US DoD Announces Partnership Agreement for STEM Education and Outreach Programs

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On Monday, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that it has awarded a $190 million contract to the Research Triangle Institute to provide STEM education and outreach in communities across the country.

The award, called the Defense Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Consortium (DSEC) Cooperative Agreement, would provide funding to the Research Triangle Institute and its consortium of more than 25 partners to carry out programs that DOD considers fundamental to building a 21st-century workforce that can meet changing defense challenges, officials said.

“Outreach is incredibly important to the Department of Defense, and we continue to seek out the best and brightest minds across the country,” said Dr. Aprille Ericsson, assistant secretary of defense for science and technology. “Our men and women in uniform depend on the talent and expertise within our science and technology workforce to outpace our fellow adversaries in innovation, and I consider the development, recruitment and retention of STEM talent one of my top priorities.”

The funding will be used to implement STEM programming over the course of 10 years, which will increase the “permeability of ideas into the science and engineering workforce,” officials said. The partnership with the institute and its partners will produce sustainable and scalable programs that provide hands-on learning experiences for students.

Under the agreement, RTI will address five foundational elements for pre-K-12 students with a qualified team of organizations that will increase awareness of STEM opportunities within the DoD and open students to collaboration with DoD scientists and engineers. RTI will receive an initial award of up to $37 million over a two-year base period, and potentially up to four two-year option periods of between $37.5 and $39 million each.