# DARPA Expands Young Faculty Award Support

DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office manages the annual Young Faculty Award (YFA), which funds early-career academic researchers pursuing work aligned with national security needs. YFA awards use milestone-based funding, may support a competitive third year through the Director’s Fellowship, and have added targeted supplemental funding for a U.S. citizen graduate student in an awardee’s lab. The next cycle’s topics and solicitation are typically posted in the fall; the signal does not specify an application deadline or award amounts.

- Academic researchers and institutions can use the fall topics and solicitation to assess fit with DARPA priorities and plan submissions; the award is a research funding opportunity, not a procurement contract.
- Applicants should account for milestone-based performance expectations. Qualifying awardees may compete for a third year of support, while the graduate-student supplement is targeted funding rather than a general award increase.
- Universities and research organizations may find opportunities to support national-security-relevant research and graduate research capacity; the source does not provide specific funding amounts or current-cycle dates.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Defense & Military
**Topics:** Grants & Funding
**Published:** October 30, 2026

### Government Entities
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
- Defense Sciences Office (DSO)

### Sources
- [The audacity incubator: 20 years of YFA | Ep 98 | DARPA](https://www.darpa.mil/news/podcast/audacity-incubator-98) - Darpa