FY 20 Oppurtunity Announcement | DWFP 20 S 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for DWFP 20 S 01

The FY 20 Opportunity Announcement (DWFP 20 S 01) is a Department of Defense grant opportunity run through the US Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground (Natick Contracting Division, Fort Detrick) and administered by the Armed Forces Pest Management Board (AFPMB). It funds the Deployed War Fighter Protection (DWFP) Research Program for fiscal year 2020, with projects potentially renewable for up to three years. The overall goal is to create practical, deployable ways to protect US military personnel from diseases spread by arthropods such as mosquitoes, ticks, and other biting insects, especially in operational environments where exposure risk is high and standard public health measures may be harder to maintain.

The program focuses on intervention-oriented research tied to arthropod-borne pathogens that pose serious risks to deployed forces. Examples specifically called out include Lyme disease, malaria, dengue virus, and other arboviruses. Rather than basic science, the emphasis is on advanced, product-driven development that can realistically translate into tools or capabilities the military can field. In DoD budgeting terms, the work is intended to align with Advanced Technology Development (RDTandE Budget Activity 3), meaning it should push beyond early discovery into development, refinement, and demonstration of technologies that are closer to real-world use.

The announcement highlights three main technical areas. First is the development of new toxicants or the adaptation of existing toxicants to the vectors that matter most in deployed settings. Second is new or improved insecticide application techniques, including methods and equipment that make vector control more effective, durable, and sustainable under military field conditions. Third is personal protection technology that reduces or prevents human-vector contact, which can include new materials, wearables, barriers, repellents, or other modalities designed for operational use. Across these areas, the expectation is that the work will be oriented around a specific technology or capability, and that it will move a prototype toward a form that could be manufactured and used at scale.

A key requirement is that projects include semi-field or field evaluation of prototype products. The solicitation is not meant to pay for testing and evaluation of already-commercial products, nor to fund minor modifications of commercial items for a new use case. In other words, applicants are expected to bring forward innovation that results in a distinct prototype or advanced capability and then generate evidence of performance in realistic environments. For pesticide-related efforts, the announcement also emphasizes regulatory reality: any pesticides included in the proposed work should either already be registered with the US Environmental Protection Agency or be part of a development path that is intended to lead to EPA registration if registration does not yet exist.

From an applicability standpoint, the research must be primarily relevant to military needs, particularly deployed operations, but it should also be transferable to civilian contexts. This dual-use expectation reflects the idea that solutions developed for the military should, when appropriate, be usable by public health and civilian vector control programs as well, even though military relevance is the main driver for selection.

Funding for FY20 was expected to total up to $4.5 million across awards, with future-year funding dependent on availability. Individual projects were capped at $300,000 per year for up to three years, for a maximum total of $900,000 per project, inclusive of both direct and indirect costs. The opportunity anticipated making around 10 awards, with an award ceiling of $900,000. Funding was intended to be provided around July 2020.

Eligibility was broad and essentially unrestricted by organization type, with eligible applicants including for-profit and non-profit organizations, public and private entities, and institutions in any country. The announcement explicitly lists examples like universities, hospitals, laboratories, companies, and local or state government agencies. Federal agencies could also submit responses, though their submissions would be handled under applicable federal rules and regulations. Applicants needed to be employed by or affiliated with an eligible institution.

The application process used a staged approach beginning with pre-proposals, which were solicited and submitted earlier under the same announcement on beta.gov. The timeline provided indicates that pre-proposals were due November 25, 2019, and invitations to submit full proposals were expected around January 8, 2020. Full proposals were due approximately February 25, 2020, with acceptance notifications anticipated around March 30, 2020, and awards planned for roughly July 2020. Full proposal instructions were to be provided to invitees through a separate, formal notification.

Projects were to be selected based on two main factors: peer-reviewed scientific merit and programmatic relevance. Programmatic relevance was determined by a technical committee representing the AFPMB and the military service components, which signals that proposals needed not only strong science and methods, but also a clear line of sight to operational military use, feasibility of transition, and fit with the DWFP mission. The opportunity is listed as a discretionary grant in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category, under CFDA 12.355, with the issuing agency identified as the Department of Defense (ACC-APG-Detrick).

• The Department of Defense, ACC-APG-Detrick in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 20 Oppurtunity Announcement" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.355.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 02, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 25, 2020. (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 $900,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 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 DWFP 20 S 01

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