The Defense Department has chosen 24 multidisciplinary research projects to receive a total of $169 million in funds under a grant program for U.S. universities.
DoD said Monday the research teams will perform work under the 2018 Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative over a five-year period, subject to research progress and funding availability.
“MURI supports research by funding teams of investigators that include more than one traditional science and engineering discipline in order to accelerate the research progress,” said Dale Ormond, principal director for research in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
Ormond added that the program also aids the education and training of graduate students in “cutting-edge” research areas.
The respective research offices of the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy solicited proposals across 24 topic areas relevant to the U.S. military, receiving 436 responses in total.
A panel of DoD experts selected the 24 research proposals, which could involve 64 U.S. academic institutions.
Australia funded research teams to partner with two U.S. MURI teams as part of an effort to boost alliances and increase collaborations.
Previous MURI initiatives included the fabrication of nanoscale and microscale structures; the use of vision algorithms with sensors to build low-power, low-latency and compact vision systems; and the development of fully optical data control and switching systems, among others.