Disability and Rehabilitation Engineering

The Disability and Rehabilitation Engineering program (DARE) focuses on innovative engineering research to enhance life quality for people with various disabilities. Projects should contribute substantially to specific areas of human disability, injury mechanisms or pathological motion.

Part of the Engineering Biology and Health cluster, the DARE program shares its group with several others, including the Biophotonics, Biosensing, Cellular and Biochemical Engineering, and Engineering of Biomedical Systems programs.

The DARE program encourages the inclusion of trainees with disabilities and supports research into the interaction between people with disabilities and their surroundings. Areas of particular interest include neuroengineering, rehabilitation robotics, theoretical or computational methods, and the use of artificial physiological systems.

The goal is to advance our understanding, deliver transformative outcomes, and surpass marginal technological improvements. However, the program doesn't support clinical trials or product commercialization. Proposals in new interest areas might also be considered. To move forward, the principal investigator (PI) is advised to contact the Program Director to get green light for project submission. The National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer program (SBIR/STTR) does support R&D for product development for small businesses.

All proposals should highlight how the project differs from previous work and its potential societal and industrial impact. The DARE program typically awards grants of up to three years, typically covering one graduate student and a month of a PI's time each year. Larger budgets should be discussed with the program director.

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) scheme is highly recommended for early-career researchers. The Engineering CAREER proposals are due every July with a five-year award period.

Some other proposal types, such as for conferences or workshops, FASED, EAGER, RAPID, and GOALI, are considered and can be submitted anytime during the year but should first be discussed with the program director. Non-compliant proposals will be returned without review. All details about proposal types and compliance are available in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG).