The Department of War (DoW) Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service Program is developing a cadre of future science and technology talent within the DoW and promoting technical mentorship, collaboration, and outreach through SMART Innovation Awards. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 cohort of awards, whose period of performance begins on October 1, 2026, invested $8.4 in new Innovation Awards, which includes $7.4M in SEED Innovation Awards and $960,000 in Creative Research and Engineering Advancing Technical Excellence in STEM (CREATES) Innovation Awards. Together, these investments direct SMART scholars' research toward DoW's pressing technical priorities and deepen collaborations between the SMART ecosystem (the program, scholars, and Sponsoring Facilities) and students and faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
The SMART Innovation Awards have supported 157 awards since FY 2020, including 140 SEED Innovation Awards totaling $41 million and 17 CREATES Innovation Awards totaling $3.4 million. These investments have resulted in new patents, peer-reviewed publications, defense-related technologies, additional intramural and extramural research funding, and lasting talent pipelines between HBCUs and the DoW, establishing the SMART Program as a driver of scientific advancement and national security readiness.
The core strength of Innovation Awards is in their ability to empower SMART scholars and Sponsoring Facilities to advance DoW research and collaborations through two complementary awards. SEED Innovation Awards provide SMART Ph.D. scholars with up to $125,000 per year for up to three years to establish foundational research or engineering efforts tied to their Sponsoring Facility's mission or a critical technology area (CTA), with an option to add $30,000 per year to support a mentor's time. CREATES Innovation Awards provide up to $125,000 per year for up to two years to enhance collaboration between DoW and HBCUs, and consists of three tracks. The CREATES Innovation track expands early-career SMART scholars' technical capacity through research, rapid prototyping and demonstration, or strategic career rotations; the CREATES Collaboration track strengthens technical collaboration between HBCUs and DoW on DoW projects; and the CREATES Pipeline track supports Sponsoring Facilities' workforce recruitment and retention efforts at HBCUs, leveraging the SMART Program.
Innovation Awards continue to deliver measurable returns on investment by advancing mission-relevant research, strengthening strategic partnerships, expanding collaboration across the DoW, and enhancing and expanding the future DoW STEM workforce. The FY 2026 Innovation Awards Principal Investigators and their Sponsoring Facilities are:
SEED
CREATES
“The Innovation Awards Program is one of the clearest examples of how SMART turns scholar research into strategic advantage for the Department,” said Ms. Charlotte George, SMART Program Manager. “Every SEED and CREATES award is chosen because it strengthens SMART scholars’ work among DoW's technical and workforce priorities, and the results are paying off.”
Alongside the strategic outcomes outlined in each award proposal, Innovation Awards continue to invest in the scholars themselves. Optional mentor funding connects early-career scientists and engineers with established DoW mentors, helping scholars build professional networks as they kickstart or advance their DoW careers.
SMART is the largest education and workforce initiative under DoW STEM and the National Defense Education Program. SMART provides merit-based scholarships to bachelor's, master's, and doctoral students pursuing STEM degrees in exchange for a one-to-one service commitment of civilian employment with the DoW. Since inception, SMART has awarded over 6,500 scholarships, with 91% of scholars successfully completing the program. Annually, the SMART Program accepts applications between August 1 until the first Friday in December. To apply or learn more about the SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program, visit https://www.smartscholarship.org/smart/en
For more information on the SMART Innovation Awards, visit https://www.smartscholarship.org/smart/en?id=innovation_awards
| Date Taken: | 08.28.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 08.28.2026 09:03 |
| Story ID: | 573440 |
| Location: | ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 184 |
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