NJIT Implementation of Recent Executive Orders
Defense Sciences Office (DSO) Office-wide BAA
Funding Agency:
- Department of Defense
The mission of the DARPA DSO is to identify and spearhead the next generation of scientific discovery to fuel innovation in research and development for the DoD. DSO serves as “DARPA’s DARPA” by developing and executing an aggressive and forward-leaning portfolio that expands the art of the possible across a broad set of technical areas. DSO aims to create strategic surprise advantage for the DoD by pushing technology toward its fundamental scientific limits. We work to prevent technological surprise by understanding the path commercial research and development (R&D) is taking, anticipating that our adversaries will exploit available technology to develop new capabilities in the coming decades. In addition, DSO looks for transformative trends at the global scale and their potential impact on our nation. In support of this mission, the DSO Office-wide BAA invites proposers to submit innovative basic or applied research concepts or studies and analysis proposals. Proposals in novel areas DSO has not considered are welcome. However, if the proposal addresses one or more of the following technical thrust areas, please indicate which one(s) in your submission: (1) Materials, Manufacturing, and Structures, (2) Sensing, Measuring, and Affecting, (3) Math, Computation, and Processing, and (4) Complex, Dynamic, and Intelligent Systems. Each thrust area description below includes a list of example research topics that highlight several (but not all) potential areas of interest. Proposals must investigate innovative research approaches that enable revolutionary advances. DSO is explicitly not interested in approaches or technologies that primarily result in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice or are for manufacturing scale-up.
B. Technical Thrust Area Descriptions To support its mission, DSO is interested in engaging with the R&D community to tackle complex challenges and develop impactful capabilities. DSO organizes its research portfolio into the high-interest thrust areas described below, but will consider any fundamental research concept, idea, or effort that addresses DARPA’s mission to make pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies for national security. 1. Materials, Manufacturing, and Structures Breaking the tension between performance and efficiency for critical parts, production 4 processes, energetics, superconductors, and propulsion. 2. Sensing, Measuring, and Affecting Developing and leveraging new science to overcome existing barriers limiting the performance and/or practicality of sensing, measurement, and control, to achieve ordersof- magnitude improvement in operational capabilities. 3. Math, Computation, and Processing Enabling quantum, reimagining classical, and developing entirely new forms of computing for enhanced efficiency and new capabilities. Solutions may range from new approaches to hardware (implementation) to representation and computation. 4. Complex, Dynamic, and Intelligent Systems. Creating new scientific capabilities for classes of systems that evolve and adapt and for which traditional reductionist, data-driven, and statistical methods fail. Systems of interest include, but are not limited to, foundations of intelligence, human-AI ecosystems, homeostatic mechanisms, and global systems.
Multiple Awards
Executive Summary: Executive Summaries may be submitted on a rolling basis until June 2, 2026, at 4:00 PM
Proposal Abstract: Abstracts may be submitted on a rolling basis until June 2, 2026, at 4:00 PM
Proposals may be submitted on a rolling basis until June 2, 2026, at 4:00 PM
The BAA Coordinator for this effort may be reached at:
DARPA/ DSO
ATTN: HR001125S0013
675 North Randolph Street
Arlington, VA 22203-2114