Success Stories

ORAU Partners with DHS University Programs to Strengthen Homeland Security

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expects our country’s academic community to play an integral role in securing the nation. To help facilitate this involvement, the DHS Office of University Programs is establishing a system of university-based Homeland Security Centers of Excellence in accordance with the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

In addition to attracting and retaining the nation’s best and brightest academic scholars in pursuit of homeland security related disciplines, each Center of Excellence seeks to deliver the research products, technology, and education workforce needed to protect the country’s foreseeable future. The mission-focused centers target research areas that leverage the multidisciplinary capabilities of universities to increase the nation’s ability to counter terrorist attacks and enhance the overall security of the nation.

ORAU has provided assistance to the DHS Office of University Programs since 2003, including the coordination of:

• Merit review of letters of intent, white papers, proposals for the university-based Homeland Security of Centers of Excellence and research projects
• Merit reviews of proposals for education programs and initiatives
• Program reviews to evaluate the status of the research programs and Centers of Excellence
• Summit to present the progress, gains, and results of the research programs and initiatives
• Research needs workshops

ORAU responds to unique challenges in a manner that demonstrates its commitment to excellence, customer-service orientation, and extraordinarily competent adaptability. Each DHS Office of University Programs activity was completed seamlessly, ultimately enabling customers and reviewers to focus on enhancing our nation’s security.

DHS Centers of Excellence

Center	Location
Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE)	University of Southern California
National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD)	University of Minnesota
National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense (FAZD)	Texas A&M University
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)	University of Maryland
National Center for Preparedness and Catastrophic Event Response (PACER)	Johns Hopkins University
Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment (CAMRA)	Michigan State University
Center of Excellence in Command Control and Interoperability (C2I)	Purdue University and Rutgers University
Center of Excellence for Awareness and Location of Explosives-Related Threats (ALERT)	Northeastern University and University of Rhode Island
National Center for Border Security and Immigration (NCBSI)	University of Arizona and University of Texas, El Paso
Center for Maritime, Island and Extreme/Remote Environment Security (MIPS)	University of Hawaii and Stevens Institute of Technology
Center for Natural Disasters, Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency Management (NDCIEM)	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Jackson State University
National Transportation Security Center of Excellence (NTSCOE)	University of Connecticut, Tougaloo College and Texas State University