AFRL/AFOSR Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 University Center for High-Speed Aerothermoelasticity
This grant funds a university-led, multidisciplinary basic research center on high-speed aerothermoelasticity for U.S. institutions of higher education.
⚑ University-led center award; PI must be a full-time employee in a regular non-contractor position at a U.S. institution of higher education. · Federally Funded Research and Development Centers and DoW Laboratories are ineligible. · Strongly encourages partnership with HBCUs. · Requires an interdisciplinary roster of up to ten investigators, including computational and experimental leads.
This is a basic-research aerospace engineering center on high-speed aerothermoelasticity, with no real social-science, public-opinion, policy, risk-perception, or evaluation component that matches this team’s published lines. The team’s work is in hazard communication, energy/environment attitudes, education policy, and public risk research, so this is not a plausible PI-level fit.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-10-30
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 90 strong | technical depth: central; funds basic research |
| IPPRA | 40 partial | outside portfolio topics; social/behavioral work is none; funds basic research |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 15 none | deep-tech content; no commercialization signal |
Description
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, in partnership with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) Air Warfare Directorate (RA), intends to provide support for a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers at U.S. universities to establish a university-led Center for High-Speed Aerothermoelasticity. This multidisciplinary, basic research initiative focuses on investigating complex problem sets involving the fundamental physics at the intersection of high-speed fluid mechanics, thermal transport, and structural sciences. By supporting a balanced, integrated approach across computational simulation, theoretical modeling, and ground experimentation in these three areas, the Center will tackle critical aerothermoelasticity challenges for the Air Force mission and related challenges in science and engineering. This opportunity is a chance to work closely with the Air Force Research Lab Air Warfare Directorate (AFRL/RA) on computational simulations and ground and flight experiments in the field of high-speed aerothermoelasticity.
We seek unclassified proposals from a highly collaborative, qualified and responsible university-led team that bridges the traditional silos of fluid dynamics, thermal transport, and structural mechanics. The program requires an interdisciplinary roster of up to ten investigators (including computational and experimental leads) and strongly encourages partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), in alignment with Executive Order 14283. Beyond technical discovery, the Center acts as a vital connection between academia and DoW scientists at facilities such as Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC). This ensures that breakthrough academic research translates into tangible capabilities for the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and access to a well-trained future aerospace workforce. It is important that your proposal shows strength in as many of the evaluation areas as practical for maximum competitiveness.
The award shall be made to U.S. institutions of higher education, where the principal investigator is employed on a full-time basis and holds a regular, non-contractor position. Researchers working at the Federally Funded Research and Development Centers and DoW Laboratories are not eligible for this competition.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: Daniel P Smith Procurement Analyst <aerothermodynamics@us.af.mil>
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