Fiscal Year 2009 ONR Young Investigator Program (YIP)

The summary for the Fiscal Year 2009 ONR Young Investigator Program (YIP) grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Office of Naval Research, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Fiscal Year 2009 ONR Young Investigator Program (YIP): ONR's Young Investigator Program (YIP) seeks to identify and support academic scientists and engineers who have received Ph.D. or equivalent degrees within the last five years (on or after 01 November 2003 for this FY09 competition) and who show exceptional promise for doing creative research. The objectives of this program are to attract outstanding faculty members of Institutions of Higher Education (hereafter also called "universities") to the Department of the Navy's research program, to support their research, and to encourage their teaching and research careers. Proposals addressing research areas as described in the ONR Science and Technology (S&T) Department section of ONR's website at www.onr.navy.mil which are of interest to ONR Program Officers and Division Directors will be considered. Contact information for each Division (a subgroup of an S&T Department) is also listed within the S&T section of the website. Potential applicants may contact the appropriate Division Director, or the Program Officer who is the point-of-contact for a specific technical area, to discuss their research ideas. Brief informal pre-proposals may be submitted to facilitate these discussions. Such discussions can clarify the content and breadth of the priority research areas and enhance the match between a subsequent proposal and Department of the Navy research needs. An individual wishing to apply for a Young Investigator award must submit a research proposal and a supporting letter through the appropriate university officials. ONR makes awards to institutions, not to individuals. The research proposal should follow the format described in BAA 09-005 Section IV entitled, "Application and Submission Information. Proposals may request up to $170,000 per year for three (3) years. These funds may be budgeted against any reasonable costs related to the conduct of the proposed research, for example, salary for the Young Investigator, graduate student support, supplies, and operating expenses. Additional funds (beyond the basic $170,000 yearly amount) for capital equipment which enhances the Young Investigator's proposed research may be requested for the first budget period, based on the needs of the research. Requesting funds for capital equipment will not decrease the probability of receiving an award; additional support for equipment will be decided separately from award selections and will depend upon availability of funds. The basic $170,000 per year award can be supplemented through a "matching funds" enhancement available only to those receiving an ONR Young Investigator award. As an incentive for becoming involved with other Department of the Navy research activities, the Office of the Director of Research of ONR may match on a 1-for-1 basis, the first $25,000 of additional Department of the Navy funding which a successful applicant obtains each year to support additional, collaborative research with a Navy laboratory during the YIP award. Potential sources of research support eligible for the 1-for-1 match include Navy laboratories and ONR Program Officers. Thus, this "matching funds" clause can provide research support over and above the basic $170,000 per year award, e.g. to support an additional graduate student and an additional research task. A Young Investigator is not prohibited from receiving more than $25,000 from other Department of the Navy sources; however, the Office of the Director of Research will match on a 1-for-1 basis only the first $25,000 each year. Other Navy support eligible for matching funds can be arranged at any time and generally will not have been identified at the time of the initial award. ONR Program Officers will assist, upon request, Young Investigators in identifying potential collaborators at Navy laboratories. ONR Program Officers will also assist successful applicants who wish to seek support from other parts of the Department of the Navy in identifying individuals at other Navy organizations who may be interested in funding additional research by the Young Investigator. Upon completion of the three (3) year award period, Young Investigators may apply to ONR for continued support under ONR's regular research grant program. Decisions about continued funding outside the context of the YIP will be made following a review of the new proposal by the cognizant Program Officer, based on the merits of the proposal, ONR's research priorities, and the creativity and productivity exhibited during the previous Young Investigator research program. The competition in past years has been severe. Last year, 208 proposals were received, resulting in 27 Young Investigator awards. Past awardees have both submitted outstanding research proposals and possessed outstanding records of prior professional accomplishments. Given that "past performance" is a selection criterion, applicants are advised that the biographical information submitted as part of the proposal (see "Qualifications" under "Proposal Content", below) should list all relevant past activities. Those proposals not selected for Young Investigator awards are automatically considered for ONR's regular research grant program in competition with all other research proposals submitted to ONR Long Range BAA. Typically, additional proposals originally submitted to the Young Investigator Program have been selected each year for funding via the regular research grant program. Thus, the YIP is not a "research initiation" opportunity with standards that are less demanding than ONR's regular research grant program. ONR's Young Investigator awards are intended to confer honor upon awardees beyond the research funding being provided.