DD RT&L – DCTO(S&T)

Welcome to Science and Technology Foundations

Our Vision:

Foster innovation and scientific and technological dominance across the Department of Defense, with our domestic partnerships and international alliances, and through excellent S&T workforce today and tomorrow

Our Mission:

Sustain U.S. scientific and technological superiority to enable unquestioned battlefield dominance

About Us

The Office of Science and Technology (S&T) Foundations fosters an innovation-driven defense enterprise through leading-edge research programs, stewardship of laboratories and research institutions, development of a superior science and engineering workforce, engagement with industry, academia, and other Government agencies, and cooperation with international allies and partners. To preserve the Department's unrivaled technical expertise, the Director of S&T Foundations advocates for the DoD laboratories and engineering centers, Science and Technology Reinvention Laboratories (STRLs), federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), and university affiliated research centers (UARCs) and leads Department-wide STEM education and outreach and workforce development initiatives. The office is a proponent of basic research, small business engagement, and rapid innovation, while focusing its S&T priorities directly on military modernization as the United States competes to maintain its long-held technological dominance.

Basic Research Office

Defense Research Operations

Announcements

The DOD Selects 2023-2024 Minerva-USIP Peace and Security Dissertation Fellows

The Department of Defense today announced the 21 awardees of the 2023-2024 Minerva-U.S. Institute of Peace’s “Peace and Security Dissertation Fellowship,” providing fellowships of up to $20,000 to doctoral candidates who show great potential to advance policy and practice in the peacebuilding and security fields. Since 2017, the Minerva Research Initiative, a DoD-sponsored, university-based social sciences…

DOD Announces 2023 Laboratory-University Collaboration Initiative Fellows

The Department of Defense today announced the 2023 class of the Laboratory-University Collaboration Initiative (LUCI). LUCI fellows are accomplished researchers within defense laboratories who seek to collaborate with prominent DOD-funded academic researchers – either recipients of the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship or principal/co-principal investigators under the Multi-Disciplinary University Research Initiative. Each awarded LUCI project will be eligible to…

DOD Invests $40 Million to Establish Research Centers of Excellence at Minority-serving Institutions

Oct 17, 2023 The Department of Defense today announced the establishment of four new research centers of excellence at minority-serving institutions of higher education, as part of its Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-serving Institutions Research and Education Program. Selected through a merit-based competition, the awardees and their academic partners will conduct research over…

DOD Awards $161 Million to Universities to Purchase Equipment Supporting Defense-Relevant Research

The Department of Defense today announced awards totaling $161 million to 281 university researchers under the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program. The grants will support the purchase of major equipment to augment current and develop new research capabilities relevant to the Department at 120 institutions across 39 states in fiscal year 2024. Â

The DoD Announced Awards of $20K each for the 2021-2022 Cohort of the Minerva-USIP Peace and Security Dissertation Fellows

The Department of Defense Minerva Research Initiative is pleased to announce the 2021-2022 cohort of the Minerva-USIP Peace and Security Dissertation Fellows. In partnership with the U.S. Institute of Peaceâ€™s Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar Dissertation Fellowship program, over 115 applicants from 88 U.S. universities applied for this prestigious award.

DoD Awards $46 Million in University Research Equipment Awards

Arlington, VA – The Department of Defense (DoD) has announced awards to 144 university researchers totaling $46 million under the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP). These grants will be provided to 81 institutions across 35 states in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. DoD has long championed the countryâ€™s scientific ecosystem. Through DURIP, DoD supports purchases…

FY 2022 SMART Scholar SEED Grant Program Awardees

FY 2022 SMART Scholar SEED Grant Program Awardees The Department of Defense (DoD) Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) program recently announced awards to 21 SMART PhD scholars as part of its competitive SMART Scholar SEED Grant program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. The SMART Scholar SEED Grant Program awards research grants worth up…

The DoD Awards $47 Million in Grants Through the NDEP

The Department of Defense (DoD), through the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), is pleased to announce more than $47 million to 15 awardees under the National Defense Education Program (NDEP) in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Biotechnology, and Enhanced Civics Education. Awardees, consisting of a local education…

DOD Awards 2021 STEM Scholars

The Department of Defense (DoD) Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Program recently announced awards to 416 SMART scholars as part of its 2021 cohort. The 2021 cohort is comprised of students representing 184 colleges and universities, and is the largest and most diverse in the programâ€™s 15 year history. SMART is a Science,…

Department of Defense Announces Request for Information on STEM Community College and Relevant Partners Consortium

OUSD(R&E) has announced a Request for Information on STEM Community College and Relevant Partners Consortium to help improve the future on future talent workforce in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Responses are due by Friday, September 10, 2021.