the proposal addresses current DoD research needs and the prospects for future non-EPSCoR DOD research funding. In particular, describe the contacts and interactions you have had with the DoD agency, its program offices and officers, and their response.  Provide whatever documentation is available regarding these interactions.

TIMETABLE for FY 07

First – Carefully, read the DEPSCoR Announcement at the above-cited link.

• Tuesday,September 5, 2006, 5:00 p.m. - Preproposals (20 copies) are due in the Oklahoma EPSCoR office at OSU (225C Noble Research Center, Stillwater, OK 74078-3033.  Phone: 405-744-9964).
• Friday, September 22, 2006 (or earlier, if possible) - PI's will be notified as to which preproposals were selected, and given final instructions and budget targets.
• Monday, October 23, 2006, 5:00 p.m. - Completed proposals (original and 15 copies), with all relevant signatures and certifications etc. are due to the Oklahoma EPSCoR office at OSU. They will be collated into the formal state package and must be mailed to DoD on October 27 to arrive by the 4 PM October 31 deadline.
• January 2007 - DoD expects to announce the awards.
• June 2007 - Target start date of the awards.

PREVIOUS AWARDS

The list of projects selected for fiscal 2006 funding may be found on the Web at:  http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060328-12713.html

The list of Oklahoma DEPSCoR recipients for fiscal 2006 is available on-line at:  http://www.okepscor.org/OKRecipientFY06.html

For more information or discussion of specific project ideas, please contact Oklahoma EPSCoR Director, Frank Waxman at 405.225.9459 or fwaxman@osrhe.edu.