Collaborative Research Alliance (CRA) for MultiScale multidisciplinary Modeling of Electronic materials (MSME) | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Collaborative Research Alliance (CRA) for MultiScale Multidisciplinary Modeling of Electronic Materials (MSME) is a U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) program, released under Program Announcement W911NF 11 R 0002, aimed at building a long-term research partnership to push forward fundamental science and predictive modeling for electronic materials. The Army is looking to form an alliance that combines academic, industry, and government strengths to develop a quantitative, multiscale understanding of electronic materials, meaning models that can connect behavior from the smallest relevant scales (such as atomic or nanoscale effects) up through device-scale and system-relevant performance. The practical motivation is clear: better models are expected to translate into better electronic devices and applications that matter to the Army, including sensors and electronics for improved battlefield capabilities, as well as more efficient power and energy technologies.

At its core, the opportunity is about establishing a cohesive, multidisciplinary research program that treats modeling as the central product. The announcement emphasizes that the MSME team (the awardee-led alliance) is expected to develop the multiscale models, while ARL scientists will conduct experiments in the targeted research areas to validate and verify those models. In other words, the Army is setting up a feedback loop where models drive understanding and design, ARL runs experiments to test and refine them, and the alliance iterates toward increasingly predictive and useful modeling frameworks. This continuous model improvement process is positioned as a defining feature of how the CRA will operate.

The research scope is organized around three electronic materials research areas that the alliance must address. The first area is Electrochemical Energy Devices, which points to batteries, fuel cells, and related electrochemical systems where material behavior across scales strongly influences performance, lifetime, and safety. The second area is Hybrid Photonic, Spintronic Devices, covering materials and device concepts that mix optical phenomena with spin-based electronic behavior, relevant to advanced sensing and information processing. The third area is Heterogeneous Metamorphic Electronics, which generally refers to electronics built from dissimilar materials and structures (often involving lattice mismatch or complex integration schemes) to achieve performance not possible with conventional homogeneous semiconductor approaches. Across all three, the Army is explicitly seeking state-of-the-art advances in multiscale, multidisciplinary modeling rather than narrow single-phenomenon simulations.

To keep proposals grounded and comparable, the PA lays out five required multiscale modeling research core elements that offerors are expected to address for each of the three research areas. These core elements are Modeling and Simulation (the actual computational and theoretical methods), Bridging the Scales (how results and parameters move from one length or time scale to another), Multiscale Material Metrics (defining measurable quantities that meaningfully connect material structure to device performance across scales), Validation and Verification (demonstrating both that the models are implemented correctly and that they match reality), and Processing and Synthesis (capturing how manufacturing or formation routes affect material structure and therefore performance). The Army also encourages crosscutting themes that span multiple research areas and core elements, signaling interest in shared frameworks, common toolchains, or unifying scientific concepts that accelerate progress beyond siloed efforts.

In terms of program structure, the Army intends the CRA to function through coordinated research tasks executed under a set of consistent but flexible annual research plans. The expectation is that the program will stay responsive to Army and broader Department of Defense needs, with the alliance able to adjust plans annually while still driving toward the overarching goal of predictive multiscale models and a "materials by design" capability. The program also highlights workforce and community-building components, including interchange of scientists and engineers among alliance participants and educational opportunities, which is typical of CRA models intended to create durable research ecosystems rather than one-off projects.

The funding mechanism is a single Cooperative Agreement (CA) under 31 U.S.C. 6305, meaning the government anticipates substantial involvement during performance rather than a more hands-off grant model. Only one award is expected. The recipient must be an academic institution, designated in the announcement as the Lead Research Organization (LRO), responsible for leading and coordinating the overall basic research program. The LRO can include up to two Key Subawardees (called Partners), though the announcement allows offerors to propose a different structure if they justify it. Other subawardees may include academic organizations, industry, or nonprofit entities. A notable participation requirement is that "covered educational institutions," including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions (HBCU/MSIs), must receive 5 to 10 percent of the annual funding under the cooperative agreement, making inclusive research participation a built-in element of the program design.

On funding and period of performance, the opportunity lists an award ceiling of $25,400,000, with no stated award floor, and notes no cost sharing or matching requirement. The Army anticipates supporting the CRA for five years, with an option for an additional five years if funding is available and performance warrants continuation. The opportunity was posted in early 2011, with proposal deadlines originally set for March 7, 2011 and later updated to March 21, 2011, and an award expected around February 2012. The PA also references earlier community engagement events (an opportunity conference in November 2010 and an open house in December 2010) with supporting materials made available online, reflecting an effort to shape strong, informed proposals aligned to ARL needs.

Administrative details identify the issuing and supporting organizations as the U.S. Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground (RTP Contracting Division) on behalf of ARL, under the Army Materiel Command. The opportunity is categorized under science and technology research and development and is associated with CFDA 12.630 (Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering). For access issues with the full announcement, a grants officer point of contact is provided (Julia Wertley Rotenberry, phone 919-549-4268). Overall, the grant is best understood as a long-horizon, model-centered research alliance meant to create validated multiscale modeling capabilities that speed the design and improvement of next-generation electronic materials and devices relevant to Army missions.

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Previous opportunity: NEA Our Town Applications, FY 2011

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