Defense Sciences Office (DSO) Office-wide BAA
DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office seeks proposals for groundbreaking research in science, devices, or systems to achieve revolutionary advances for national security, excluding incremental improvements.
Funder: DARPA - Defense Sciences Office
Due Dates: August 6, 2027: Question submittal closing date | August 27, 2027: Executive Summary, Proposal Abstract, and Full Proposal submission deadlines (all due by 4:00 PM ET)
Funding Amounts: No specified ceiling; awards may be up to $2M for accelerated options; FDRTA option up to $150,000/year; project duration and amount vary by proposal and instrument.
Summary: Supports innovative, high-risk research with the potential for revolutionary advances in science, devices, or systems for national security applications.
Key Information: Executive summary or abstract submission is mandatory before full proposal; only one preproposal per PI at a time.
Description
The Defense Sciences Office (DSO) within DARPA is soliciting proposals for innovative research that could enable revolutionary advances in science, technology, devices, or systems relevant to national security. The focus is on high-risk, high-reward research that goes beyond incremental improvements and aims to create new scientific paradigms or breakthrough capabilities. Proposals may address any area of fundamental science and engineering, but DSO highlights four technical thrust areas:
- Materials, Manufacturing, and Energy Systems
- Sensing, Measuring, and Affecting
- Math, Computation, and Processing
- Complex, Dynamic, and Intelligent Systems
Research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to existing practices is specifically excluded.
