Opportunity
SAM #DARPARA2701
DARPA Young Faculty Award research and development opportunity
Buyer
DEF ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGCY
Posted
October 20, 2026
Respond By
January 13, 2027
Identifier
DARPARA2701
NAICS
541715, 541713, 541714, 541720, 927110
DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office is seeking early-career research proposals through its Young Faculty Award program to advance national security capabilities. - Government buyer: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Defense Sciences Office (DSO). - Program and work: Young Faculty Award (YFA) research and development addressing one of 18 specified topic areas across DARPA technical offices; multiple cooperative-agreement awards are anticipated. - Proposals must be led by a single principal investigator and address exactly one topic area. - Funding and options: Each award may provide up to $500,000 for a 24-month base effort. A selected awardee may receive a 12-month Directors Fellowship option of up to $500,000, and may include a concurrent option of up to $225,000 for one U.S.-citizen graduate student. Maximum combined funding per award is $1,225,000. - Notable requirements: The graduate-student option is limited to a U.S. citizen; the student's university must be proposed as a subawardee if the student is not employed by the prime recipient. - Products and OEMs: No commercial products, part numbers, product quantities, OEMs, or vendors are specified; the opportunity funds research rather than product purchases.
Description
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award (YFA) program aims to identify and engage rising stars in junior research positions in academia and equivalent positions at non-profit research institutions, particularly those without prior DARPA funding, to expose them to Department of War (DoW) needs and DARPA’s mission to create and prevent technological surprise for national security. The YFA program provides high-impact funding to researchers early in their careers to develop innovative new research that enables transformative DoW capabilities. Ultimately, the YFA program developes the next generation of researchers focused on national security issues.Additional Links:YFA FAQs (updated periodically)