ClosedOpportunity O-NIJ-2021-95002

Research and Evaluation for the Testing and Interpretation of Physical Evidence in Publicly Funded Forensic Laboratories, Fiscal Year 2021

National Institute of Justice · Department of Justice

At a glance

Research and Evaluation for the Testing and Interpretation of Physical Evidence in Publicly Funded Forensic Laboratories, Fiscal Year 2021 is a closed federal grant opportunity from the National Institute of Justice (Department of Justice). The application deadline was June 3, 2021. Individual awards are listed as up to $1.5M, with about 5 awards expected and $1.5M in total estimated funding. Applicant types listed as eligible include state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, public colleges & universities and 8 more. Cost sharing is not required. It is funded under Assistance Listing 16.560 (National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants).

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

Key facts

Posted: Apr 26, 2021
Close date: Jun 3, 2021
Award floor: Not specified
Award ceiling: $1,500,000
Est. total funding: $1,500,000
Expected awards: 5
Cost sharing: Not required
Funding instrument: Grant
Opportunity category: Discretionary

Who can apply

State governments
County governments
City or township governments
Special district governments
Public colleges & universities
Federally recognized tribal governments
Native American tribal organizations
501(c)(3) nonprofits
Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status
Private colleges & universities
For-profit organizations (not small businesses)
Small businesses
Others (see notice)

Additional information on eligibility (from the notice)

For purposes of this solicitation, the term "State" means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virginia Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Foreign governments, foreign organizations, and foreign colleges and universities are not eligible to apply. Federal agencies are eligible to apply. (Any award made to a federal agency will be made as an inter-agency reimbursable agreement.) Applicants must be, or be partnered with, publicly funded forensic science laboratories that are currently accredited by an independent accrediting or certifying forensic science organization. Publicly funded forensic science laboratories include state, regional, county, municipal, and tribal agencies. To advance Executive Order 13929 Safe Policing for Safe Communities, as of October 28, 2020, the Attorney General determined that all state, local, and university or college law enforcement agencies must be certified by an approved independent credentialing body or have started the certification process to be allocated FY 2021 DOJ discretionary grant funding, as either a recipient or a subrecipient. For detailed information on this new certification requirement, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/SafePolicingEO. All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or management fee.

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.

The Department of Justice is committed to advancing work that promotes civil rights, increases access to justice, supports crime victims, protects the public from crime and evolving threats, and builds trust between law enforcement and the community.

The purpose of the CFDA 16.560 (the National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Projects Grants program) is to foster research to develop new knowledge and tools to address the challenges of crime and justice in the United States.

With this solicitation, NIJ seeks proposals for rigorous research and evaluation projects that will:

Identify and inform the forensic community of best practices through the evaluation of existing laboratory protocols.
Have a direct and immediate impact on laboratory efficiency and assist in making laboratory policy decisions.

The intent of this program is to direct the findings of the research and evaluation toward the identification of the most efficient, accurate, reliable, and cost-effective methods for the identification, analysis, and interpretation of physical evidence for criminal justice purposes. Projects should address the challenges and needs of the forensic science community, including but not limited to, the operational needs discussed at the 2020 TWG meeting, which may be found on NIJ.ojp.gov. NIJ’s Forensic Science Technology Working Group (TWG) assists in identifying and prioritizing operational needs and requirements of the field, which are intended to facilitate proposal development. Additional research needs of the forensic science community can be found at the Organization of Scientific Area Committees website.

Additional information from the agency ↗

Assistance Listing

What is an ALN?

16.560National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project GrantsProgram →

Reported obligations under ALN 16.560

Historical data · not a prediction

FY24

$57.8M

FY25

$3.18M

FY26

— est.

Source: SAM.gov Assistance Listing 16.560. Program-wide totals, not awards from this specific opportunity.

Agency contact (as published)

National Institute of Justice
grants@ncjrs.gov
202-616-5314

Quick answers

Who is eligible to apply for this opportunity?

The official notice lists these applicant types as eligible: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public colleges & universities, Federally recognized tribal governments, Native American tribal organizations, 501(c)(3) nonprofits, Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status, Private colleges & universities, For-profit organizations (not small businesses), Small businesses and 1 more. Additional restrictions may apply; review the full notice.

How much funding is available through this opportunity?

Per the notice, individual awards are listed as up to $1.5m, total estimated program funding is $1,500,000 and the agency expects to make about 5 awards.

How do I apply for this opportunity?

Applications are submitted through the official source, not through GrantsJunction. Open the official notice on Grants.gov (opportunity O-NIJ-2021-95002), 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.

ForecastedALN 93.103