University Affiliated Research Center
A University Affiliated Research Center is a strategic United States Department of Defense research center associated with a university. UARCs are formally established by the under secretary of defense for research and engineering. UARCs were developed to ensure that essential engineering and technology capabilities of particular importance to the DoD are maintained. They have many similarities with federally funded research and development centers, including sole source funding under the authority of. However, UARCs are allowed to compete for other science and technology work, except when it is prohibited by their contracts.
Background
These nonprofit organizations maintain essential research, development and engineering "core" capabilities; maintain long-term strategic relationships with their DoD sponsors; and operate in the public interest, free from real or perceived conflicts of interest. Collaboration with the educational and research resources available at their universities enhances each UARC’s ability to meet the needs of their sponsors.University affiliated laboratories have been conducting research and development for the United States Navy since 1942, beginning with the creation of the Applied Physics Lab at Johns Hopkins. The most recent UARC, created in 2023, is the, led by Howard University, which is performing research for the United States Air Force.
Occasionally, the creation of UARCs have been controversial. For example, in July 2004 the Navy proposed the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa as a UARC. In response, some students and others protested with a six-day sit in at the campus administration building.
List of current centers
Current UARCs and their sponsors are:Air Force
Army
- University of Southern California: Institute for Creative Technologies
- Georgia Institute of Technology: Georgia Tech Research Institute
- University of California at Santa Barbara:
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
Missile Defense Agency
- Prior to 22 August 2025, Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory was sponsored by MDA. On that date, USU/SDL’s UARC sponsor became the US Space Force.
Space Force
Navy
- Johns Hopkins University: Applied Physics Laboratory
- Pennsylvania State University: Applied Research Laboratory
- University of Texas at Austin:
- University of Washington:
- University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa:
OSD
- Stevens Institute of Technology: Systems Engineering Research Center, sponsored by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
- University of Maryland, College Park:, sponsored by Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security