DoD Announces DESI Awards for University-Industry Collaborations

WASHINGTON --

Five university-industry teams have been selected for the Defense Enterprise Science Initiative, known as DESI, Defense Department officials announced today.

DESI is a pilot program supporting university-industry research collaboration focused on accelerating the impact of basic research on defense capabilities.

DESI's goals are twofold, officials said. First, it seeks to foster sustainable university-industry partnerships to identify and apply new discoveries and knowledge on existing capabilities and address technological gaps. DESI also aims to charter a new pathway to accelerate the transfer of basic research to innovative technologies and complement the department's other basic research programs such as the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative and the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program.

“Programs like DESI are vital to foster collaboration in the research ecosystem and accelerate the transition of ground-breaking basic science to transformative capabilities,” said Dr. Bindu Nair, deputy director for basic research. “I look forward to seeing how these teams can help us address our unique and challenging defense problem sets.”

Each team will receive up to $1.5 million over two years to further fundamental knowledge and understanding in the context of end-use applications.

Full Article: https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1595382/dod-announces-desi-awards-for-university-industry-collaborations/