Project on Advanced Systems and Concepts for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (PASCC) CALL 0002 | USAFA PASCC BAA 2016 CALL 0002

Opportunity Information: Apply for USAFA PASCC BAA 2016 CALL 0002

Project on Advanced Systems and Concepts for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (PASCC) CALL 0002 is a Department of Defense funding opportunity administered through the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) in partnership with the Air Force Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). The program is designed to sponsor unclassified, policy-relevant research that expands the national security community's understanding of how to counter weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and weapons of mass effect (WME). At its core, the call is looking for fresh, innovative research ideas that can strengthen counterproliferation and nonproliferation efforts and improve strategy, planning, and decision-making related to WMD and WME threats.

The opportunity invites the submission of research white papers first, with the possibility that full proposals may be requested afterward. Submissions are expected to be unclassified and should not include proprietary content. If an applicant does include proprietary information, the burden is on the applicant to clearly mark the proprietary sections according to the instructions laid out in the USAFA-PASCC-BAA-2016 announcement. This emphasis signals that the program wants research that can be broadly shared within the government and security studies community without classification barriers, while still allowing limited proprietary content if it is properly handled.

PASCC CALL 0002 is framed as "security studies research," meaning it is not limited to laboratory science or engineering, but instead spans a wide range of disciplines as long as the work contributes to national defense knowledge and has potential to improve policy and international relations for combating WMD/WME. The call explicitly welcomes cross-disciplinary approaches and lists examples that include political science, sociology, history, biology, chemistry, economics, homeland defense, and public policy. In practical terms, this means applicants could propose studies on deterrence and escalation dynamics, proliferation networks and pathways, risk communication and public resilience, governance and treaty regimes, technological trends that affect WMD/WME risks, or organizational and societal factors that shape prevention and response. The research must align with the specific topic areas identified in the CALL document itself, indicating that PASCC has priority research questions it wants addressed rather than purely open-topic submissions.

A key requirement is that the work be a new research effort. The program is not looking to fund continuations of projects that were previously supported under PASCC grants or cooperative agreements. This "no continuation" preference is meant to keep the portfolio focused on new questions, new methods, or new applications rather than extending existing lines of work. For researchers, that typically means proposing a distinct scope, a new dataset or analytic approach, a new case study set, or a materially different policy problem from any prior PASCC-supported project.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, the opportunity is classified as discretionary and can be awarded through several instrument types, including cooperative agreements, grants, and procurement contracts. It falls under the research and development activity category (Science and Technology and other R and D) and is associated with CFDA number 12.800. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning the call is broadly open to applicants across entity types, subject to any additional constraints or clarifications that may appear in the full announcement text. This typically allows participation by universities, nonprofits, for-profit firms, federally funded research organizations, and other qualified entities.

In terms of scale and timing, the original posting date is April 24, 2017, with an original closing date of June 15, 2017. The award ceiling is listed as $200,000 per award, and the program anticipated making around 30 awards. Taken together, that suggests an intent to fund a relatively diverse set of smaller, targeted research efforts rather than a handful of large, multi-year projects, likely to generate timely analysis and actionable insights for defense and policy stakeholders.

Overall, PASCC CALL 0002 is a competitive research solicitation focused on unclassified, innovative, and policy-connected studies that help the United States and its partners understand and counter WMD and WME threats. It emphasizes interdisciplinary security studies work, encourages new research starts over project extensions, and seeks outputs that can inform strategy, international engagement, and practical approaches to nonproliferation and counterproliferation challenges.

• The Department of Defense, Air Force Academy in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Project on Advanced Systems and Concepts for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (PASCC) CALL 0002" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.800.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 24, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 15, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $200,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 30 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for USAFA PASCC BAA 2016 CALL 0002

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