The Department of Defense announced today plans to award 16 research grants totaling $8.75 million in fiscal 2001, and up to $15 million per year starting in fiscal 2002 to 14 academic institutions to conduct nanotechnology research in 15 topic areas of basic science and engineering. These grants will be made under the fiscal 2001 DoD Defense University Research Initiative on NanoTechnology program (DURINT), a program designed to address large multidisciplinary nanotechnology topics representing exceptional opportunities for future DoD applications and technology options. Additionally under the DURINT program, DoD plans to award 17 equipment grants totaling $7.25 million in fiscal 2001 to 16 academic institutions to purchase advanced equipment in support of nanotechnology research.
Subject to the successful completion of negotiations between DoD and the academic institutions, the 16 research awards will provide long-term support for research, graduate students, and the purchase of equipment. In addition, the 17 equipment grants will provide much needed instrumentation to support specific nanotechnology research themes vital to national defense.
The average award will be $1 million per year over a three-year period. Two additional years of funding will be possible as options to bring the total award to five years. Out-year funding is subject to the availability of appropriations.
Today's announcement is the result of rigorous competition over many months under the DoD DURINT program. The competition for nanotechnology research drew 334 white papers, which in turn generated 95 full proposals. After a thorough evaluation by technical expert teams, 16 of these proposals were selected for funding. The nanotechnology equipment competition drew 89 proposals, out of which 17 proposals were selected for funding.
The list of projects selected for fiscal 2001 funding may be found on the Web at:
