Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI)
Funds multi-team university projects combining disciplines for defence knowledge creation and transfer.
The Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative supports university teams working across disciplines on basic research problems that are too broad for a single lab. It sits under the Department of Defense's basic research office and is delivered through the Army Research Office, Office of Naval Research, and Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Awards are roughly $1.25 million a year for three to five years. The program is annual, limited to U.S. universities and research organizations that can assemble a multi-investigator team, and it expects a consortium rather than a solo proposal. The work should sit near the boundary of established fields and still read as basic research. The strongest proposals connect multiple disciplines around one hard question and show why a coordinated team is necessary. MURI is not a commercialization route; it is a long-horizon research award for academic groups that can carry deep technical risk while staying within the topic lines issued by the service offices.
No upcoming rounds verified. Cadence: Annual.