ONR Young Investigator Program (YIP) — Between
Supports early-career faculty with naval research grants fostering next-generation discoveries.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Program (YIP) awards research grants to early-career tenure-track faculty conducting science and engineering research in areas relevant to the Navy and Marine Corps. Typical awards are $750,000 over a 36-month period, structured as up to $250,000 per 12-month interval. Eligible costs include investigator salary, graduate student support, research supplies, travel, and indirect costs. The program targets exceptional academic scientists and engineers at the beginning of their independent careers, seeking those most likely to produce creative, high-impact advances in Navy-relevant fields spanning ONR's five research departments.
Eligibility requires the applicant to be a US citizen, national, or permanent resident holding their first or second full-time tenure-track or tenure-track-equivalent faculty appointment, with a doctorate received within the past seven years at the time of proposal. Eligible institutions are US universities and colleges awarding degrees in science, engineering, or mathematics, and US non-profit scientific or educational organizations. For-profit entities and individuals applying independently are not eligible. Each proposal must be submitted through university officials and must include a mandatory letter of institutional support; applications lacking this letter are deemed incomplete and will not be reviewed.
As of May 2026, no FY26 YIP solicitation has been posted; the program runs annual cycles with solicitations historically appearing in summer or fall and deadlines in early calendar year. Interested investigators should monitor the ONR Funding Opportunities Announcements page for the forthcoming solicitation. ONR encourages brief informal pre-proposals for early discussion with program officers before the formal deadline. Proposals must align with the published ONR S&T department research priorities, which are updated annually.
Academic research in Navy-relevant science, engineering, and mathematics fields aligned with ONR S&T department priorities.
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