Closes in 13 daysResearch announcementOpportunity HT942526ARPIDA

DoW Autism Idea Development Award

Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity - DHACA · Department of Defense

At a glance

DoW Autism Idea Development Award is an open federal grant opportunity from the Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity - DHACA (Department of Defense). Applications are due October 22, 2026. Total estimated funding is $2.25M across about 3 awards. The notice is unrestricted by applicant type, subject to any clarifications in the notice. Cost sharing is not required. It is funded under Assistance Listing 12.420 (Military Medical Research and Development).

Summary assembled from the official notice's fields. The official notice governs.

Key facts

May 21, 2026Posted
Oct 22, 2026Application deadlinenext date
Nov 21, 2026Archived

Posted: May 21, 2026
Close date: Oct 22, 2026
Archive date: Nov 21, 2026
Award floor: Not specified
Award ceiling: Not specified
Est. total funding: $2,250,000
Implied average award: $750,000 calculated
Expected awards: 3
Cost sharing: Not required
Funding instrument: Grant
Opportunity category: Discretionary

Typical awards for this program (SAM.gov listing for ALN 12.420, not this notice): This Assistance Listing supports approximately 30 or more programs each year. Overall, awards are expected to range from $100,000 to $20M (consortium) depending on the funding priorities, anticipated number of awards, and project activity/scope within each program for an award period, on average, of 3 to 4 years. The maximum award amount, if any, is specified in each Program Announcement or Broad Agency Announcement.

Implied average = estimated total funding ÷ expected number of awards, calculated by GrantsJunction. Actual awards vary.

Who can apply

Unrestricted (any entity type)

Can your organization apply?

A quick check against the listed applicant types — other requirements in the notice still apply.

Based on the published notice. Review the official notice for complete eligibility requirements.

What it funds

Official synopsis as published by the agency, formatted for readability.

Summary: The fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Autism Research Program (ARP) Idea Development Award supports the development of innovative, high-risk/high-reward research that could lead to critical discoveries or major advancements that will accelerate progress in improving outcomes for Autistic individuals. This award mechanism is designed to support innovative ideas with the potential to yield impactful data and new avenues of investigation.

Distinctive Features: Applications are strongly encouraged to address one of the FY26 ARP Idea Development Award Areas of Interest or provide justification that the proposed research addresses a critical problem, question, or need in autism.

Partnering Principal Investigator (PI) Option: The Partnering PI Option is structured so that two investigators, each of whom will be designated as a PI, will work synergistically on a single project. The results of this partnering project should significantly advance the research beyond what would be possible through individual efforts.

Full announcement & documents

The full announcement has the complete rules — page limits, required attachments, evaluation criteria and any letter-of-intent dates. Files download directly from Grants.gov.

FY26 ARP IDA Program AnnouncementFull Announcement · HT942526ARPIDA_GG.pdfPDF · 701 KB

How to apply

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Read the full announcement (NOFO)Eligibility, evaluation criteria, page limits and required attachments are in the full notice on Grants.gov. Open ↗
Confirm eligibility and fitCheck your organization type above; no cost sharing is required.
Register (or renew) in SAM.gov and get a UEIFree. New registrations can take several weeks; registrations must be renewed every year. Open ↗
Set up Grants.gov accessCreate a Grants.gov account and make sure someone has the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) role. Open ↗
Open the application packageUse opportunity number HT942526ARPIDA on Grants.gov (Grants.gov Workspace). Open ↗
Prepare narrative, budget and attachmentsFollow the notice's format exactly — page limits and required forms are common reasons applications are rejected.
Ask the agency contact any questions earlyJoAnn Martin Grantor · help@eBRAP.org Open ↗
Submit before October 22, 2026Submit a few days early and keep your Grants.gov confirmation and validation emails.

Assistance Listing

What is an ALN?

12.420Military Medical Research and DevelopmentProgram →

Reported obligations under ALN 12.420

Historical data · not a prediction

FY24

$1.48B

FY25

$1.2B

FY26

— est.

Source: SAM.gov Assistance Listing 12.420. Program-wide totals, not awards from this specific opportunity.

Agency contact (as published)

JoAnn Martin Grantor
help@eBRAP.org
301-619-2594

Quick answers

When is the deadline for “DoW Autism Idea Development Award”?

According to the official notice, applications are due October 22, 2026. Confirm the deadline and submission time on Grants.gov before applying.

Who is eligible to apply for “DoW Autism Idea Development Award”?

The notice lists eligibility as unrestricted — open to any type of entity — subject to clarifications in the notice's additional eligibility information.

How much funding is available through “DoW Autism Idea Development Award”?

Per the notice, total estimated program funding is $2,250,000 and the agency expects to make about 3 awards.

How do I apply for “DoW Autism Idea Development Award”?

Applications are submitted through the official source, not through GrantsJunction. Open the official notice on Grants.gov (opportunity HT942526ARPIDA), and review the full announcement and application package. Organizations applying through Grants.gov generally need an active SAM.gov registration and a Grants.gov account, which can take several weeks to set up.

Matched on shared Assistance Listings, agency, categories and eligible applicant types.

Closes in 5 daysResearchALN 12.420