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The ONR Young Investigator Program, running since 1985, is one of the most valuable early-career awards in U.S. defense research: roughly 750,000 dollars over three years, awarded to the individual rather than to a project team, with wide latitude to define the research agenda so long as it addresses an area of interest to an ONR program officer.
For AI researchers the relevant areas are autonomous maritime systems, human-machine teaming, machine learning for sensor fusion, and the broader autonomy portfolio that ONR has built out over the past decade.
The eligibility window is narrow and strictly enforced: applicants must be in their first or second full-time tenure-track or tenure-track-equivalent academic appointment and must have received their PhD or equivalent degree on or after 1 January 2019. Faculty at U.S. institutions of higher education and those holding equivalent positions at U.S. nonprofits are eligible.
That date cut-off moves each cycle, so anyone near the boundary should check it against the current NOFO rather than assume continuity from a prior year. The single most important tactical point about YIP, and the one that most distinguishes successful from unsuccessful applicants, is that proposals are evaluated against the interests of specific ONR program officers.
Contacting the relevant program officer before writing, to confirm that the proposed direction matches an active need, is effectively a prerequisite rather than a courtesy - unsolicited proposals that no program officer has an appetite for do not fare well regardless of technical quality. The FY2027 competition is NOFO N0001426SF004, with full proposals due 30 October 2026 at 5:00pm Eastern.
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Or search similar grants →According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Applicants must be in their first or second full-time tenure-track or tenure-track-equivalent academic appointment and must have received their PhD or equivalent degree on or after 1 January 2019. Eligible institutions are U.S. institutions of higher education and U.S. nonprofit organizations with equivalent research positions. The award is made to the individual investigator to pursue a self-defined research program, but proposals must address basic or applied research areas of interest to ONR program officers and contribute to national security and warfighter capability; AI-relevant areas include autonomous maritime systems, human-machine teaming and machine learning for sensor fusion. Typical awards are 750,000 US dollars over 36 months, with a cap of 250,000 dollars requested per 12-month interval. The FY2027 competition is NOFO number N0001426SF004; full proposals are due 30 October 2026 at 5:00pm Eastern. Prospective applicants are strongly advised to contact the relevant ONR program officer before writing, since alignment with an active program officer interest is central to the evaluation. Confirm the PhD date cut-off, appointment requirements, budget caps and submission mechanics in the current NOFO on the ONR funding opportunities page or Grants.gov before applying. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows typical awards are 750,000 US dollars over a 36-month period of performance, with applicants able to request up to 250,000 dollars for each 12-month interval. amount_min and amount_max are both set to 750,000, the standard award value, since ONR YIP does not publish a competitive range in the way a BAA does. The per-year cap is the constraint that shapes budgets most: because no more than 250,000 dollars may be requested in any 12-month interval, a project cannot be front-loaded with equipment or a large first-year hire and then run thin, and PIs who need substantial one-time capital equipment should plan to source it elsewhere or spread acquisition across years. The award supports the PI's own research program rather than a team effort, so typical budgets cover partial PI summer salary, one to two graduate students, and modest materials and travel. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
Applications for Office of Naval Research FY2027 Young Investigator Program (N0001426SF004) for Early-Career Faculty Research Including AI, Autonomy and Machine Learning are due October 30, 2026. Build your timeline backwards from this date to cover registrations, approvals, and final submission checks.
Office of Naval Research FY2027 Young Investigator Program (N0001426SF004) for Early-Career Faculty Research Including AI, Autonomy and Machine Learning is funded by U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR), Department of the Navy. 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 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.
DE-FOA-0003600 is the DOE Office of Science's FY 2026 open, rolling solicitation for financial assistance, providing roughly $500 million across seven program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, and Isotope R&D and Production. AI and machine learning research is supported directly through Advanced Scientific Computing Research, while Biological and Environmental Research funds atmospheric process research, environmental systems process research, and earth-energy systems modeling — making this a major channel for AI-enhanced climate and earth system modeling work. DOE anticipates 200 to 350 new awards ranging from $5,000 to $5 million each, with project periods from six months to five years. The FOA opened September 30, 2025 and accepts applications on a rolling basis through the end of FY 2026.
The 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.
Read articleNOFO N0001426SF004 offers roughly 25 awards at $750,000 over 36 months to first- and second-appointment faculty. No cost share, no white paper stage — and an eligibility clock that admits PhDs earned on or after January 1, 2019 and nobody earlier. The program officer conversation, not the proposal, is the part most applicants get wrong.
Read articleOn June 3, the Department of the Navy pre-released FY26 Release 3 SBIR/STTR — 12 conventional BAA topics and a Counter-Unmanned Air Systems Commercial Solutions Opening. Topics span adaptive sensor management, anomalous behavior detection, satellite imagery optimization, real-time zero-trust data for combat systems, and gun weapon systems modernization. The proposal window runs June 24 to July 22, 2026. The technical questions cutoff is June 23. NAVAIR and NAVSEA are hosting a Counter-UAS webinar on June 16. Here is what the topic mix actually signals about Navy priorities and how small businesses should position.
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