Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC)

The Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC) Program is a federal grant program administered by the Bureau for Near Eastern Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. Established following the Camp David Accords, MERC advances cooperative scientific and technical engagement between Israel and the broader Middle East and North Africa region while supporting U.S. national, economic, technological, and strategic priorities. The current funding opportunity, DFOP0019227, supports joint scientific research and innovation partnerships involving Israel and eligible MENA countries and territories. Approximately $10,000,000 is available, subject to the availability of funds, with approximately seven awards anticipated. Individual awards may range from approximately $100,000 to $2,000,000. Projects may last from one to four years, must be completed within four years or less, and have an anticipated project start date of April 1, 2027. MERC seeks collaborative, applied scientific research and technology development rather than basic or primarily theoretical research. Projects should produce actionable results with potential for practical application, commercialization, market adoption, economic value, or broader scaling. Priority areas include critical and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, advanced sensing, automation, and robotics; energy security and systems; water infrastructure and technologies; advanced agriculture and agricultural technology; critical minerals and advanced manufacturing; and health security and biotechnology. MERC particularly prioritizes projects that advance U.S. economic competitiveness and technological leadership, encourage adoption of U.S. technologies, strengthen strategic regional partnerships, address shared regional challenges, and create market-driven solutions. Applicants should demonstrate how project results will be used, scaled, commercialized, or sustained beyond the research itself. Allowable project costs generally include personnel, equipment, materials and supplies, travel, contractual services, modest improvements to existing facilities, communications and website hosting, publications, collaboration and outreach materials, venue rental, transportation, hospitality, and dissemination activities when directly related to project objectives. Equipment is defined as tangible property costing $10,000 or more with a useful life exceeding one year, and federally funded equipment generally should be sourced from U.S. manufacturers. MERC does not support stand-alone basic research, partisan or electoral activities, projects predominantly involving construction or physical infrastructure, core organizational support, service delivery, establishment of private enterprises or primarily profit-making projects, routine studies or surveys, social welfare projects, one-time conferences, entertainment costs, alcoholic beverages, or vehicle purchases. No profit may be paid to commercial recipients. Cost sharing is not mandatory and no minimum or maximum percentage is required, although institutions in Israel and other high-income countries are generally expected to contribute realistic cash or in-kind cost share. Significant cost share may receive priority consideration. Eligible applicants include public and private educational institutions, corporations and for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations including think tanks and civil society or nongovernmental organizations, public international organizations, and governmental institutions. Eligible participating locations include the United States, Israel, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and the West Bank and Gaza, subject to applicable federal and country restrictions. Every Statement of Interest must include at least one recipient from Israel and at least one recipient from an eligible MENA country or territory. Satellite or portal campuses of foreign institutions and foreign companies operating in MENA may participate but do not satisfy the required MENA recipient component. U.S. recipients are optional and are particularly encouraged when they provide otherwise unavailable technical expertise, advance commercialization, support U.S. market opportunities, or facilitate adoption of U.S. technology. This opportunity uses a two-stage competitive process. Applicants initially submit only a Statement of Interest, or SOI, and MERC anticipates inviting up to 20 SOIs to proceed to full application. The SOI may not exceed eight single-spaced U.S. Letter pages with one-inch margins and 12-point Times New Roman, although up to two additional optional pages of supplemental materials such as letters of support may be included. All materials must be in English, budgets must be in U.S. dollars, and the SOI and supplemental pages must be combined into one PDF. Required SOI content includes a technical title; investigator, institutional administrative official, and other relevant contact information; three to five keywords; overall aim, objectives, and hypotheses; rationale and background; technical work plan; relevant special research concerns; expected scientific, commercial, and practical outcomes; joint collaborative activities; project management and personnel; and an estimated budget. Invited full applications will additionally require items including a project results monitoring plan, logic model and theory of change or hypothesis model, sustainability or future funding information, detailed budget and justification, key personnel CVs, letters of support, relevant indirect cost documentation and permission letters, and applicable SF-424 forms. SOIs must be submitted as one PDF attachment by email to nea-grants@state.gov no later than September 30, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. EDT. The email subject line must state MERC SOI Submission followed by the submitting principal investigator's last name. Late submissions will not be accepted, and MERC will acknowledge receipt by email. A UEI and SAM.gov registration are not required for the initial SOI. However, the prime recipient must obtain a UEI and maintain an active SAM.gov registration before submitting an invited full application, while subrecipients must obtain UEIs before an award can be processed. Questions concerning the application process may be sent to nea-grants@state.gov with MERC included in the subject line. Eligible SOIs are first screened for eligibility and compliance with required formatting and are then reviewed by a U.S. Department of State panel. Full applications are evaluated through scientific peer review and Department of State review. Evaluation criteria are strength and durability of regional cooperation, worth 15 points; relevance to U.S. priorities, 20 points; relevance to recipient-country priorities, 10 points; likely impact and commercial potential, 20 points; technical merit and compliance with special research concerns, 15 points; management structure, 10 points; and budget, 10 points. The notional schedule calls for SOI review in October 2026, full application review around January 2027, condition resolution around March 2027, and advancement for pre-award negotiations around April 2027. Unsuccessful applicants are expected to be notified by December 15, 2026. The opportunity does not state that it recurs annually or on another regular schedule, so no recurrence is established from the source.

Build the concept around applied and actionable research rather than basic research. Demonstrate substantive intellectual cooperation between Israeli and eligible MENA recipients and plan direct joint activities, including in-person coordination at least annually. Explicitly connect the research to U.S. economic, strategic, and technological priorities and recipient-country priorities. Demonstrate demand, commercialization or adoption potential, measurable outcomes, and a credible pathway for putting results into practice. Use clearly stated hypotheses, objectives, work packages, responsibilities, deliverables, and realistic costs. Prioritize U.S.-made technology and equipment to the maximum extent practicable. Significant cost share, especially from high-income-country institutions, can strengthen competitiveness even though no match is required.