GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) -- The U.S. Department of War is providing North Carolina A&T State University with a $10 million grant to enhance defense research capacity.

The five-year, $10 million grant is to help establish N.C. A&T's Accelerate-DAQ program, which is focused on expanding the university's defense research capacity in critical technology domains.

 NC A&T State University uses AI in farming 

These domains include the fields of artificial intelligence, autonomy, cyber resilience and quantum systems.

"We're honored to have been chosen for the Accelerate-DAQ program. Our selection is strong validation of the research A&T is already focused on and our capacity to do much more in the future," said N.C. A&T Chancellor James R. Martin II.

The project is funded through the historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions program within the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering as a pilot program to increase research capacity.

The Department of War instituted the program to support training and cutting-edge research in many science, technology, engineering and math fields aligned with national security.

"Some of the most important research of the past 50 years has been funded by DoW/Department of Defense funding, including major advances in drug development, materials science, human augmentation technology and more. Accelerate-DAQ will enable A&T to make larger contributions toward advancing science and solving new and emerging scientific challenges," Martin said.

Accelerate-DAQ will focus on six of the Department of War's critical technology areas. There will be a particular emphasis on applied artificial intelligence and quantum and battlefield information dominance.

This includes three interconnected research clusters: trustworthy AI & cyber defense, AI-enabled autonomy and quantum computing.

"Future AI systems must do more than produce accurate answers. They must be trustworthy, resilient and capable of operating under uncertainty," said Kaushik Roy, Ph.D., one of the project's faculty leads and Computer Science department chair in A&T's College of Engineering.

"Our research explores how intelligent systems can collaborate effectively with people, resist cyber threats and continue making reliable decisions in challenging environments. These advances have the potential to reshape how humans and AI work together in applications that demand both performance and trust," Roy said.  

Officials at A&T believe the accelerate-DAQ project will enhance the research culture across campus and increase its capacity to do research in sensitive or classified areas.

"This project is a game-changer in developing and providing support for our research champions at every level in multiple disciplines, while strengthening A&T's ability to meet national security demands," said North Carolina A&T Vice Chancellor for Research Dr. Lisa Clough.

A&T principal investigators have secured more than $550 million in external funding support, the strong majority from federal scientific institutes and agencies over the past five years. Last year alone, A&T research brought in more than $113 million in external awards.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX8 WGHP.