Build research capacity in eligible states through DEPSCoR
Competitively fund university research, instrumentation and graduate assistance, and facilitate laboratory collaboration in eligible states and territories.
Other statutory tools
USC-12 / Workforce and expertise
Support technical education, graduate training, and laboratory partnerships
Use distinct technical-education, graduate-fellowship, K–12, STARBASE, and defense-laboratory partnership routes. Support may include grants, contracts, cash awards, personnel, internships, research participation, equipment, and the separately bounded Japanese language/culture training program for scientists, engineers, and managers.
At a glance
Mission goalDevelop a technology
Possible toolUSC-12 · Cooperation & exchanges
Legal basis10 U.S.C. §2193
Responsible rolesPlanning · funds · approval · execution
Authority holder: Secretary of Defense and authorized defense-laboratory directors; the relevant Secretaries for STARBASE support
Cooperation & exchanges
Mechanism tags describe the source text; they do not expand the authority.
Availability and verification
Express statutory pathway identified in the USC scrub. Current implementation, public intake, appropriations, available balances, and transaction-specific delegations were not independently verified.
Requirements and limits
Eligibility & prerequisites
- Section 2193 student grants concern national-security-critical scientific and engineering disciplines, are paid to the enrolled student’s institution, and may not exceed attendance cost.
- Section 2194 agreements are with qualifying U.S. educational institutions; apply its priority requirements and the separate conditions for equipment loans, surplus transfers, and financial assistance.
- STARBASE under §2193b is a separate K–12 program with academy, selection, and support conditions; additional academies beyond the normal state cap require the specified waiver and expressly available appropriations.
- Equipment given under 15 U.S.C. 3710(i) must be excess to agency needs and support technical or scientific education or research at an educational institution or nonprofit.
- Section 2191 NDSEG fellowships are for U.S. citizens or nationals pursuing priority graduate fields and awarded solely on academic ability through nationwide competition; no geographic preference.
- Section 2192(b) permits contracts, cooperative agreements, grants, cash awards, voluntary services, and educational-event support in furtherance of authorized STEM education, unless the underlying provision specifies otherwise.
- Section 2192b supports students and teachers at schools determined to have significant numbers of military dependents; §2193a separately permits general elementary/secondary mathematics and science improvement programs.
- Section 2198 is a distinct competitive grant route to U.S. higher-education or nonprofit institutions for Japanese language and culture training of scientists, engineers, and managers; grant criteria address laboratory participation, Japanese research placements, defense-critical technology, and an appropriate nonfederal cost share.
Limits & exclusions
- Do not import SMART service-obligation terms into §2193 student grants; these are distinct authorities.
- An education partnership is not a general unrestricted commercial subsidy, and equipment access does not convey all associated IP.
- Do not impose SMART-style return service on NDSEG fellowships without a separate applicable basis. No current §2198 Japanese-training program or solicitation was verified.
Funding conditions
- Appropriate available education and research funds; STARBASE may accept the financial or other support enumerated in §2193b(f); partnership financial assistance uses new and separate contracts, agreements, or grants under §2194(b)(8).
Who contributes what
Need & planning
- Relevant DoD mission or program sponsor
Resources
- Sponsoring component budget owner and comptroller; available funding not verified
Approval
- Secretary of Defense and authorized defense-laboratory directors; the relevant Secretaries for STARBASE support; transaction-specific delegation must be confirmed
Office profile
Execution
- Authorized component contracting, agreements, or personnel office; assignment is illustrative
Partners & review
- Program counsel, fiscal officials, and eligible external counterpart as applicable
Office links are editorial matches to the original role text, not verified delegations. Composite labels and unmatched actors are preserved.
Coordination pathway
Mission sponsor → relevant program or personnel lead → counsel and fiscal review → official holding the required authority → eligible counterpart. Named functions are routing guidance, not verified individual delegations.
October 5 statutory review
Added in the October 5 statutory coverage review. The cited legal mechanism and its conditions were examined; a current implementing program, intake, funding balance and individual delegation were not verified.
Legal basis
- 10 U.S.C. §2193Official GovInfo 2024 baseline; read alongside the enacted amendments identified in this record.
- 10 U.S.C. §2193bOfficial GovInfo 2024 baseline; read alongside the enacted amendments identified in this record.
- 10 U.S.C. §2194Official GovInfo 2024 baseline; read alongside the enacted amendments identified in this record.
- 15 U.S.C. §3710(i)Official GovInfo 2024 baseline; read alongside the enacted amendments identified in this record.
- 10 U.S.C. §2191Official GovInfo 2024 baseline; enacted FY2026 changes identified separately.
- 10 U.S.C. §2192Official GovInfo 2024 baseline; enacted FY2026 changes identified separately.
- 10 U.S.C. §2192bOfficial GovInfo 2024 baseline; enacted FY2026 changes identified separately.
- 10 U.S.C. §2193aOfficial GovInfo 2024 baseline; enacted FY2026 changes identified separately.
- 10 U.S.C. §2198Official GovInfo 2024 baseline; enacted FY2026 changes identified separately.
What this research establishes
Legal basisSources linkedLegal sources and instrument limits are recorded.
RequirementsGates recordedRead the requirements for this instrument; applicability depends on the proposed action.
Public fundingRules recordedAppropriate available education and research funds; STARBASE may accept the financial or other support enumerated in §2193b(f); partnership financial assistance uses new and separate contracts, agreements, or grants under §2194(b)(8). Office budget figures are separate institutional context, not an allocation to this instrument.
Assigned rolesRoles recordedPublic sources describe institutional authority. The instrument identifies approval and execution roles; a specific signature remains transaction-dependent.
EngagementProgram unverifiedAdded in the October 5 statutory review; no current implementing program, intake or individual delegation verified.
Confidence: High on the cited statutory text and express conditions; operational availability is unverified.
Currentness: Reviewed 2026-10-05 against official GovInfo 2024 Code text and a targeted P.L. 119-60 enacted-amendment search. OLRC direct pages were intermittently under maintenance. This is not an exhaustive certification of legislation after that baseline, funding, implementation, or individual delegation.
Review scope: Record reviewed 2026-10-05. Publication is not legal-currentness certification.