# University and Industry Research Centers — Program Element 0601104A

**Program element:** 0601104A  
**Component:** U.S. Army  
**Appropriation:** 2040 — RDT&E, Army  
**Budget Activity:** 1 — Basic Research  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0601104A

## Summary

U.S. Army funding falls 26% to a $53.6M request in FY2027, sustained across the five-year plan. In the FY2027 defense authorization, the House added 33% (to $71.1M); the Senate added 47% (to $78.6M); House appropriators funded it in full.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 109.7 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 72.4 |
| FY2027 | Request | 53.6 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 53.6 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 54.8 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 55.6 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 60.0 |

> Estimate types are not summed — the profile mixes actuals, enacted law, the request, and outyear projections.

## Congressional marks (FY2027)

| Stage | Marked ($M) | Change ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| Request | 53.6 | — |
| House NDAA (HASC) | 71.1 | +17.5 |
| Senate NDAA (SASC) | 78.6 | +25.0 |
| House Approps (HAC-D) | 53.6 | +0.0 |

> FY2027 NDAA authorization marks, as of 2026-07-27. Not appropriations or final law.

## Projects (5)

| Project | Title | FY2025 actual | FY2026 enacted | FY2027 request | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB7 | Army Collaborative Research and Tech Alliances | 55.5 | 29.7 | 47.9 | +61% |
| AB4 | Army Research Centers | 24.8 | 23.3 | 5.7 | −75% |
| AB8 | Army Educational Outreach Program | 12.3 | 12.7 | — | −100% |
| AC6 | International Science and Technology | 7.6 | 3.8 | — | −100% |
| J13 | UNIVERSITY AND INDUSTRY INITIATIVES (CA) | 9.5 | 3.0 | — | −100% |

> Projects are the summable leaves: the program element total is their sum, never added to it.

### Project AB7 — Army Collaborative Research and Tech Alliances

This project supports the Army Collaborative Research Alliances (CRAs) and Collaborative Technology Alliances (CTAs). CRAs and CTAs are partnerships between Army laboratories and centers, private industry, and academia that focus on the rapid transition of innovative technologies to the Warfighter to enable the Army's Future Force. The collaboration between industry, academia, and the government is a key element of the alliance concept as each member brings with it a distinctly different approach to research. Academia is known for its cutting-edge innovation; the industrial partners are able to leverage existing research results for transition and to deal with technology bottlenecks; and the Army researchers keep the program oriented toward solving complex Army technology problems. This approach enables an Alliance to bring together world class research and development talent and focus it on Army-specific technology objectives for application to Army needs. The topics covered by CRAs and CTAs include cyber security (funded in PE 0601121A / Cyber Collaborative Research Alliance), the internet of battlefield things, distributed and collaborative intelligent systems technology, neuroergonomics and neuroscience, advanced materials, exploitation of quantum effects, semiconductor modeling, convergent manufacturing, autonomous maneuver and machine learning and artificial intelligence. Work in this project is performed by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL).

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet of Battlefield Things CTA (IoBT CTA) | 3.1 | — | — |
| Distributed Analytics and Information Science International Technology Alliance (ITA) | 3.0 | — | — |
| Distributed Collaborative Intelligent Systems Technology CTA | 6.2 | 6.8 | — |
| Neurosciences CRA | 0.7 | — | — |
| Identification and characterization of team-level processes for enhancing performance of heterogeneous Soldier-Agent teams CRA | 4.3 | — | — |
| Army Artificial Intelligence Innovation Institute (A2I2) | 7.5 | 8.1 | — |
| Army Radio-Frequency (RF) Electronics Center | 3.4 | — | — |
| Army Advanced Biological Control Center | 5.1 | — | — |
| Army Advanced Energetics Center | 5.1 | 5.1 | — |
| Tactical Behaviors for Autonomous Maneuver | 2.5 | — | — |
| Fundamentals for Quantum Technologies | 2.9 | — | — |
| Convergent Manufacturing for High Performance Material Interfaces | 1.0 | — | — |
| Semi-Conductor Modeling Consortium | 0.5 | — | — |
| HBCU/MI Research Partnerships | 1.5 | 2.5 | — |
| Army Military Academic CRA | 1.8 | 2.0 | — |
| Collective Judgement Formation | 1.3 | — | — |
| Novel Robotic Controls | 1.4 | — | — |
| High-Throughput Materials Discovery for Extreme Conditions | 4.1 | — | — |
| Adaptive War Gaming for Advanced Concept Development (AWARE) | — | 5.2 | — |
| Army Collaborative Research and Technology Alliances | — | — | 29.7 |
| HBCU/MI Outreach | — | — | 3.0 |
| Advanced Next Generation Batteries | — | — | 15.2 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project AB4 — Army Research Centers

