Centers for Homeland Security

The goal of the DHS Centers of Excellence (COE) program is to engage the academic community to conduct strategic and innovative research and education in support of DHS's strategic mission goals. The overarching objectives of the COE program are to: (1) develop and transition impactful mission-relevant science and technology; (2) create strategic partnerships among universities, commercial interests, and public agencies; (3) educate the next generation of homeland security technical experts; and (4) train the current workforce in the latest scientific applications.
DHS COEs are multidisciplinary, university-led consortia that engage leading experts to conduct groundbreaking research on threats facing the Homeland. The DHS COEs work closely with DHS Components, as well as other homeland security operators at state, local, and tribal levels to research, develop and transition mission-relevant science and technology solutions. Additionally, the DHS COEs also work to educate the current and next generation of highly skilled homeland security science and engineering professionals.
To accomplish this objective, DHS S&T has developed the following DHS Centers of Excellence (COEs) and associated objectives: The Arctic Domain Awareness Center: Addressing Rapid Changes through Technology, Innovation, and Collaboration (ADAC-ARCTIC) conducts research and education activities to addresses critical gaps for federal state, local and tribal operators with Arctic homeland security missions, tackling challenges such as maritime safety, infrastructure protection, and emergency response. The Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency (CAOE) develops enhanced analytic tools to enable homeland security operators to realize achievable improvements in operational efficiency, and to support real-time decisions related to homeland security threats and hazards. The research will aid in identifying the economic impact of security threats and hazards, and to critically assess risks to operators missions and the people and property they protect. The Cross Border Threat Screening and Supply Chain Defense (CBTS) Center develops solutions, protocols, and capabilities that detect, assess, and respond to known and unknown biological threats and hazards that could adversely impact the Nation’s people, agriculture, and economy. The Criminal Investigations and Network Analysis (CINA) Center provides solutions to Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement that enhance investigation strategies to counter the proliferation of transnational criminal networks, cross-border criminal activities, and the growth in criminal use and exploitation of the cyber domain. The Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI) conducts research that enhances the ability to prepare and more rapidly recover from catastrophic disruptions, supporting DHS, State, Local and industry partners ability to solve complex, interdisciplinary challenges that affect critical infrastructure. The Coastal Resilience Center (CRC) conducts research that strengthens the Nation’s ability to safeguard people, infrastructure, and economies from catastrophic hazards such as floods and hurricanes. The overarching goal of the Center is to advance the understanding of coastal hazards and support successful planning and recovery by the public and private entities most impacted by these events. The Soft-target Engineering to Neutralize the Threat Reality (SENTRY) Center focuses efforts to protect transportation environments and public venues, improving systems of collaboration across the many public and private entities, mainly at the state and local levels, as well as producing new engineering approaches to securing crowded spaces with novel design concepts. The goal of SENTRY is to advance research that safeguards spaces where traditional methods to physical security are impractical to implement at scale. The National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) Center conducts research and develops solutions, tools, and capabilities to support homeland security and law enforcement operations at Federal, State and Local levels to detect, assess, and respond to terrorist activities that would harm the people, infrastructure and economy of the United States.

Eligible applicants are accredited U.S. institutions of higher education.

Public and private colleges and universities.

Application deadline and other information are contained in the application/program guidance.

Applications or plans are reviewed by DHS program and administrative staff for eligibility and responsiveness. Applications will undergo merit review by a panel of subject matter experts which may include federal and non-federal reviewers. Any issues or concerns noted in the application will be negotiated with the successful applicant prior to the award being issued.

Refer to announcement or program guidance document.