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MURI is the largest single-award basic research instrument available to university teams working on AI and autonomy, and its structure explains why: it deliberately funds problems that cannot be solved within one discipline.
The Department of Defense runs it through the three service basic research offices - ONR, ARO and AFOSR - and describes it as addressing high-risk basic research attempting to understand or achieve something that has never been done before. Award scale is what sets it apart from ordinary single-investigator grants: roughly $1. 25 million to $1.
5 million per year for three years, with an option to extend by two additional years, against a total program envelope reported at approximately $170 million annually across all topics.
Artificial intelligence and autonomy is an explicitly named priority topic area, spanning trustworthy machine learning, autonomous systems, human-machine teaming, and information sensing and processing, and it sits alongside the other defense-relevant areas the services solicit against - advanced materials and manufacturing, quantum sciences, biotechnology and human performance among them.
The services have solicited across roughly 22 topic areas in recent cycles, and topics rotate year to year, so the exact AI and autonomy topic wording changes and matters enormously for proposal fit. The FY2027 cycle timing is the practical thing to plan around: a new FY2027 notice of funding opportunity is expected around March 2027, with white papers expected in May 2026 and full proposals in September 2026 in the cycle reported here.
MURI is a team instrument, not an individual one - the whole point is assembling investigators across disciplines - and the white-paper stage is genuinely gating, so the preparation runway is long.
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Or search similar grants →According to the current listing, eligibility includes: MURI is open to U.S. institutions of higher education, and awards are made as grants to universities assembling multidisciplinary teams; the program is administered through the Office of Naval Research, the Army Research Office and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, each of which manages specific topics within a given competition. Proposals must map to one of the published topics for that fiscal year, and the artificial intelligence and autonomy topic area covers trustworthy machine learning, autonomous systems, human-machine teaming, and information sensing and processing. The competition normally runs in two stages: white papers first, with encouragement or discouragement returned to proposers, then full proposals from those invited to continue. Awards are typically $1,250,000 to $1,500,000 per year for a three-year base period with an option for two additional years, subject to appropriations and satisfactory progress. For the cycle reported here, white papers were expected in May 2026 and full proposals in September 2026, with a further FY2027 notice of funding opportunity expected around March 2027; exact dates vary by service and are published in the governing NOFO. No per-award ceiling beyond the reported per-year range is published in the material reviewed. Applicants must read the current MURI NOFO on Grants.gov and the sponsoring service research office site, confirm the exact topic list, white paper and full proposal deadlines, page limits, team composition requirements and budget guidance before preparing anything, because topics and dates change every cycle. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows MURI awards are reported at approximately $1,250,000 to $1,500,000 per year for three years with an option to extend two additional years. amount_min of 3,750,000 is derived from $1.25M per year across the three-year base period, and amount_max of 7,500,000 from $1.5M per year across the full five-year period including both option years. These totals are derived from the published per-year figures rather than stated as totals in the solicitation. Approximately $170,000,000 is reported as available annually across all MURI topics and all three service research offices, which is the program envelope, not an award size. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
DoD FY2027 Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) for Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy Basic Research Topics is funded by U.S. Department of Defense, administered jointly by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Army Research Office (ARO) and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
The NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering: Future Computing Research (Future CoRe) program (NSF 25-543) supports foundational computing research and education with a strong emphasis on AI and machine learning. The program funds research that advances the foundations of computing including AI/ML theory, algorithms, systems, and applications. Future CoRe supports small to medium-sized research projects that can have significant impact on computing foundations. The program has target dates of February 5, 2026 and September 10, 2026 for proposal submissions (note: these are target dates, not deadlines, meaning proposals may be submitted at any time but will be reviewed in batches around these dates). Investigators may not serve as PI, co-PI, or Senior/Key Personnel on more than two proposals submitted within any consecutive 12-month period across all Future CoRe programs. This is one of NSF's primary mechanisms for funding fundamental AI and machine learning research at U.S. academic institutions, covering areas such as machine learning theory, natural language processing, computer vision, robotics foundations, and human-AI interaction.
