DARPA: Defence Science Research and Technology

Sponsor: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

The mission of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is to identify and pursue high-risk/high- payoff research initiatives throughout a broad spectrum of the science and engineering disciplines, and to transform these initiatives into important, radically new military capabilities. To carry out this mission, DSO seeks research ideas and areas that might lead to innovations in science and engineering. Therefore, DSO is soliciting proposals for advanced research and development in a variety of enabling technical areas as described below.

Proposals may be either basic or applied research. However, in all cases, proposers should demonstrate that their proposed effort is aimed at high-risk/high-payoff technologies that have the potential for making, in the 5-10 year timeframe, revolutionary rather than incremental improvements to national security, including emerging threats and operational challenges. Proposals that are not within the topical areas described below may be considered out of scope and may not be evaluated (see Other Technical Areas). Likewise, proposals for the integration of existing technologies or development of systems will also be considered out of scope and will not be evaluated.

Multiple awards are anticipated. The amount of resources made available to this BAA will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. While there is no specific requirement for cost and duration of the proposed effort, it is recommended that proposers include a Phase I of 12 to 18 months in length that addresses the most critical issues on the path to success.

This BAA constitutes the entire solicitation for this effort. No Proposer Information Pamphlet or other additional information will be published, nor will a formal request for proposal or other solicitation regarding this research and development be issued. Requests for same will be disregarded.

TECHNICAL TOPIC AREAS OF INTEREST TO DSO

This section describes the general technical interests of DSO. Please note that while the topics are organized by traditional disciplines, interdisciplinary proposals are encouraged. Regardless of the technical area, the ultimate success of a proposal is based on the specific technical idea(s) advanced within these areas and especially the uniqueness of the proposed approach. Consequently, proposing within one of these topic areas is not sufficient to make a compelling case for funding. For this reason, white papers are strongly suggested before submitting a full proposal (see White Paper Submissions below).

1-New Materials, Materials Concepts, Materials Processing and Devices:
2-Living Materials, Programmable and Self-Assembly:
3-Advanced Mathematics: Application and development of advanced mathematics for applications of interest to the Department of Defense (DoD):
4-Defense against Weapons of Mass Destruction: Technologies to render biological, chemical, nuclear, or radiation attacks against the U.S. military harmless:
5-Applications of Biology to Defense Applications:
6-Novel Technologies to Improve the Human Consequences of Transformation:
Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
-New approaches for training individuals and teams, including embedded training and simulation;
-New approaches for creating greater adaptability and flexibility for the solider;
-Understanding and improving team performance; and
-New approaches for improving rapid decision-making in chaotic or data-poor environments.

7-Novel Approaches to Energy Technologies:
8-Special Focus Areas

From time to time, DARPA will publish addenda to this BAA that will highlight particular areas of interest. It is highly recommended that potential proposers look periodically for these updates. Addenda will have deadlines for submission of white papers and proposals that are different from the deadline in this BAA. Under addenda, the technical content for a submission as well as the overall structure of the proposed effort may also differ. DARPA will not establish a distribution list for automatic distribution of these addenda. Any specific instructions or criteria in a published addendum will take precedence over this BAA in response to that addendum only.

Deadline: Feb 14, 2008

For further information, please visit: http://www.fbo.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/BAA07%2D21/SynopsisP.html