The Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction (ISN/CTR) is pleased to announce an open competition for assistance awards through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). ISN/CTR sponsors foreign assistance activities funded by the Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related Programs (NADR) and other accounts, and focuses on mitigating weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and WMD-related delivery systems proliferation and security threats from non-state actors and proliferator states. An underlying aim of all ISN/CTR’s efforts is long-term sustainability to maximize programmatic impact while minimizing the need for foreign partners to rely on outside financial or technical assistance.
ISN/CTR administers the Biosecurity Engagement Program (BEP) as part of the Global Threat Reduction (GTR) portfolio. BEP’s national security mission is to mitigate global biological threats by securing and/or protecting against the misuse of high consequence pathogens, synthetic biological materials, biotechnologies, genomic data, life sciences research, laboratory infrastructure, and related equipment for biological weapons (BW) purposes, and helping foreign partners develop biosecurity policy, guidance and technical capabilities at the national and regional levels to promote the adoption or compliance with international best practices and frameworks that advance U.S. biological nonproliferation objectives. BEP’s efforts align with and help implement U.S. national security strategies, including the National Security Strategy and the National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan, and the National Security Memorandum on Countering Biological Threats, Enhancing Pandemic Preparedness, and Achieving Global Health Security, among others.
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal package per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding. Interested applicants from within Duke should contact fundopps@duke.edu as early as possible.
Deadline: Jan. 31, 2024
Priority Region: While global in scope, BEP focuses its resources on countries facing the greatest threats from proliferator states or non-state actors with the reasonable potential (e.g., absorptive capacity, diplomatic willingness, etc.) to successfully implement WMD threat reduction activities. Priority countries may include but are not limited to Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, DRC, Gabon, Georgia, Guinea, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Türkiye, Vietnam, and Yemen.
The following organizations are eligible to apply: • Not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations • Public and private educational institutions • Federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) • For-profit organizations Public International Organizations and Governmental institutions
Award amounts: ISN/CTR prefers projects that cost less than $250,000