DARPA Defense Sciences Office Office-wide
HR001121S0032
Grants.gov  https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=334133
Sam.gov  https://sam.gov/opp/f08ce40db929467ab7a8cdac02345b70/view
BAA Closing Date: June 10, 2022

The mission of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is to identify and create the next generation of scientific discovery by pursuing high-risk, high-payoff research initiatives across a broad spectrum of science and engineering disciplines and transforming these initiatives into disruptive technologies for U.S. national security. 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 that address one or more of the following technical thrust areas:

•  Frontiers in Math, Computation and Design - Topics of interest: (a) mathematical, computational, and design frameworks and tools that provide robust solutions to challenging planning and optimization problems important to DoD; (b) fundamental scientific underpinnings and limits of artificial intelligence; (c) quantum information processing; and (d) alternative computing models, architectures, and substrates for faster, more robust decision making, particularly in size, weight and power constrained and/or low-resourced environments.
•  Limits of Sensing and Sensors - Topics of interest: (a) new sensing modalities, (b) fundamental sensing limits, (c) practical and deployable sensing and sensor designs, (d) fundamental and practical limits of quantum enabled sensing and metrology, (e) novel and/or engineered materials that enable novel optics and imaging capabilities, and (f) imaging in low-resourced environments.
•  Complex Social Systems - Topics of interest: (a) accurate and scientifically validated models of the social dynamics underlying different kinds of conflict, (b) capabilities to improve understanding of causality in complex social systems, (c) tools that enable improved human-machine symbiotic decision-making, (d) new concepts in war-gaming and conflict simulation, and (e) scientific underpinnings of influence and deterrence.
•  Anticipating Surprise - Example topics of interest: (a) novel functional and structural materials and manufacturing processes, (b) materials for harsh environments, (c) defense against Weapons of Mass Destruction/Weapons of Mass Terror (WMD/WMT) threats, (d) energetic materials, (e) novel approaches to energy storage and power generation, and (f) novel approaches for improving robustness and resilience of critical infrastructure and supply chains.