The University of South Florida has secured a five-year contract with the U.S. Army, worth up to $85 million, to conduct research in cybersecurity, biotechnology and energy sciences.
The agreement with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory, known as DEVCOM ARL, was signed during a ceremony at USF’s Tampa campus.
“This collaboration is an example of how the Army Research Laboratory brings together academia, industry and defense partners to operationalize science,” said Patrick J. Baker, director of the ARL.
The contract builds on an educational partnership between USF and the Army that was signed last spring. Research will be led by faculty in the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing, with projects ranging from large language models to human performance.
The partnership will focus on 16 core competencies including biological and biotechnology sciences; energy sciences; and network, cyber and computational sciences.
USF recently renewed an $85 million contract with U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base. That partnership has funded more than 80 projects and provided internships for more than 950 students.
Over the last 20 years, USF has conducted more than 100 Army-funded research projects totaling $150 million.