Office of Naval Research, 800 North Quincy St., Arlington, VA 22217-5660

A -- MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH PROGRAM OF THE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH INITIATIVE SOL BAA 98-012 DUE 102798 POC Clifford Lau, ONR 311, (703) 696-4961 BAA 98-012 MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH PROGRAM OF THE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH INITIATIVE Due: Proposals are due on 10/27/98 Point of Contact: Dr. Clifford Lau, ONR, 703-696-4961, lauc@onr.navy.mil. A -- MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH PROGRAM OF THE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH INITIATIVE The Department of Defense (DoD) announces the Fiscal Year 1999 competition for the Multidisciplinary Research Program, one element of the University Research Initiative (URI). The URI is a Department of Defense initiative sponsored by the Director of Research, Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (ODDR&E) to enhance universities' capabilities to perform basic science and engineering research and related education in science and engineering areas critical to national defense. The Multidisciplinary Research Program of the URI (MURI) supports university teams whose efforts intersect more than one traditional science and engineering discipline. Multidisciplinary team effort can accelerate research progress in areas particularly suited to this approach by cross-fertilization of ideas and also can help to hasten the transition of basic research findings to practical applications and to train students in science and/or engineering. The DoD expects the MURI program will promote basic science and engineering research, primarily for defense but also for civilian applications. Proposals may be submitted only by U.S. institutions of higher education (hereafter referred to as universities), other than federal government, with degree granting programs in science and/or engineering. Eligible universities may submit proposals either individually or collectively, as consortia. This MURI competition is specifically for the thirteen research topics listed as follows: (1) Hybrid Molecular and Spin-Semiconductor Based Research; (2) High Selectivity in Biological Detection; (3) Tunable Optical Polymeric System (TOPS); (4) Biomimetic Materials with Adaptive Infrared Response; (5) Pulsed Detonation Phenomena for Propulsion; (6) Models for Specification and Forecast of the Global Ionosphere; (7) Semiconductor Interface Electronics; (8) Stochastic Chemical Sensing Mechanisms; (9) Semiconductor Radiation Physics; (10) Computational Prediction and Design of Material Properties; (11) Innovative Vacuum Electronics; (12) Information Physics -- Non-classical Information Representation and Manipulation; and (13) Science Base for Nanolithography. The awards will be made on behalf of the ODDR&E Research Office in these thirteen specific research topics under the supervision of the Research Topic Chiefs in the following four agencies: the Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. This notice constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement as contemplated in FAR 6:102(d)2. The agencies expect that typically each award will be: (1) for a period of three years (funded incrementally or as options) with two additional years possible as options to bring the total award to five years, subject to the availability of appropriations; and (2) at a funding level commensurate with the fields and breadth of research included in the details of each specific proposal, ranging from a few hundred thousand dollars to over a million dollars per year, though awards exceeding $1.5 million are unlikely. More than one award may be made for an individual topic. A full description of the program is accessible on the World Wide Web at http://www.onr.navy.mil/ in "Education/URI Programs", or at http://web.fie.com/fedix/afosr. html (the FEDIX of the Federal Information Exchange). A FEDIX computer help-line is also available at 301-975-0103. The DoD will not issue paper copies of this program announcement. The program description on the Web provides general information, eligibility, relevant dates, instructions for submitting white papers and proposals, detailed description of each of the thirteen research topics and points of contact, and evaluation criteria. The intent of arequest for white papers is to minimize the labor and costs associated with the production of detailed proposals. All interested proposers, therefore, are encouraged to submit white papers. However, all proposals submitted under the terms and conditions cited herein will be reviewed, regardless of the disposition (or lack of) white papers. The primary evaluation criteria, of equal weight, are: (1) Scientific and technical merits of the proposed basic science and/or engineering research; (2) Relevance and potential contributions of the research to defense missions; and (3) Impact of plans to enhance the institution's ability to perform defense-relevant research and to train, through the proposed research, students in science and/or engineering (for example, by acquiring or refurbishing equipment that can support DoD research and research-related educational objectives). Other evaluation criteria, of lesser importance than (l), (2), and (3) but equal to each other, are: (4) The qualifications of the principal investigator and other key research personnel; (5) The adequacy of current or planned facilities and equipment to accomplish the research objectives; (6) The impact of interactions with other organizations engaged in related research and development, in particular industrial organizations, DoD laboratories and other organizations that perform research and development for defense applications; and (7) The realism and reasonableness of cost, including proposed cost sharing. Criteria (1), (2), (3), and (7) will be used to evaluate white papers. All seven criteria will be used to evaluate final proposals. White papers are due at the addresses shown for each topic by 4 p.m. local time on Thursday, 11 June 1998. Proposals are due at the addresses shown for each topic by 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday, 27 October 1998. Sponsor: Office of Naval Research, 800 North Quincy Street, Arlington, VA 22217-5660 (0084)

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