Contracting Office Address
Other Defense Agencies, Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency, Contracts
Management Office, 3701 North Fairfax
Drive, Arlington, VA, 22203-1714
Description
DEFENSE SCIENCES RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY
PART I SOL: BAA06-19 DUE: 2/9/07 POC:
Dr. Brett Giroir, DARPA/DSO
FAX: (571) 218-4553
WEB: http://www.darpa.mil/baa/
E-MAIL: BAA06-19@darpa.mil
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES, SCOPE
AND FUNDING
The mission of the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agencys (DARPA) Defense
Sciences Office (DSO) is to identify
and pursue the most promising technologies
within a broad spectrum of the science
and engineering research communities
and to develop those technologies into
important, radically new military capabilities.
In addition, DSO is looking for research
ideas and areas that might lead to
innovations in science and engineering.
To this end, 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. 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)
New Materials, Materials Concepts,
Materials Processing and Devices:
Specific areas of interest include,
but are not limited to:
Demonstrations of multifunctional (structure
+ function) materials;
Demonstrations of smart materials and
structures;
Novel approaches for manufacturing
and self-assembly of materials and
structures;
Engineered materials and material systems
with designed structure and morphology
(e.g., meta-materials);
Novel functional (e.g., magnetic, optical)
materials;
Materials and enabling technologies
for power generation and energy storage
at all scales;
Materials and enabling technologies
for efficient propulsion in all environments
including space;
Materials for ultra lightweight protection
from blast and non-lethal weapons;
Novel approaches to non-destructive
evaluation, property/life prediction
and related technologies;
Materials and enabling technologies
for measuring and controlling quantum
and non-equilibrium behavior (e.g.,
atom interferometers; slowing, storing,
and processing of light; quantum computation
and communication, etc.);
Materials and rapid screening technologies
for molecular-based memory and computing;
Lightweight or thin film materials
with near zero coefficient of thermal
expansion;
Biomaterials and biomimetic materials,
including adaptive/malleable systems;
Self-healing, -sensing and -adapting
materials;
Engineered material systems control
of mechanical, electrical, electromagnetic,
and thermal properties;
Materials and material systems for
autonomous regeneration of surface
properties; and
Materials and processing methods to
develop molecular probes that enable
multiparameter, high spatial and temporal
resolution single-molecule spectroscopy.
Advanced Mathematics: Application and
development of advanced mathematics
for applications of interest to the
Department of Defense (DoD):
Specific areas of interest include,
but are not limited to:
Dimensionality reduction, error propagation,
and uncertainty management in databases,
models, and experiments;
Modeling of materials, physics, and
biology;
Tools to predict the performance of
complex systems across a variety of
application domains (e.g., physics,
biology, and sociology);
Adaptive sensing, waveform design,
and scheduling;
Methods for the design of experiments
that minimize the number of experiments
and that maximize information for coupled
non-linear systems;
Representation and analysis of large
and/or disparate data sets;
Computational geometry and topology;
Electromagnetic modeling and simulation;
Quantum information sciences;
Signal and image processing; and
New applications of traditionally pure
mathematics.
Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction:
Technologies to render biological,
chemical, nuclear, or radiation attacks
against the U.S. military harmless:
Specific areas of interest include,
but are not limited to:
Unique approaches for pre-symptomatic
diagnosis of disease and health;
Medical countermeasures against both
known and unknown pathogens;
Remote detection/characterization of
naturally occurring or engineered biological
substances;
Accelerated, high-yield manufacture
of biological therapeutics, including
vaccines and immune modifiers; and
Rapid, non-invasive determination of
radiation exposure.
