The U.S. Department of War has opened two funding streams worth a combined potential of roughly $32 million to academic researchers: up to 24 DEPSCoR grants of $600,000 each and up to 25 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator awards of $750,000 over three years. Both programs close in October 2026, and both strongly encourage — or effectively require — contact with program officers before submission.

DEPSCoR: Mentorship Structure Built Into the Award

The Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (Award ID: NOFOAFRLAFOSR20260004) accepts white papers through October 12, 2026. The program funds a specific two-person structure: a full-time faculty member who has never served as principal investigator on a prior DoD directly funded research prime award, paired with an experienced investigator who has held a DoW-funded research award PI role and will provide mentorship.

For R&D managers building institutional research capacity, that pairing is the point. The program's stated goal is to raise competitiveness at institutions of higher education in basic science and engineering — not simply to fund individual projects. The application mechanics reward departments that can pair emerging PIs with proven DoD-funded collaborators internally.

The NOFO lists 12 research topics:

• Space Biosciences
• Dynamic Data and Information Processing
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Aerodynamic Sciences
• Earth Materials and Processes
• Dynamical Influences on Performance
• Wireless Communications Networks
• Electrochemistry
• Nonlinear Transforms for Dynamical Systems
• Social Cognition in Local Communities
• Fundamental Mechanisms and Materials for Shock Mitigation for Warfighter Protection
• Fundamental Research on Efficient Packaging and Deployment of Unmanned Aircraft Systems

The topics span physics, materials, communications and human-systems research, with two areas — shock mitigation materials and UAS packaging — tied directly to warfighter applications rather than pure basic science. Applicants are encouraged to contact the program officer for their topic before submitting a white paper. A webinar is scheduled for August 25, 2026.

The ceiling is 24 grants at up to $600,000 each, a maximum pool of $14.4 million. The announcement does not specify award duration.

ONR Young Investigator Program: $750,000 Over Three Years

The Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program (Award ID: N0001426SF004) targets early-career scientists and engineers with potential for long-term contributions to the Navy's Science and Technology program. ONR expects to make up to 25 awards at $750,000 over three years — a pool of up to $18.75 million. Eligibility is limited to domestic institutions of higher education.

The deadline is October 30, 2026.

The program organizes its portfolio into 11 focus areas, each containing multiple research areas:

• AI and Autonomy
• Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance and Naval Space
• Directed Energy and Kinetic Systems
• Materials and Electronics
• Human and Biological Systems
• Manufacturing
• Naval Engineering
• Naval Aerospace
• Ocean, Atmosphere, and Space
• Power and Energy
• Undersea Systems

ONR states applicants are "strongly encouraged" to contact the appropriate program officer for their technical area to discuss research ideas before submitting a proposal. In practice, ONR program officers frequently decline proposals that arrive without prior discussion; researchers should treat that contact as a prerequisite, not a courtesy.

What Applicants Should Weigh

Several parameters remain unspecified in the announcements and warrant clarification with program officers before investing in a proposal: DEPSCoR award duration, cost share requirements if any, and whether the $600,000 figure covers both investigators or represents a per-award cap. For the ONR program, the announcement does not break down how the $750,000 distributes across the three years or what fraction can fund equipment versus personnel.

Both opportunities carry the administrative reality of DoD funding: the DEPSCoR PI-eligibility rule turns on the precise phrase "directly funded research prime award," which excludes some instruments — subawards, for instance, may not count. Researchers who have held only subaward roles should confirm their eligibility status before assembling a mentoring pair.

For institutions with limited DoD prime-award history, DEPSCoR remains one of the few entry points: the eligibility restriction is designed to exclude exactly those who already have direct funding, meaning less competition from established DoD grantees than in open programs.

The University of Utah notes that researchers pursuing these or similar opportunities may leverage its AM&E Lab for proposal development, research collaboration, technical capabilities, teaming and project execution in advanced manufacturing and engineering — relevant to several of the listed topics, including materials, manufacturing and UAS packaging research.

With the DEPSCoR webinar set for August 25, 2026, and deadlines on October 12 and October 30, 2026, program officer outreach in the coming weeks will determine which proposals are positioned to compete when submissions open in earnest.