The Department of Defense announced the awarding of $52.5 million to support the purchase of university research equipment. One of the recipients was South Dakota School of Mines Assistant Professor and Photo Active Nanoscale Systems (PANS) investigator Dimitris Anagnostou. The 222 awards to 107 academic institutions are being made under the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP). These fiscal 2009 DURIP awards are expected to range from $50,000 to $1 million and average approximately $235,000.
The DURIP is designed to fill a critical need of scholars by purchasing state-of-the-art equipment that augments current university capabilities or develops new capabilities to perform cutting edge defense research. Academic institutions generally have difficulty purchasing instruments costing $50,000 or more under most research contracts and grants. Anagnostou’s research group will use the funding to develop a platform for accurate measurement and characterization of reconfigurable and tunable antennas, antenna arrays and microwave devices.
“We are motivated by the multifunctionality that reconfigurable electronics offer in modern communication systems,” said Anagnostou.
These awards are the result of a merit competition for DURIP funding conducted by the Army Research Office (ARO), Office of Naval Research (ONR), and Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). Each office requested proposals from university investigators conducting research of importance to the DoD. This includes research related to information technology, remote sensing, propulsion, electronics and electro-optics, advanced materials, and ocean science and engineering. The DoD research offices collectively received more than 700 proposals requesting $224 million in equipment support.
Useful Links:
Photo Active Nanoscale Systems (PANS)
Department of Defense
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
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DEPSCoR Program Description
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- Congress has appropriated funds for the Defense Department’s EPSCoR program (DEPSCoR) since FY1991. This program was authorized in the FY1995 Defense Department Authorization Act (P.L. 103-337) and subsequent years. The program statute for DEPSCoR (section 257 of Public Law 103-337, as amended) states that DEPSCoR’s objectives are to:
(1) “enhance the capabilities of institutions of higher education (“universities”) in eligible States to develop, plan, and execute science and engineering research that is competitive under the peer-review systems used for awarding Federal research assistance; and
(2) increase the probability of long-term growth in competitively awarded financial assistance that universities in eligible states receive from the Federal Government for science and engineering research. Consistent with these long-term objectives of building research infrastructure, the DoD…competitively makes…multiyear awards for research and for associated graduate education of scientists and engineers in areas important to national defense…To maximize the DEPSCoR program objectives, all DEPSCoR awards require a minimum non-federal cost sharing or matching of one-to-two (i.e., at least one dollar from State, institutional, and/or private sector sources to match each two dollars of DEPSCoR support being provided). Matching funds may support items such as salaries, indirect costs, operating expenses, or new equipment. Universities in 23 States and Territories are eligible to receive awards.”
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