DHS S&T COE Supplemental Application | DHS 20 061 COE SUPP

Opportunity Information: Apply for DHS 20 061 COE SUPP

The DHS S&T COE Supplemental Application (Funding Opportunity Number DHS 20 061 COE SUPP) is a discretionary Department of Homeland Security solicitation that provides supplemental cooperative-agreement funding to a specific set of already-established DHS Science and Technology (S&T) university Centers of Excellence (COEs). These COEs are multi-disciplinary, university-based research and education centers expected to deliver rigorous, innovative, and practically useful work that directly supports homeland security missions. The emphasis is on research and educational activities that not only advance knowledge, but can also be translated into outcomes that homeland security stakeholders can integrate and use.

A central theme of the opportunity is research quality and relevance. DHS signals that projects supported through these supplemental funds should either break new theoretical and empirical ground or adapt proven approaches to address DHS mission needs and technology gaps. Proposed methods are expected to be grounded in rigorous science and engineering disciplines, and the overall portfolio of projects is expected to generate substantial original, cutting-edge results. In other words, DHS is looking for work that is academically strong while also being operationally meaningful, with outputs that are suitable for real-world adoption by homeland security customers.

This particular Notice of Funding Opportunity is not an open competition for new applicants or new centers. It is expressly for supplemental awards to existing COE recipients, meaning only the eligible, currently designated COEs listed in the announcement are intended to apply. The eligible applicant type is public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, aligning with the COE model of university-led research and workforce development.

The eligible COEs named in the notice span a wide range of DHS-relevant domains: Terrorism Prevention and Counterterrorism Research (TPCR) at the University of Nebraska Omaha; the Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC) at the University of Alaska Anchorage; the Center for Borders, Trade and Immigration Research (BTI) at the University of Houston; the Maritime Security Center (MSC) at Stevens Institute of Technology; the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; the Coastal Resilience Center (CRC) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; the Center for Criminal Investigations and Network Analysis (CINA) at George Mason University; the Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency (CAOE) at Arizona State University; and the Center for Cross-Border Threats Screening and Supply Chain Defense (CBTS) at Texas A&M University. Supplemental proposals must remain within the scope of work of each center, meaning the funds are meant to extend, deepen, or accelerate existing mission-aligned lines of research and education rather than create unrelated new programs.

Administratively, the opportunity is managed by the Office of Procurement Operations, Grants Division, and is categorized under CFDA 97.061 (DHS S&T research and development). The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically implies substantial involvement by the federal agency in shaping, coordinating, or overseeing aspects of the work compared with a standard grant. The original closing date listed is 2020-05-29, with a creation date of 2020-05-22. The announcement lists an award ceiling of $20,000,000, indicating the maximum potential funding level under the opportunity, while the expected number of awards is not clearly specified in the provided source text.

Overall, this NOFO is best understood as a continuation and augmentation mechanism for DHS S&T to invest additional resources into its existing COE ecosystem, prioritizing high-impact, methodologically rigorous research and education that can be transitioned into practical tools, insights, and capabilities for homeland security missions.

• The Office of Procurement Operations - Grants Division in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DHS S&T COE Supplemental Application" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 97.061.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-05-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-05-29. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $20,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for DHS 20 061 COE SUPP

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