The Department of Energy's Office of Technology Commercialization has opened the FY26 Genesis Mission SBIR/STTR Phase I opportunity, funding small business research across four AI-for-science topic areas tied to DOE's Genesis Mission. Scaling the Biotechnology Revolution seeks advanced AI applications for biochemicals and bioproducts, including AI tools to support biomolecular design and to accelerate bioreactor design and biomanufacturing. Realizing Quantum Systems for Discovery covers AI for quantum computing and networking, specifically qubit decoherence mitigation, quantum error correction, and automating and optimising quantum resource estimation tools. Designing Materials with Predictable Functionality seeks AI frameworks enabling inverse design, where materials are engineered backwards from specific required properties, for energy and manufacturing applications. Achieving AI-Driven Autonomous Laboratories covers integration of AI into experimental workflows using advanced robotics, AI for network operations, diagnostics and remote handling. Phase I awards are up to 250,000 dollars over six to 12 months, with approximately 40 awards totalling 10 million dollars and lifecycle funding up to 44 million dollars. The defining feature of this cycle is a mandatory pitch-first process: companies submit a 700-word pitch answering four equally weighted questions covering summary, technical promise, commercialisation potential and team qualifications, and only accepted pitches are invited to submit a full application. Pitches were due 10 September 2026 at 2:00pm ET. A company may submit a maximum of three pitches.
The ONR Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (N00014-25-S-B001) is the Office of Naval Research's primary mechanism for soliciting research proposals across all naval science and technology priority areas. The BAA accepts proposals on a rolling basis through September 30, 2026 and covers ONR's full spectrum of research interests with particular emphasis on AI-related topics including autonomous maritime systems, human-machine teaming, machine learning for sensor fusion, cooperative autonomous swarm technology, undersea autonomy, and AI-enabled decision superiority. Proposals can be funded through multiple mechanisms including individual investigator grants, the Young Investigator Program (~$510K over 3 years for early-career faculty), and Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) awards ($1.5M/year for 3-5 years for research teams). ONR recommends contacting relevant program officers before submitting to discuss alignment with current research priorities. The BAA supports basic research (6.1), applied research (6.2), and advanced technology development (6.3) across the full range of naval-relevant science and engineering disciplines.
FA955026S0003 posted September 8 with full proposals due December 4, 2026 — but a five-page white paper is required by October 9, questions close September 17, and the PhD window admits degrees earned after April 1, 2019 only. At $450,000 over three years with no collaborators permitted, this is the most restrictive of the three service early-career programs and the only one with an LPS quantum carve-out.
Read articleAFOSR's open Broad Agency Announcement — the single front door to Air Force basic research funding — closed on March 23, 2026 for mandatory review under Executive Order 14332, and proposals submitted in its final week must be resubmitted to a replacement that has no posted date. Meanwhile NRL's Long Range BAA takes white papers only through September 30, and the Air Force's new $99 million command-and-control BAA runs to 2028 with a March 15, 2027 white paper date for FY28 money. A field guide to the rolling-solicitation channel while it is in flux.
Read articleThe Department of the Navy pre-released FY26 Release 3 SBIR/STTR on June 3, 2026 — 12 BAA topics and one Commercial Solutions Opening for Counter-Unmanned Air Systems. Topics span adaptive sensor management, anomalous behavior detection, satellite imagery optimization, real-time zero-trust data for combat systems, and gun weapon systems modernization. Technical questions cut off June 23. Proposals open June 24 and close July 22. NAVAIR and NAVSEA co-host a Counter-UAS webinar June 16. Phase I funding tops out at $315,000. The CSO open topic for AI-powered drone defense is the structural news: it's the first time NAVAIR has used a CSO vehicle to fund counter-drone work outside the conventional Phase I/II structure, and it changes how small businesses can engage with the Navy's most urgent capability gap.
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