United States Department of Defense

The Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) is a Department of Defense capacity-building program designed to strengthen research infrastructure and capabilities at institutions of higher education in eligible states and territories. The program seeks to increase the ability of institutions and researchers in these jurisdictions to conduct competitive basic research in science and engineering that is relevant to the DoD mission and national security priorities.

For FY26, DEPSCoR is organized around three major thrusts: Research Collaboration, which supports collaborations between researchers to expand participation in the DoD research enterprise; Capacity Building, which supports institutional efforts to develop and strengthen DoD-relevant research capabilities; and Education and Outreach, which helps researchers and institutions better understand and engage with DoD research opportunities.

DEPSCoR eligibility is determined using congressionally directed criteria based on the amount of DoD science and engineering research funding obligated to institutions of higher education within each state or territory. Eligible jurisdictions receive less than 60 percent of one-fiftieth of total DoD science and engineering research obligations to U.S. institutions of higher education and must demonstrate a commitment to developing science and engineering research. For FY26, 36 jurisdictions are eligible for DEPSCoR: 32 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

DEPSCoR was created by Congress through the FY1991 DoD appropriation, legislatively authorized in 1994 and reauthorized in 2017.