Defense Security Cooperation University - Research Grants

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s (DSCA) Defense Security Cooperation University (DSCU) promotes access to and production of knowledge on security cooperation, or “all DOD interactions with foreign security establishments that build and develop allied and partner security capabilities and capacity for self-defense and multinational operations, provide the Armed Forces of the United States with access to the foreign country during peacetime or a contingency operation, and build relationships that promote specific United States security interests” (Joint Publication 3-20, Security Cooperation, 1-2). Evidence-building activities that contribute to the body of knowledge on security cooperation—hereafter “SC research”—are the primary focus of this NFO.

Research projects responding to this NFO ideally result in lessons that can be applied to the practice of security cooperation. In response to this NFO, applicants may be asked for a mandatory white paper submission, emailed to dsca.dscu.grants@mail.mil. Use of the one-page white paper is intended to determine which efforts are of merit preparatory to submission of a full technical application as described in Section IV. Applicants will be selected from the one-page white paper submissions to be invited by the Government to submit a full technical application on Grants.gov for evaluation and possible award consideration. One-page white papers that fail to address the areas listed in the Program Description of the NFO will not be evaluated and will not receive an invitation to submit a full technical application.

The DSCU mission is to improve the quality and professionalism of security cooperation through evidence-based research, analysis, and application of lessons learned. DSCU components sponsor and conclude research projects that align substantively with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Learning and Evaluation Agenda for Partnerships (LEAP) framework and the DSCU Research Agenda, in partnership with individual researchers, educational institutions, and policy-focused research organizations.

The DSCU research grant program, conducted pursuant to 10 USC § 4001, is generally open to a broad range of researchers, although individual DSCU components may have restrictions on who may receive grants. The following DSCU components currently offer research grants:

• Research and Lessons Learned Institute (RALLI): open to individual researchers (with or without an affiliation); professional military education (PME) and civilian academic institutions; U.S. and international research and think thank institutions; federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs); U.S. interagency security cooperation communities of interest; and the security cooperation workforce (as defined by 10 USC § 384(h)). DSCU partners may manage or evaluate RALLI grants.
• Irregular Warfare Center (IWC): open to individual researchers or research teams affiliated with an accredited college or university, as well as PME and civilian academic institutions. Management and evaluation of these grants is under IWC purview.

DSCU expects awardees to participate in conferences, seminars, focus groups, and events to enhance dissemination of research findings and facilitate application of lessons learned in areas of policy, practice, and workforce professionalization.

Further information is available in the attached Notice of Funding Opportunity (NFO).

For Research and Lessons Learned Institute (RALLI) Awards: Eligible applicants include individual researchers (with or without an affiliation); professional military education (PME) and civilian academic institutions; U.S. and international research and think thank institutions; federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs); U.S. interagency security cooperation communities of interest; the security cooperation workforce; industry; non-profit institutions; state and/or local educational agencies; or consortia of such institutions and/or industry. Foreign entities may be considered. For Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) Awards: Eligible applicants include individual researchers affiliated with an accredited college or university and professional military education (PME) and civilian academic institutions.Current and past awardees from this initiative, or previous versions of this initiative, are eligible to submit white papers/applications under this NFO. University-affiliated research centers (UARC) are eligible to submit white papers and applications under this NFO, unless precluded from doing so by their Department of Defense UARC contract.