MILITARY MEDICAL PHOTONICS PROGRAM | FOA AFRL AFOSR 2022 0008

Opportunity Information: Apply for FOA AFRL AFOSR 2022 0008

The Military Medical Photonics Program is an Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) grant opportunity focused on unclassified research and development that uses lasers and other light-based technologies to solve military medical problems. The core idea is to fund photonics-driven advances that can improve medicine, photobiology, surgery, and closely related materials science areas, with a clear emphasis on real-world needs tied to combat casualty care. Projects can be either basic research or applied research, but they have to connect directly to military medical priorities rather than being purely exploratory or loosely related.

AFOSR is aiming this program mainly at university-based medical institutions, especially those that can bring together interdisciplinary teams. The strongest fit is a proposal built around a team that includes physicians, biomedical scientists, physical scientists, and engineers working together, since the program is explicitly designed to support work that bridges clinical problems and technical solutions. AFOSR indicates that its highest priority will go to projects planned for up to three years in duration, suggesting that they want efforts that are substantial enough to produce meaningful progress while still being structured around a clear near-to-mid-term plan.

A key feature of this opportunity is the expectation that applicants already have significant experience working in areas that advance military medical priorities, including a demonstrated ability to translate research into clinical practice and usable products. In other words, this is not just about publishing results; AFOSR is signaling that it values credible pathways to transition, such as prototypes, clinical workflows, validated methods, or other tangible outcomes that could realistically be adopted. Alongside that, applicants are expected to show substantial prior collaboration with military medical centers, both to prove the relevance to combat casualty care and to make it more likely that successful results can move into military use.

Eligibility is broad within the United States for non-federal entities: any qualified and responsible prime applicant organization located in the US can apply, even though the program is primarily geared toward university medical settings. Partnerships with defense-related medical research organizations are described as desirable and strongly encouraged, reinforcing the preference for proposals that are connected to the military medical ecosystem and not operating in isolation. The announcement also explicitly encourages proposals from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI), including HBCU/MI-affiliated medical centers, and it notes that University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) may apply as long as their specific DoD UARC contract terms do not prohibit it.

From a process standpoint, AFOSR encourages applicants to submit as early as possible because proposals may be reviewed and selected on a rolling basis as they are received, rather than waiting for a single batch review at the end. Awards are expected to be made as grants, but all awards depend on the availability of funding and there is no promise that any submission will be funded. If a proposal is selected, AFOSR will conduct a risk and responsibility review using government-wide eligibility and integrity checks consistent with applicable federal regulations (including the risk assessment approach described in 2 CFR 200.206 and related DoD rules), which is standard for federal assistance awards.

The published opportunity details identify it as a discretionary grant in the science and technology and other R and D category (CFDA 12.420) under Funding Opportunity Number FOA AFRL AFOSR 2022 0008. The original closing date listed is 2022-12-09, and the posted award ceiling is $7,000,000, indicating that sizable projects may be supported when justified by scope, relevance, and transition potential.

• The Air Force Office of Scientific Research in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "MILITARY MEDICAL PHOTONICS PROGRAM" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.420.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-09-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-12-09. (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 $7,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for FOA AFRL AFOSR 2022 0008

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