The Department of Defense has awarded a contract valued at up to $500 million to a University of Maryland research facility focused on national security matters.
If awarded in full over the next few years, the contract to the 6-year-old Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS) would be the largest the university has ever received from a federal agency.
Funding from the contract will be used to support research and development efforts at ARLIS, one of 15 DOD-designated university-affiliated research centers across the country and the only one dedicated to intelligence and security efforts specifically.
In an email statement, UMd. spokesperson Kristin Jones told me that the indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract will start off as a one-year agreement between ARLIS and the Pentagon and comes with four additional option years. The various task orders for the contract that the DOD submits are not to exceed the full $500 million amount.
ARLIS employs about 150 people and Jones said any new hires will depend on these subsequent task order awards. The center focuses primarily on integrating social and behavioral sciences, artificial intelligence and computing efforts to help solve national security challenges in such areas as mental safety, supply chains and internal threat risks.
ARLIS, established in 2018, is located within the university's Discovery District in College Park. Craig Lawrence is its interim executive director.
In a statement, UMd. President Darryll J. Pines said ARLIS is "a jewel" amid the university's broader research efforts.
"We are so grateful to continue this collaboration with the Department of Defense, which has already yielded so many opportunities for faculty and students," Pines said. "We’re excited to build upon ARLIS’ demonstrated success of combining technical expertise with human understanding to bolster our nation’s security."
