DHS, NSF announce $3.1 million awards for radiological detection

DHS’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced approximately $3.1 million in new grant awards to academic institutions for the fiscal year 2008 Academic Research Initiative. The Academic Research Initiative (ARI) program was initiated in 2007 to foster pioneering research in radiological and nuclear detection at academic institutions and build the nation’s intellectual capital in nuclear sciences and engineering.

“It is our intention that our efforts through the Academic Research Initiative, combined with the support efforts of other federal agencies, to help cultivate the nuclear scientists and engineers of the future,” said DNDO Director Vayl Oxford. “We will continue to expand our support in the coming years to demonstrate long-term, stable funding for innovative ideas that advance nuclear detection capabilities and build the nation’s intellectual capital.”

“Since 2007, the ARI program has encouraged the academic community to pursue research in this area of national significance,” said Rajinder Khosla, an NSF program director for Electronics, Photonics, and Device Technologies. “Our collaboration, in combining funding support from DNDO with the vetted peer review process of NSF, has helped us select research that will advance nuclear science and engineering and train the future workforce in these fields.”

The academic institutions receiving grants include: Texas A&M University; Purdue University; Washington State University; University of California at Berkeley; Naval Postgraduate School; University of Tennessee at Knoxville; University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; University of California at Santa Barbara; and California State University East Bay Foundation. Fiscal year 2008 ARI proposals were reviewed through the NSF peer review with experts from industry, academia, and national laboratories, with DNDO and NSF observers. Nine new ARI proposals (including three collaborative projects) were awarded a total of over $3.1 million.

A potential $58 million in grant opportunities over five years will be made available to colleges and universities focusing on research in radiological/nuclear detection systems, individual sensors or other research relevant to the detection of nuclear weapons, special nuclear material, and radiation dispersal devices and related threats. Annual ARI solicitations are planned over the next three years.