The purpose of the white paper is to provide a basic overview of the project that can be evaluated by reviewers assessing a proposal's competitiveness in relation to its basic scientific merit, program interest, and other proposals submitted. The most competitive proposals will be invited to submit full proposals. The white paper vetting of proposals is intended to be an abbreviated version of what could be turned into a full proposal and is intended to benefit to both researchers and reviewers. The basic requirements for white papers are:

  • maximum of 4-pages single-spaced for the narrative, Times New Roman font, 11-point, 1" margins
  • five sections should organize the narrative (as pointed out in the FOA): Project overview; Research context and core issues; Methodology; Potential implications for national defense; and Summary of estimated costs
  • cover page with FOA number, project title, technical POC, telephone, e-mail, and area number and title 
  • optional material includes: a 1-page cover letter and/or CV

All white papers should be submitted to osd.minerva@mail.mil as an e-mail attachment by 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, on March 21, 2017. Late submissions will not be accepted.

See Frequently Asked Questions for more on the submission process.