Funding Opportunity Announcement from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Navy and Marine Corps FY2016 for the HEL-JTO High Energy Laser Multidisciplinary Research Initiative (HEL-MRI) Program | N00014 16 R FO13

Opportunity Information: Apply for N00014 16 R FO13

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) released this FY2016 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) on behalf of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) High Energy Laser - Joint Technology Office (HEL-JTO) to fund basic research under the High Energy Laser Multidisciplinary Research Initiative (HEL-MRI). The overall goal is to strengthen the underlying science and enabling technologies that could improve future high energy laser (HEL) systems relevant to Navy and Marine Corps needs. The opportunity is structured around multiple technical thrusts, with ONR looking for proposals that push fundamental understanding and early-stage concepts rather than near-term product development.

The FOA identifies six research thrust areas. Thrust Area 1 focuses on next generation high energy laser technologies, meaning foundational advances that could raise power, efficiency, beam quality, reliability, or scalability of laser sources. Thrust Area 2 targets high-power propagation through deep turbulence, which is about how intense laser beams behave as they travel through strongly disturbed atmospheric conditions and what can be done to predict, measure, or mitigate the resulting distortions and performance losses. Thrust Area 3 seeks next generation beam combination techniques, covering the science and engineering approaches for coherently or spectrally combining multiple laser channels into a single higher-power, higher-quality output while managing phase, alignment, stability, and control challenges. Thrust Area 4 emphasizes modeling of the lower atmosphere, supporting improved physics-based or data-informed models of the near-surface atmosphere that affect optical propagation, including boundary-layer effects that are especially relevant to maritime and littoral environments. Thrust Area 5 is aimed at low-stress coatings for HEL deformable mirrors, recognizing that high-power optical systems need advanced coatings that can survive high irradiance while minimizing stress, distortion, and thermal issues that degrade adaptive optics performance. Thrust Area 6 covers materials development for high energy laser systems more broadly, including the kinds of optical, thermal-management, structural, and specialty materials that enable higher power operation, better durability, and improved performance under demanding conditions. The FOA notes that proposers should consult the full announcement for the specific topics and expectations within each thrust.

Eligibility is tightly centered on universities. Full proposals may be submitted only by U.S. universities that have degree-granting programs in science and/or engineering. While many other entities cannot be prime applicants, they can still participate through collaborations. Industry, federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), Department of Defense (DoD) laboratories, and foreign universities are described as ineligible to submit as the primary proposing organization, but they may collaborate with eligible universities. Universities can apply as single institutions or as consortia, and they are explicitly allowed to build teams that include industry or FFRDC partners to access expertise and capabilities outside academia.

A key funding condition is that the initiative is intended to support university research, so ONR expects that the bulk of the award remains with the university. The FOA states that at least 51 percent of award funds are expected to remain vested with the university (i.e., not passed through to non-university partners). If industry or FFRDCs are involved, their costs may be supported via subawards from the university prime and/or by separate funds available to those partners. When multiple organizations are involved, the proposal must designate a single principal investigator at a university as the responsible technical point of contact, and that university serves as the primary awardee for contracting and execution. The proposal narrative and budget must clearly explain team relationships, roles, and how funds will be apportioned through subawards.

Several categories of organizations are addressed with specific restrictions. FFRDCs (including Department of Energy national laboratories) are not eligible to receive awards directly under this FOA, but they may participate as teammates if their participation is consistent with the terms of their sponsoring agreements. Navy laboratories and warfare centers, along with other DoD and civilian agency laboratories, are also not eligible to receive awards and are instructed not to submit full proposals directly; however, they may collaborate with eligible university offerors and are encouraged to coordinate with ONR technical points of contact if they have interest in the program areas. University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) are generally eligible to submit proposals unless their existing DoD UARC contract prevents them from doing so. The FOA also encourages Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) to apply or join teams, but it makes clear there is no set-aside for these institutions within this competition.

The program is framed as an integrated effort, so teaming comes with expectations beyond typical subaward relationships. Offerors are encouraged to form teams and submit proposals across any or all thrust areas, but they must be willing to cooperate with ONR-selected contractors and system integrators and to exchange software, data, and other information as needed to support an integrated program. This indicates ONR is looking for research that can plug into a broader HEL technology ecosystem and that can be coordinated across multiple performers rather than conducted in isolation.

Compliance requirements are also highlighted, particularly export controls. Offerors are reminded that export control laws have changed and that proposers are responsible for compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), referenced in the FOA as 22 CFR 120 et seq. The FOA notes that certain developmental items funded by DoD may fall under the U.S. Munitions List (USML) and therefore be subject to ITAR jurisdiction. As part of the proposal, offerors are expected to address whether ITAR restrictions apply to their work or whether the work falls outside ITAR (for example, because of dual-use or civilian applications), signaling that ONR wants export control considerations handled upfront rather than discovered late in execution.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant opportunity in the science and technology/research and development category (CFDA 12.300), with Opportunity Number N00014-16-R-FO13. It was created June 29, 2016, with an original closing date of August 29, 2016. The FOA as provided does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards in the summary fields shown, so applicants would need to refer to the full FOA for any detailed funding ranges, period of performance, evaluation criteria, and submission instructions.

• The Office of Naval Research in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Funding Opportunity Announcement from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Navy and Marine Corps FY2016 for the HEL-JTO High Energy Laser Multidisciplinary Research Initiative (HEL-MRI) Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.300.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-06-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2016-08-29. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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