AFOSR YIP: Sponsor Deadline for White Papers

Air Force Young Investigator Research Program (YIP)
Sponsor Deadline for White Papers (required): June 12, 2023
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline for Invited Full Proposals: August 7, 2023 
Sponsor Deadline for Invited Full Proposals: August 14, 2023 
Award Amount: Most YIP awards are funded up to $150,000 per year for three years, for a total of $450,000. The YIP may be funded no more than $150,000 annually, regardless of if the overall amount is $450,000. Exceptional proposals will be considered individually for higher funding levels and/or longer duration.

The objective of the Air Force Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) is to foster creative basic research in science and engineering, enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators, and increase opportunities for the young investigator to recognize the Air Force and Space Force mission and related challenges in science and engineering. Eligible applicants are individual early career scientists and engineers who received a Ph.D. or equivalent degrees April 1, 2016 or later who show exceptional ability and promise for conducting basic research in research areas of interest to the Air Force and Space Force. The PI must hold a full-time, non-contractor permanent, career-competitive, or tenure-track position (based on the institution’s definition) with their organization. A YIP PI must be a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident. 

AFOSR seeks unclassified proposals from qualified and responsible individual applicants in the research areas of interest identified in the most recent broad agency announcement (BAA) titled “Research Interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research”. YIP proposals may be submitted for only one research portfolio area. PIs are encouraged to coordinate their topic ideas with the appropriate Program Officer (PO) to ensure the topic area is still relevant to the Air Force. All technical or general pre-proposal inquiries and questions must be submitted no later than May 15, 2023.

AFOSR anticipates at least 36 traditionally funded YIPs under this competition if funds are available. There may be up to an additional two YIPs funded in partnership with the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS) in the Quantum Information Sciences area.

Recent recipients include Jia Liu (SEAS, 2021, Optically-controlled, genetically-targeted chemical assembly of electrically functional materials for neuromodulation), Finale Doshi-Velez (SEAS, 2016, Generating Multiple Hypotheses in Non-negative Matrix Factorization and Related Linear Models), Na Li (SEAS, 2016, Distributed Coordination in Multi-Agent Networked Systems: Algorithms and Fundamental Limits), and Kang-Kuen Ni (CCB, 2015, Ultracold Molecular Assembly and Quantum Chemistry).