(a) Program Required.—
The Secretary of Defense, acting through the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, shall carry out a Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) as part of the university research programs of the Department of Defense.
(b) Program Objectives.—The objectives of the program are as follows:
(1)
To increase the number of university researchers in eligible States capable of performing science and engineering research responsive to the needs of the Department of Defense.
(2)
To enhance the capabilities of institutions of higher education in eligible States to develop, plan, and execute science and engineering research that is relevant to the mission of the Department of Defense and competitive under the peer-review systems used for awarding Federal research assistance.
(3)
To increase the probability of long-term growth in the competitively awarded financial assistance that institutions of higher education in eligible States receive from the Federal Government for science and engineering research.
(c) Program Activities.—In order to achieve the program objectives, the following activities are authorized under the program:
(3)
To provide assistance to science and engineering researchers at institutions of higher education in eligible States through collaboration between Department of Defense laboratories and such researchers.
(d) Eligible States.—
(2) The Under Secretary shall designate a State as an eligible State if, as determined by the Under Secretary—
(A)
the average annual amount of all Department of Defense obligations for science and engineering research and development that were in effect with institutions of higher education in the State for the three fiscal years preceding the fiscal year for which the designation is effective or for the last three fiscal years for which statistics are available is less than the amount determined by multiplying 60 percent times the amount equal to 1/50 of the total average annual amount of all Department of Defense obligations for science and engineering research and development that were in effect with institutions of higher education in the United States for such three preceding or last fiscal years, as the case may be; and
(e) Coordination With Similar Federal Programs.—
(1)
The Secretary may consult with the Director of the National Science Foundation and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the planning, development, and execution of the program and may coordinate the program with the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research conducted by the National Science Foundation and with similar programs sponsored by other departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
(2)
All solicitations under the Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research may be made to, and all awards may be made through, the State committees established for purposes of the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research conducted by the National Science Foundation.
(3)
A State committee referred to in paragraph (2) shall ensure that activities carried out in the State of that committee under the Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research are relevant to the mission of the Department of Defense and coordinated with the activities carried out in the State under other similar initiatives of the Federal Government to stimulate competitive research.