Request for Proposals: Threats to Cyber Infrastructure
2025 NCITE Request for Proposals: Terrorist Threats to Cyber Critical Infrastructure
Download the full RFP for instructions on how to submit a proposal.
OVERVIEW
The National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center is seeking research projects that examine the terrorist threat to cyber critical infrastructure. This targeted RFP is meant to address research gaps identified at NCITE's ENVISION24 Annual Conference. Interested researchers should consider how their proposed projects align with:
- DHS Strategic Framework for Countering Terrorism and Targeted Violence
- National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism
- FBI and DHS Strategic Intelligence Assessment and Data on Domestic Terrorism
Please also refer to the DHS Standard Terms and Conditions.
Proposals should address the following challenge questions and associated lines of inquiry:
- How can violent extremist threat actors exploit cyber and closely related domains against any of the 16 critical infrastructure sectors to further their organizational goals?
- Which critical infrastructure sectors would be most enticing to different violent extremist threat actors and why?
- What knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics might violent extremists need to attack via cyber pathways?
- What baseline security measures should federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial government partners and industry owners and operators implement to mitigate violent extremist cyber attacks on critical infrastructure?
- How might violent extremist threat actors use artificial intelligence or other technology to identify vulnerabilities to critical cyber infrastructure?
Submit proposals by email to NCITERFP@unomaha.edu.
DEADLINE
11:59 p.m. EST, Sept. 19, 2024
QUESTIONS?
Address any questions to NCITERFP@unomaha.edu.
APPLICATION DOCUMENTS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Questions and Answers: 2025 NCITE Research Projects Request for Proposals (RFP) on Terrorist Threats to Cyber Critical Infrastructure
Sept. 10, 2024
Consolidated Response Regarding Applicant Eligibility and Proposal Submission Process
A: Per the request for proposals document, eligible grantees are institutes of higher education. NCITE does not award grants to individuals, private non-higher education organizations, or to federal, state, county, or local government entities — though those groups may be partners in the work conducted by the grant recipient. The proposal’s designated principal investigator must be an employee of the higher-education organization applying for an NCITE grant.
Proposals should be submitted as a project workplan document with an accompanying budget. Proposals should be no more than 12 single-spaced pages. A project workplan template can be found under Application Documents on the RFP website. Budget templates can also be found here.
Full List of Questions and Answers
Q: Is an NGO eligible to apply?
A: Per the full RFP document, organizations eligible to receive NCITE grants for this RFP are institutes of higher education. NCITE does not award grants to individuals, private non-higher education organizations, or to federal, state, county, or local government entities — though those groups may be partners in the work conducted by the grant recipient. The proposal’s designated principal investigator must be an employee of the higher-education organization applying for an NCITE grant.
Q: Could an international organization participate in a collective proposal led by a university and potentially receive part of the grant via the grant recipient?
A: Yes. Per the RFP document, “NCITE does not award grants to individuals, private non-higher education organizations, or to federal, state, county, or local government entities — though those groups may be partners in the work conducted by the grant recipient. The proposal’s designated principal investigator must be an employee of the higher-education organization applying for an NCITE grant.” International organizations may be a partner organization on a project led by a principal investigator at a university. Partner organizations are eligible to receive funds to facilitate project work.
Q: Should our proposal be submitted as a subaward, or should it be a collaborative proposal involving multiple institutions? If it is a collaborative proposal, do we need to submit the proposal separately from each institution, or should there be a single, unified submission?
A: Project proposals with collaborations among multiple institutions are welcomed the same as singular institution projects. As such, project proposals may have multiple institutions and personnel listed; there should be a single submission for one project.
Q: The workplan doesn’t specify any word/page limits, so am I right in thinking that it is up to the applicant how much they write?
A: Appendix C in the RFP document specifies the page limit: "Proposals should be no more than 12 single-spaced pages." Neither the cover page nor bibliography are included in this limit.
Q: For the budget, I couldn’t see any maximum stipulated. Is this just a matter for our judgement as applicants?
A: We do not have a maximum; the final award is based on scientific rigor and availability of funds. The average award last year was $153,000.
Q: I need to decide whether to apply through my university or through a private consultancy. Are both of these eligible? And if I apply through my university, does the university need to pass through any eligibility checks/registration process prior to the submission of the application?
A: As noted in the RFP, "organizations eligible to receive NCITE grants for this RFP are institutes of higher education. NCITE does not award grants to individuals, private non-higher education organizations, or to federal, state, county, or local government entities — though those groups may be partners in the work conducted by the grant recipient. The proposal’s designated principal investigator must be an employee of the higher-education organization applying for an NCITE grant." As for whether your university is required to review applications prior to submission, we recommend you get in touch with your relevant university office(s).
Q: We wished to ask if we may apply through our organization. It is a non-profit organization.
A: As noted in the RFP, "organizations eligible to receive NCITE grants for this RFP are institutes of higher education. NCITE does not award grants to individuals, private non-higher education organizations, or to federal, state, county, or local government entities — though those groups may be partners in the work conducted by the grant recipient. The proposal’s designated principal investigator must be an employee of the higher-education organization applying for an NCITE grant."
Q: We are interested in understanding whether proposals needed to address all five challenge questions or if the proposal could respond to 3-4?
A: Proposals may address any singular question or multiple questions. Final decisions will be made based on the scientific rigor and feasibility of the project.
Q: If a subaward is included in the budget, do you also want to see a budget spreadsheet and justification included for the subaward institution? (So, there would be two spreadsheets and two justifications.)
A: Yes, please provide all budgets and justifications for each part of the workplan including all subawards.
Q: In the RFP, it indicates the maximum length of the project that can be proposed is 36 months in length (RFP page 3 under Estimated Funding). When I downloaded the multi-year budget template, it only showed 30-months duration (one for six months and two for 12 months each). If we want to propose a 36-month project, would we simply add on an additional column at the end and mark it Year 4 with six months as the duration?
A: The maximum project length you can propose is indeed 36 months. Please add on the budget for the final six months to the sheet in a Year 4 column if your project requires it.