Air Force announces basic research awards
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research granted seven awards to various academic institutions to perform multidisciplinary basic research. The AFOSR awards, totaling $67.5 million, are the result of the Fiscal Year 2013 competition conducted by AFOSR, the Army Research Office, and the Office of Naval Research under the Department of Defense (DoD) Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) Program.
The MURI program supports research by teams of investigators that intersect several traditional science and engineering disciplines in order to accelerate research progress. Most of the program's efforts involve researchers from multiple academic institutions and academic departments. Based on the proposals selected by AFOSR in the fiscal 2013 competition, a total of 32 academic institutions are expected to participate in these seven research efforts.
The highly competitive MURI program complements other DoD basic research efforts that support traditional, single-investigator university research grants by supporting multidisciplinary teams with larger and longer awards, in carefully chosen research topics identified for their potential for significant and sustained progress. As with single investigator awards, MURI awards provide strong support for the education and training of graduate students in new, cutting edge research.
Over the past 25 years, DoD's MURI program has produced significant capabilities for U.S. military forces and opened up entirely new lines of research. Examples include advances in laser frequency combs that have become the gold standard in frequency control for precision in navigation and targeting; atomic and molecular self-assembly projects that have opened new possibilities for nano-manufacturing; and the field of spintronics that emerged from a MURI award on magnetic materials and devices. DoD's strategy to quickly leverage the basic research advances in MURI awards for new capabilities has focused on early engagement with industry.
AFOSR solicited proposals in seven topics of significant importance to the Air Force, and received a total of 54 white papers, which were followed by 28 proposals. The awards were selected based on merit review by a panel of experts and were subject to successful negotiation between the institution, AFOSR and DoD. The awards are for a five year period subject to availability of appropriations and satisfactory research progress. The primary award winners, their research topics and institutions involved in the respective research efforts, follow.
Dr. Wolfgang Ketterle, "Advanced Quantum Materials: A New Frontier for Ultracold Atoms," Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics.
University of Pittsburgh
Harvard University
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
JILA/University of Colorado, Boulder
Joint Quantum Institute/University of Maryland
University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Erdogan Madenci, "MURI Center for Material Failure Prediction through Peridynamics," University of Arizona, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Arizona.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Pennsylvania State University
University of Texas at San Antonio
Arizona State University
Dr. Richard P. Van Duyne, "Electrochemical Imaging and Mechanistic Studies on the Nanometer Scale," Northwestern University, Department of Chemistry.
University of Texas at Austin;
Queens College-CUNY
Arizona State University
University of Utah
Dr. Thomas Antonsen, "Collaborative Research on Novel High Power Sources for and Physics of Ionospheric Modification," University of Maryland, Department of Physics.
Texas Tech University
University of California at Los Angeles
Dr. Stephen Rand, "MURI Center for Dynamic Magneto-optics," University of Michigan, Department of Physics.
Northwestern University
Columbia University
Dr. Demetrios Christodoulides, "PT-Symmetric Optical Materials and Structures," University of Central Florida, College of Optics & Photonics.
Wesleyan University
Rice University
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Utah
Dr. Dirk Englund, "Optimal Measurements for Scalable Quantum Technologies, " Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Yale University
Harvard University
University of Maryland
Provided by Air Force Office of Scientific Research
