Partnership to Partnership to Advance Research and Scientific Evidence (PARSE) | DFOP0016713

Opportunity Information: Apply for DFOP0016713

The Partnership to Advance Research and Scientific Evidence (PARSE) is a U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) grant opportunity focused on strengthening the evidence base behind efforts to counter crime, illegal drugs, and broader instability in partner countries abroad. The core idea is to fund a single organization to help INL and the wider rule of law field understand, in practical terms, what interventions work best, under what conditions, and why. Rather than supporting advocacy or general programming, PARSE is designed to produce methodologically rigorous research and synthesis products that directly inform criminal justice and civilian security strategies across diverse international contexts.

The opportunity is structured around two main deliverables. First, the project must identify and define priority research themes, areas, or questions that matter most to practitioners and policymakers working on law enforcement, justice sector reform, and related rule of law challenges. This priority-setting function is meant to focus limited research resources on the highest-value gaps in public knowledge, especially gaps that prevent decision makers from choosing effective approaches or adapting successful models across countries. Second, the project must produce a set of research outputs, specifically a combination of synthesis reports (which typically pull together and assess existing evidence across multiple studies) and novel studies (new research that generates original findings). Together, these deliverables are intended to expand the practical evidence base for building sustainable and effective criminal justice systems and for addressing threats that are both internal and transnational.

A defining expectation of PARSE is usability: the research cannot be written only for academic audiences. Applicants must demonstrate they can translate findings into clear, concrete, and compelling products that are understandable and actionable for non-scholarly rule of law stakeholders. The target audiences explicitly include law enforcement and justice sector officials, as well as other decision makers and practitioners involved in policy formulation, program design, and strategic, operational, project, and tactical implementation. In other words, the program is looking for an organization that can do high-quality research and also communicate it in a way that changes how programs are designed, how resources are allocated, and how interventions are implemented on the ground.

Another key feature is the international and cross-context emphasis. INL wants research that is contextually diverse and framed so that lessons can be extrapolated or adapted to multiple countries or settings, rather than being so narrow that it only applies in one place. The outputs should help partners understand not just whether an approach works in a single case, but what factors affect success, how approaches can be tailored, and what tradeoffs or implementation conditions matter in different environments. This is meant to support more resilient criminal justice institutions among U.S. partners and contribute to improved civilian security by grounding strategies in scientifically substantiated evidence.

Administratively, PARSE is offered as a discretionary cooperative agreement, which signals that INL expects substantial involvement during implementation rather than a hands-off grant relationship. The selected applicant should be prepared to work in close coordination with INL, including regular check-ins such as weekly or bi-weekly meetings. This close cooperation implies that research priorities, products, and dissemination approaches will likely be shaped iteratively with INL input to ensure alignment with operational needs and real-time policy questions.

In terms of eligibility and funding specifics, the opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number DFOP0016713; CFDA 19.703) is open to nonprofits with IRS 501(c)(3) status that are not institutions of higher education. INL anticipates making one award with an award ceiling of $2,887,000. The opportunity was created on June 21, 2024, and the original application closing date was August 19, 2024. Overall, PARSE is essentially a research-to-practice partnership vehicle: it funds one qualified nonprofit to help define priority evidence gaps and produce credible, actionable research and synthesis products that can directly inform how rule of law and security programs are designed and implemented internationally.

• The Bureau of International Narcotics-Law Enforcement in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Partnership to Partnership to Advance Research and Scientific Evidence (PARSE)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.703.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-06-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-08-19. (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 $2,887,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for DFOP0016713

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