Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Announces its Ten Focus Areas for 2019

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently announced the ten focus areas in which it will be providing funding through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for 2019.

“Small businesses are critical for developing technology to support national security,” DARPA officials noted in the solicitation. “The pace of discovery in both science and technology is accelerative worldwide, resulting in new fields of study and the identification of scientific areas ripe for small business utilization through the SBIR and STTR programs.”

The SBIR and STTR are programs under the Small Business Administration (SBA) that encourage small American businesses to engage in Federal Research, as well as research and development (R&D) that has the potential for commercialization. Both programs grant small businesses the opportunity to explore their technological potential, and provide the incentive to profit from its commercialization. The STTR program additionally requires small business to formally collaborate with a research institution in Phase I and Phase II.

Under the DARPA solicitation, teams are eligible for up to $251,250 in funding for phase one of the program, and $1.65 million in phase two. Companies will also have the opportunity to work with the DARPA Accelerator program, which provides an additional $250,000 in funding for phase two.

The ten focus areas under which DARPA is soliciting projects are:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Autonomy
• Communications
• Cyber
• Directed Energy
• Hypersonics
• Microelectronics
• Quantum Sciences
• Space
• Nuclear Modernization

Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis through February 29, 2020.

To view the full solicitation, click here: https://www.fbo.gov/index.php?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=4330a0f123d7f5f6d3246484b8b75119&tab=core&_cview=0