This project encompasses three types of Centers. The first is the Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI) Research Centers of Excellence which support the Army's research partnerships with HBCUs/MIs. The HBCU/MI Research Centers of Excellence were established as the next phase of what was previously known as the Partnered Research Initiative (PRI) Program that ended in Fiscal Year 2020. The focus of the HBCU/MI Research Centers of Excellence Program is to advance innovative basic research leading to potential technology development in areas of strategic importance to the Army by competitively selecting HBCU and MI research teams for grants or cooperative agreements. Awards have five-year periods of performance, with all supporting the Army's goal of broadening the performer base and diversifying the research ecosystem in the areas of information sciences, engineering, and physical sciences. The second is the University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs). Army UARCs have been created to exploit opportunities to advance new capabilities through a sustained long-term multidisciplinary effort. The Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies focuses on Soldier protection by emphasizing revolutionary materials research for advanced Soldier protection and survivability. The Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies focuses on enabling network centric-technologies and broadening the Army's use of biotechnology for the development of bio-inspired materials, sensors, and information processing. The Institute for Creative Technologies is a partnership with academia and the entertainment and gaming industries to leverage innovative research and concepts for training and simulation. Examples of specific research of mutual interest to the entertainment industry and the Army are technologies for realistic immersion in synthetic environments, networked simulation, standards for interoperability, and tools for creating simulated environments. The third is the Army Centers of Excellence (COEs). The COEs focus on expanding the frontiers of knowledge in research areas where the Army has enduring needs and couples state-of-the-art research programs at academic institutions with broad-based graduate education programs to increase the supply of scientists and engineers in automotive and rotary wing technology.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies | 4.9 | 4.2 | — |
| Institute for Creative Technologies | 5.0 | 4.3 | — |
| Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies | 5.5 | 4.8 | — |
| Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence (VLRCOE) | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.9 |
| Automotive Research Center (ARC) | 4.2 | 4.7 | — |
| Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions (HBCU/MI) Research Centers of Excellence (RCE) Program | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project AB8 — Army Educational Outreach Program

This project supports science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities that encourage elementary/middle/high school and undergraduate youths to develop an interest in and pursue education in the STEM fields to support the Army, and the nation's growing dependence on STEM skills. These activities are coordinated within the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) that links and networks appropriate components to derive the best synergies to present the Army to a larger pool of technical talent and to provide students with Army-unique practical experiences at Army laboratories, centers, and institutes and expose them to Department of War (DoW) careers. AEOP increases interest and involvement of students and teachers across the nation in STEM, including military affiliated communities, through exposure to Army sponsored research, education, competitions, internships, and practical experiences. This project utilizes Army STEM assets to contribute to a STEM literate citizenry as well as enhances the national pool of science and engineering personnel that in turn supports defense industry and Army laboratory and research, development, and engineering center needs.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AEOP Coop Agreement | 12.3 | 12.7 | — |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project AC6 — International Science and Technology

This project enables the Transformation & Training Command (T2COM) Forward Elements (TFE) and the U.S. Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Science & Technology Integration (S&TI) Directorate to discover innovative, disruptive and/or transformational basic and applied research (BAR) activity from the universities of foreign partners and award funds to those universities to work on research projects that support the U.S. Army's Science and Technology (S&T) strategy, warfighting systems capability development, and our interoperability goals with Unified Action Partners. The AFEs have personnel located in North America, Asia, and Europe to support U.S. Army Rationalization, Standardization and Interoperability (RSI) efforts with Unified Action Partners as specified in Army Regulation (AR) 34-1 'Interoperability'. The TFEs interoperability mission includes providing the best technology in the world to our warfighters by leveraging the S&T investments of our international partners. This work is governed in AR 70-41 'Armaments Cooperation' and DEVCOM S&TI has oversight for T2COM activities within Armaments Cooperation. Work in this project is performed by the TFEs and the DEVCOM S&TI.

| Activity (R-2A) | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Technology Centers | 5.0 | 3.8 | — |
| Foreign Technology (& Science) Assessment Support | 2.7 | — | — |

> R-2A activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. Coverage is partial, so count them, never total them.

### Project J13 — UNIVERSITY AND INDUSTRY INITIATIVES (CA)

Congressional Interest Item funding provided for University and Industry Initiatives.

## Mission & acquisition strategy

This Program Element (PE) fosters university and industry based research to provide a scientific foundation for enabling technologies for future force capabilities. Broadly, the work in this PE falls into the categories of Collaborative Technology Alliances / Collaborative Research Alliances (CTAs/CRAs), University Centers of Excellence (COE), University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs), Army-sponsored educational outreach, and Army investments at international academic and industrial partners. The Army formed CTAs to leverage large investments by the commercial sector in basic research areas that are of great interest to the Army.

## Related program elements

- [0601121A — Cyber Collaborative Research Alliance](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0601121A) (Army)
- [0604735F — Combat Training Range Equipment](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0604735F) (Air Force)
- [1208248SF — Space Domain Awareness/Planning/Tasking SW](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1208248SF) (Space Force)
- [0603923D8Z — Coalition Warfare Program (CWP)](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0603923D8Z) (Defense-Wide)

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Army RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-3, PE 0601104A (PB PB2027); FY2027 NDAA committee marks (as of 2026-07-27).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0601104A")`.

*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*