Statement of Task:[2]

Under the oversight of the Board on Army Research and Development (BOARD), a committee to be named the Research Program Review and Analysis Committee (RPAC) will review a subset of the Army's research programs. This continual review will include research activities at all RDECs (Army Research, Development and Engineering Centers), ERDC (Army Engineer Research and Development Center), MRMC (Medical Research and Materiel Command), ARI (Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences), and SMDTC (Space and Missile Defense Technical Center); but not PEOs (Program Executive Offices). Currently, some reviews of this nature exist (examples being the National Academies reviews of the Army Research Laboratory and programs that are not in a Science & Technology Objective (STO) or Army Capability Enabler [ACE]), and this is not to be a duplication of what exists.

At the completion of each program review (each program review is anticipated to be completed within a year) the RPAC will deliver a program review report summarizing the findings of its review. Each program review report will be prepared by the RPAC on the basis of inputs received from its review subcommittees.

For the first year of the RPACs reviews, the following eight panels will be appointed, each of which will review one of eight areas of research conducted at the RDECs:

· Panel on Review of In-house Laboratory Independent Research in Computational Sciences at the Army’s Research, Development, and Engineering Centers

Panel on Review of In-house Laboratory Independent Research in Chemistry at the Army’s Research, Development, and Engineering Centers

· Panel on Review of In-house Laboratory Independent Research in Electronics at the Army’s Research, Development, and Engineering Centers

· Panel on Review of In-house Laboratory Independent Research in Life Sciences at the Army’s Research, Development, and Engineering Centers

· Panel on Review of In-house Laboratory Independent Research in Materials Sciences at the Army’s Research, Development, and Engineering Centers

· Panel on Review of In-house Laboratory Independent Research in Mechanical Sciences at the Army’s Research, Development, and Engineering Centers

· Panel on Review of In-house Laboratory Independent Research in Network Sciences at the Army’s Research, Development, and Engineering Centers

· Panel on Review of In-house Laboratory Independent Research in Physics at the Army’s Research, Development, and Engineering Centers

The current description is for the Panel on Review of In-house Laboratory Independent Research in Materials Science at the Army’s Research, Development, and Engineering Centers

These first-year reviews will not require access to classified or otherwise restricted information.