Applications of Biology to Defense
Applications:
Specific areas of interest include,
but are not limited to:
Biological approaches for maintaining
the warfighters performance, capabilities
and medical survival in the face of
harsh battlefield conditions;
Biological approaches for minimizing
the after-effects of battle injuries,
including neurotrauma from penetrating
and non-penetrating injuries as well
as faster recuperation from battlefield
injury and wounds;
Approaches for maintaining the general
health of deployed troops;
Bio-inspired systems;
Biomolecular devices;
Biological approaches to the growth
of materials and devices;
Understanding the human effects of
non-lethal weapons;
Micro/nano-scale technologies for non-invasive
assessment of health (e.g., vital signs,
blood chemistry);
Technologies to enable remote interrogation
and control of biological systems at
the system/organ/tissue/cellular/molecular
scales;
Investigation of the interactions between
physical forces, materials and biology
(e.g., interface of biology with magnetics);
Novel mathematical and computational
approaches to characterizing and simulating
complex biological processes;
New technologies to drastically reduce
the logistics burden of medical treatment
in the field;
Advanced signal processing techniques
for the decoding of neural signals
in real time, specifically those associated
with operationally relevant cognitive
events, including target detection,
errors, and other decision-making processes;
Novel interface and sensor designs
for interacting with the central (cortical
and subcortical structures) and peripheral
nervous systems, with a particular
emphasis on non-invasive and/or non-contact
approaches;
New approaches for understanding and
predicting the behavior of individuals
and groups, especially those that elucidate
the neurobiological basis of behavior
and decision making; and
Technologies to engineer field medical
therapies at the point of care, such
as production of multiple drugs from
a single pro-drug, or to adapt therapies
for wide variations in body mass, metabolism,
or physiologic stress.
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;
Understanding and improving team performance;
and
New approaches to improve rapid decision-making
in chaotic or data-poor environments.
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.
Other Technical Areas
Ideas outside of the advertised focus
areas will be considered in scope
only if the proposers can demonstrate
that they have the potential for
radical improvement to national security
and are within the technical interests
of the office. Proposals that integrate
existing technologies or products
into systems generally do not fall
within the purview of DSO and are
likely to be rejected.
WHITE PAPER SUBMISSIONS
Before proposers put together a full
proposal, it is highly recommended
(though not required) that they submit
a white paper in response to the
BAA. This white paper should clearly
state the uniqueness of the idea
presented in the context of existing
state of the art in the technical
area of interest. Demonstrating that
the proposer has a clear understanding
of the state of the art and that
their proposed effort will make significant
improvements therein is essential
for a successful proposal. The white
paper should also describe the proposed
approach and explain why it is unique.
Further, the proposer should demonstrate
an understanding of the payoff of
the technical idea, especially in
terms of how it might make a difference to
Defense capabilities. Key milestones
expected in the effort should be
described. Also, a brief discussion
of the technical expertise of the
proposed principal investigator and
other key team members should be
provided. Finally, an estimate of
the program costs and duration should
be included. White papers should
not be longer than 8 pages; however,
shorter white papers that can cover
the content above are strongly encouraged.
A website http://www.sainc.com/dso0619/
has been set up to facilitate the submission
of white papers. This site will allow
proposers to fill in contact information
and upload a white paper document in
either Word or PDF format. It will
provide a method by which proposers
can track their submissions. White
paper submissions may also be made
by attachment to an e-mail sent to
BAA06-19@darpa.mil (Word 97 or higher
is recommended). Embedded text and
Postscript are also acceptable. Note:
If the website is not used, then the
body of the e-mail and the attachment
must include name, mailing address,
phone number, and fax number of the
proposer. If this information is not
contained in the body, the e-mail will
be returned for inclusion of that information.
(If proposers choose not to use e-mail,
U.S. mail may be used. White papers
and proposals will not be accepted
by way of facsimile transmissions.)
Within two weeks of receipt of the
white paper, the proposer will receive
a confirmation providing a log number
and both a technical and administrative
point of contact. The formal recommendation
about whether a full proposal is recommended
will be made as soon as possible. However,
the exact time for response will depend
on a variety of circumstances, including
the number of white papers received.
Procedures have been put in place that
will help proposers to rapidly determine
the applicability of their white paper
to DARPA/DSO and to help develop promising
ideas into formal proposals with a
reasonably high probability of funding.
Proposers may recommend a program manager
to review their proposals based on
prior discussions and/or information
on the DSO website. Please note, this
recommendation and any additional feedback
provided is for the benefit of the
proposer and following these recommendations
is not a guarantee that the full proposal
will be funded. All full proposal submissions
will be evaluated regardless of the
disposition of the white paper.
Point of Contact
Brett Giroir, Deputy Director, DSO,
Phone (571) 218-4224, Fax (571) 218-4553
