2020 Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global Research Opportunity: Global-X Challenge | N00014 20 S SN14

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The 2020 Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global Research Opportunity: Global-X Challenge is a competitive grant program designed to surface truly disruptive, high-risk/high-reward ideas that could eventually translate into revolutionary new capabilities for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, while also having clear commercial and public benefit. The core intent is not incremental improvement, but rather the discovery of concepts that could change what is possible if their technology maturity is accelerated later through separate, faster follow-on development pathways. In other words, ONR Global is using this challenge to identify bold concepts, validate that they can work, and create a credible springboard for future investment and transition.

A central feature of this opportunity is its emphasis on international innovation and multinational collaboration. ONR Global is explicitly seeking outstanding researchers and engineers outside the United States and is encouraging them to form multi-national, multidisciplinary teams aimed at one or more of the challenge areas described in the full solicitation. While U.S. organizations are allowed to participate, they are not required, and ONR Global expects most team members to be based outside the U.S. Teams are encouraged to use online collaboration tools provided or supported by ONR Global to connect and form partnerships, with additional details shared during a kick-off webinar. Individual researchers are allowed to participate on more than one team, and teams are responsible for arranging nondisclosure agreements among themselves when needed, recognizing that ONR Global and other U.S. federal personnel are already subject to legal requirements to protect proprietary information.

Structurally, each team must designate a lead Principal Investigator (PI) who is affiliated with a non-U.S. organization. That PI institution serves as the single prime applicant and, if selected, the sole prime awardee. This prime organization submits the white paper and any invited full proposal, accepts responsibility for grant administration and compliance, and distributes funds to co-PIs and other subrecipients. This prime-award setup is important because it makes the PI institution accountable for the overall execution, reporting, and adherence to grant terms and conditions across the whole team.

The application process is staged and competitive. Teams first submit a white paper that explains the concept and approach, due by 23:59 EDT on 25 May 2020. ONR Global then reviews white papers and plans to invite the most promising and genuinely revolutionary concepts to submit full grant proposals, with invitations expected on or before 5 June 2020. Full proposals are due by 23:59 EDT on 13 July 2020. Selection notifications are anticipated on or before 31 July 2020, with ONR Global intending to make awards by 7 September 2020. This down-select structure is meant to reduce proposal burden and focus full proposal efforts on the teams that best match ONR Global's goals for novelty and potential impact.

From a performance standpoint, the program is built around rapid validation. The initial period of performance is expected to be nine months, and within eight months of award ONR Global expects teams to demonstrate that their concept is likely to meet the proposed objectives. This implies that proposed work should be framed around a convincing proof-of-concept, prototype demonstration, or experimentally supported feasibility result rather than long, open-ended exploratory research. If the initial effort is successful, ONR Global may exercise an optional follow-on research effort for up to an additional nine months to continue development and testing, extending the total potential performance to roughly 18 months. Standard grant deliverables apply, including a final technical progress report and required financial and patent reporting in accordance with the grant terms.

Eligibility is broad across academia, industry, and the wider research community, with encouragement for participation by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs), although there is no set-aside or reserved funding for any socioeconomic category. Both small and large businesses are encouraged to compete. At the same time, several categories of U.S. government-connected organizations are not eligible to receive awards directly under this announcement, including Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) such as Department of Energy national laboratories, Navy laboratories, military universities, warfare centers, and other Department of Defense or civilian government laboratories. Those entities may be able to participate through teaming arrangements in some cases (for example, certain FFRDC partnerships are allowed if consistent with the specific sponsoring agreement), but they should not submit white papers or proposals as prime applicants. University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) are generally eligible unless restricted by their underlying Department of Defense UARC contract.

Collaboration expectations extend beyond the proposing team. Offerors must be willing to cooperate in an integrated program environment, including exchanging software, data, and other information with other contractors and with system integrators selected by ONR. This signals that ONR Global is thinking ahead to transition and integration considerations and wants teams that can operate in a cooperative, multi-party R&D ecosystem rather than in isolation.

Key administrative details identify the opportunity as a discretionary science and technology R&D grant under CFDA 12.300, issued by the Office of Naval Research, with Funding Opportunity Number N00014-20-S-SN14 and an original closing date aligned with the full proposal deadline of 13 July 2020. The published synopsis does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the excerpt provided, and the full solicitation attachment is referenced for complete technical challenge descriptions and submission requirements. Overall, the Global-X Challenge is best understood as a rapid, internationally oriented catalyst program aimed at finding and proving disruptive ideas early, positioning the strongest concepts for later acceleration and real-world deployment.

• The Office of Naval Research in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "2020 Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global Research Opportunity: Global-X Challenge" 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 2020-04-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-07-13. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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