The National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship (NSSEFF) Program | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship (NSSEFF) Program is a Department of Defense basic research grant opportunity intended to support exceptionally strong, established academic researchers who can pursue bold, high-impact fundamental science tied to long-term national security needs. The program is sponsored by the Basic Research Office under the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (ASD(R&E)), with the Office of Naval Research (ONR) managing the solicitation and award process on DoD's behalf. At its core, NSSEFF is designed to back creative, risk-tolerant research that is still grounded in sound reasoning, while also building durable relationships between top university investigators and DoD communities that care about the future of science and technology.

A central feature of this opportunity is its emphasis on "basic research" as the DoD defines it: systematic study aimed at increasing fundamental knowledge and understanding of phenomena, without a specific near-term product or application as the goal. The fellowship is meant for farsighted, potentially high-payoff work that could provide the scientific foundation for future technological progress. In that sense, NSSEFF is positioned as a mechanism for early awareness and exploration of emerging scientific ideas across a broad range of disciplines, ensuring DoD has visibility into new knowledge as it develops and can cultivate the talent pipeline that will eventually apply and extend it.

The program has several intertwined objectives. It aims to support scientific research that could plausibly lead to extraordinary outcomes, including reshaping an existing discipline, opening a new field, or challenging accepted theories. It also explicitly prioritizes education and workforce development by training outstanding graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who may later contribute to defense and national security missions. Another major goal is relationship-building: NSSEFF is structured to foster long-term engagement between the selected fellows and the DoD, while also exposing the fellows and their research teams to current and future DoD challenges. Over time, this is meant to increase the number of highly talented technical experts who understand DoD problems and can contribute to mission needs.

This particular funding announcement is for single-investigator grant proposals, meaning the focus is on an individual principal investigator leading a cohesive, independent basic research vision. Proposals are invited in one or more DoD interest areas, including Engineering Biology (for example, mammalian platforms or chassis systems, engineered microbial consortia, and genome instability), Quantum Information Science (including quantum metrology and quantum algorithms), Cognitive Neuroscience (including topics like the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, cognitive training and control, and neural computation), Novel Engineered Materials (functional materials, structural materials, nanomaterials and nanoscience, and dynamic supramolecular systems), Applied Mathematics and Statistics (risk optimization, dimensionality reduction, scalable algorithms, nonlinear dynamics, and complex systems), and Manufacturing Science (including programmable surfaces and reversible assembly). The announcement also leaves room for "other fields of research with high potential," signaling openness to compelling ideas outside the listed categories as long as they align with the program's basic-research orientation and promise of long-term impact.

Eligibility is aimed primarily at the university sector. Accredited U.S. doctoral-granting institutions of higher education are eligible to apply, and the principal investigator must be an outstanding faculty member with tenure or a full-time research staff member with the capability and resources to perform the work. The PI must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. While collaborators can include government agencies, DoD laboratories, universities, and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), those government and FFRDC partners are not allowed to receive NSSEFF funds directly or through subawards. Nonprofit and for-profit organizations may collaborate and may receive funding through subawards, but the program is clearly oriented toward university-led efforts: the university must perform the majority of the work and receive the majority of the awarded funds. DoD institutions themselves are not eligible to apply as the prime applicant.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is a discretionary grant under CFDA 12.300 (Basic and Applied Scientific Research) and does not require cost sharing or matching. The funding opportunity number is N0001415RFO11, and the original closing date listed for the solicitation was November 30, 2015, with the announcement noting that white paper due dates should be checked in the full announcement. The issuing agency is the Office of Naval Research, and the solicitation directs applicants to ONR Broad Agency Announcement resources for full details. A point of contact is provided for access issues with the full announcement (Tracie Simmons, Senior Contract Specialist, phone 703-696-7827), with a note that Grants.gov questions are the focus for that contact channel.

Overall, NSSEFF is best understood as a prestige-oriented, high-expectation basic research program: it seeks distinguished investigators who can articulate a compelling, intellectually ambitious research agenda with the potential to change how a scientific area works, while simultaneously mentoring the students and postdocs who will become the next generation of defense-relevant scientific talent.

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