Denying U.S. Adversaries Access to Sensitive Nuclear, Missile, and Advanced Technical Expertise for Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs that Threaten America

The Denying U.S. Adversaries Access to Sensitive Nuclear, Missile, and Advanced Technical Expertise for Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs that Threaten America funding opportunity, administered by the U.S. Department of State’s International Security and Nonproliferation Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction (ISN/CTR), is designed to combat proliferation threats. Specifically, the program targets civilian scientists, technicians, and engineers (STEs) with weapons of mass destruction (WMD)-relevant expertise who are vulnerable to exploitation by U.S. adversaries such as Iran, North Korea, and China. This initiative forms part of broader U.S. nonproliferation efforts, with a tailored focus under the Nonproliferation Scientist Engagement Program (NSEP) for Fiscal Years 2025 and 2026. The primary goal of the program is to prevent adversarial states from leveraging civilian STEs' knowledge to further nuclear, missile, and advanced weapons programs. To achieve this, the program funds initiatives that deliver rapid knowledge security training and commercialization support to enable these scientists to engage with U.S. partners instead of adversarial programs. Training focuses on cybersecurity and protecting intellectual property, while commercialization support helps match scientists with U.S. private sector partners for sustainable collaboration. The program has a funding ceiling of $2,000,000 and a minimum award of $100,000, with total anticipated funding of $6,000,000 and approximately ten awards projected. Eligible applicants include U.S. and foreign NGOs, educational institutions, private sector organizations, federally funded research and development centers, and public international organizations. Projects should be completed within 12–24 months, with activities starting as early as January 1, 2026. Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov by July 30, 2025, at 11:59 PM EDT. Each applicant can only submit one application, although that submission may contain multiple project proposals. Required materials include various standard federal forms (SF-424, SF-424A), project narratives, detailed budgets, monitoring and evaluation plans, and key personnel documentation. Applications must adhere to specific formatting and submission guidelines, and applicants must be registered in SAM.gov with a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). Proposals will be evaluated based on criteria such as project quality and feasibility (25 points), organizational capacity (20 points), ability to achieve objectives (15 points), financial capacity and cost effectiveness (15 points), monitoring and evaluation (15 points), and sustainability (10 points). Final funding decisions rest with ISN/CTR leadership, and all applicants will be notified of their status by October 15, 2025. For questions, applicants may contact [email protected] or [email protected]. A Q&A document will be updated weekly on Grants.gov through July 25, 2025. Extensive compliance, reporting, and post-award obligations apply, consistent with federal grant regulations and Department of State requirements.

Follow formatting and submission guidelines strictly; address each nonproliferation objective clearly; use the M&E indicators provided; be detailed in budget narratives