Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI) is a Department of Defense basic research grant program aimed at U.S. universities. Its core purpose is to fund early-stage, high-payoff science and engineering research that could eventually matter to long-term national security needs, without requiring a near-term product, prototype, or specific application. The opportunity is built around the DoD definition of basic research: systematic study intended to expand fundamental understanding of phenomena and observable facts, with an emphasis on foundational advances that can later enable technological progress. In practice, MURI is designed to help DoD stay aware of emerging scientific knowledge by investing broadly across important fields.

A defining feature of MURI is that it prioritizes multidisciplinary teams rather than single-investigator projects. Proposals are expected to combine expertise from more than one traditional discipline in a way that accelerates progress in the target area. Teams may be formed across multiple departments within one university or across multiple universities, depending on where the necessary expertise sits. Even when multiple institutions participate, the proposal must identify a single Principal Investigator (PI) who serves as the technical lead, and a single primary institution that receives and manages the main award. The PI must be at the primary institution. Proposals also need to clearly explain what each participating organization will do and how funding will be divided, including any subawards, and these arrangements must be consistent across both the narrative and the budget.

For the FY 2017 competition described in the announcement, DoD organized the call around specific research topics and routed submissions to one of three service research offices depending on topic area: the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), or the Army Research Office (ARO). The funding announcement encourages innovative approaches within each topic and notes that the topic write-ups in the FOA are meant to provide guidance rather than narrowly constrain methods or ideas. White papers and full proposals are both part of the submission process, with applicants expected to submit to the appropriate office for the topic they address.

AFOSR is the submission point for eight topics that largely span quantum information science, bioinspired computing, autonomous materials discovery, complex wave and beam dynamics, upper-atmospheric disturbances, quantum many-body computation, and advanced functional materials. Specifically, AFOSR topics include: (1) foundations of interactive protocols for quantum computation and communications, (2) bioinspired low-energy information processing, (3) autonomous research systems for materials development, (4) beam and wave dynamics in geometrically complex systems with emitting boundaries, (5) atmospheric disturbances at high altitudes, (6) revolutionary advances in computational quantum many-body physics, (7) melanin biopolymers for functional precision nanoscale materials, and (8) adaptive oxides for biomimetic synapse design via modulation of internal states. Taken together, these topics target fundamental advances that could later influence computing, sensing, communications, materials, and aerospace-relevant environments.

ONR receives proposals for eight topics that emphasize materials under extreme conditions, biologically inspired sensing and perception, photonics, cognition and memory representations, advanced laser-matter interaction physics, high-end modeling and simulation for complex fluids, and analytical approaches to conflict and intelligent systems. The ONR topics are: (9) physics, chemistry, and mechanics of polymer dielectric breakdown, (10) percept formation and scene analysis in echolocating systems, (11) phase change materials for photonics, (12) event representation and episodic memory, (13) nonlinear phenomena and interactions induced by short and ultrashort pulsed lasers in the long-wave infrared regime, (14) high-fidelity simulation methodologies for multi-phase flows, (15) novel approaches to modeling factions and conflict, and (16) assuring composability and correctness for intelligent and learning systems that interact with unstructured physical environments. The common thread is basic research that strengthens the scientific underpinnings of naval-relevant technologies and operational challenges, from materials reliability to autonomy and decision-making.

ARO is the submission point for seven topics that include responsive and self-assembling materials, condensed matter and cold-atom physics, data and multimodal information theory, microbiome effects on cognition, nonlinear system control, exciton-polaritonics, and cyber deception rooted in human cognition. The ARO topics are: (17) additive 3D self-assembly of responsive materials, (18) anyons in 2D materials and cold atomic gases, (19) characterization of information content in data for multimodal data analysis, (20) nutritional and environmental effects on the gut microbiome and cognition, (21) spectral decomposition and control of strongly coupled nonlinear interacting systems, (22) toward room temperature exciton-polaritonics, and (23) cyber deception through active leverage of adversaries cognition process. These areas reflect Army interests in future materials, robust sensing and analytics, biological influences on performance, control of complex systems, and human-centric cyber operations, while remaining grounded in fundamental science.

A special eligibility note applies to Topic 19: proposals may include participation from UK academic institutions, although UK involvement is optional rather than required. Even if UK collaborators are included, the submission must still be led by a single U.S. primary institution with one PI responsible for the overall proposal. Funding for the UK portion, when included, is handled separately by the UK government, which means applicants must structure the project so that roles and budgets are clearly partitioned while still functioning as a coherent multidisciplinary research effort.

From the opportunity metadata provided, this is a discretionary DoD grant opportunity under CFDA 12.300, with the agency listed as DoD-ONR and an opportunity number of N00014 16 R FO05. The posting and creation date are April 12, 2016, and the closing date shown is November 15, 2016. The announcement does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the excerpt provided, but it makes clear that the program is competitive, topic-driven, and intended for university-led teams pursuing foundational advances that could shape future defense-relevant capabilities.

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