HR001126S0015.pdf

Broad Agency Announcement Defense Sciences Office (DSO) Office-wide BAA

Defense Sciences Office

HR001126S0015

August 28, 2026

This publication constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) as contemplated in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.102(d)(2) and 35.016 and 2 CFR § 200.203. Any resultant award negotiations will follow all pertinent law and regulation, and any negotiations and/or awards for procurement contracts will use procedures under FAR 15.4, Contract Pricing, as specified in the BAA.

Overview Information:

• Federal Agency Name – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Defense Sciences Office

• Funding Opportunity Description – Defense Sciences Office (DSO) Office-wide BAA

• Announcement Type – Initial Announcement

• Funding Opportunity Number – HR001126S0015 Assistance Listing Number: 12.910 Research and Technology Development

• Dates/Time – All Times are Eastern Time Zone (ET) o Posting Date: August 28, 2026 o Question Submittal Closing Date: August 6, 2027, at 4:00 PM o Executive Summary: Executive Summaries may be submitted on a rolling basis until

August 27, 2027, at 4:00 PM o Proposal Abstract: Abstracts may be submitted on a rolling basis until August 27, 2027, at 4:00 PM o Proposal Due Date: Proposals may be submitted on a rolling basis until August 27, 2027, at 4:00 PM o Proposing PIs may only submit one (1) submission of any type at a time to this solicitation. Additional submissions received from PIs before DARPA issues a formal response on submissions may be rejected. See Section III for more information.

• Anticipated individual awards – Multiple awards are anticipated.

• Types of instruments that may be awarded – Cooperative Agreements, Procurement Contracts, Other Transaction for Research, and Other Transaction for Prototype

• NAICS Code: 541713, 541714, 541715, 541720

• Agency contact o Points of Contact

The BAA Coordinator for this effort may be reached at:

HR001126S0015@darpa.mil

DARPA/DSO

ATTN: HR001126S0015

675 North Randolph Street Arlington, VA 22203-2114 mailto:HR001125S0013@darpa.mil

Section I: Funding Opportunity Description

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is soliciting proposals which investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, devices, or systems for national security applications. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.

The DARPA DSO regularly publishes Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs) requesting responses to specific program topics. This announcement seeks revolutionary research ideas for topics not being addressed by ongoing DSO programs or other published solicitations.

To avoid proposals that duplicate existing activities or are responsive to other published DSO solicitations, potential proposers are highly encouraged to review current DSO programs and solicitations, respectively listed at http://www.darpa.mil/about-us/offices/dso and http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities. Contacting DSO program managers to discuss their research interests is strongly encouraged. A current list of program managers is available at http://www.darpa.mil/about-us/people.

A. Introduction The mission of the DARPA DSO is to identify and spearhead the next generation of scientific discovery to fuel innovation in research and development (R&D) for the Department of War (DoW). DSO serves 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 DoW by pushing technology toward its fundamental scientific limits. We work to prevent technological surprise by understanding the path commercial R&D is taking, anticipating that our adversaries will exploit available technology to develop new capabilities in the coming decades. Additionally, 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 Energy Systems, (2) Sensing, Measuring, and Affecting, (3) Math, Computation, and Processing, and (4) Complex, Dynamic, and Intelligent Systems. Each thrust area description below (in Section B) includes a list of example research topics highlighting 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 primarily resulting 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 addressing DARPA’s mission to make pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies for national security.

1. Materials, Manufacturing, and Energy Systems http://www.darpa.mil/about-us/offices/dso http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities http://www.darpa.mil/about-us/people

Breaking the tensions between performance and efficiency for new materials, manufacturing flexibility, propulsion, and energy availability.

2. Sensing, Measuring, and Affecting Pushing the fundamental limits for orders-of-magnitude improvement in awareness, communications, and control.

3. Math, Computation, and Processing Enabling quantum, and reimagining classical, computing for enhanced efficiency and new capabilities.

4. Complex, Dynamic, and Intelligent Systems.

Revolutionizing scientific methods for harnessing complex and adaptive systems, from materials to human-AI (artificial intelligence) ecosystems.

Section II: Evaluation Criteria

• Proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria listed in descending order of importance.

o Overall Scientific and Technical Merit: The proposed technical approach is innovative, feasible, achievable, and complete. Detailed technical rationale is provided delineating why the proposed approach can achieve the proposed goals and metrics. The proposed technical team has the expertise and experience to accomplish the proposed tasks. Task descriptions and associated technical elements provided are complete and logically sequenced, with all proposed deliverables clearly defined so the outcome of the award’s work achieves the goal. The proposal identifies major technical risks, and planned mitigation efforts are clearly defined and feasible.

o Potential Contribution and Relevance to the DARPA Mission: The potential contributions of the proposed effort bolster the national security technology base and support DARPA’s mission to make pivotal early technology investments that create or prevent technological surprise. The proposed intellectual property restrictions (if any) will not significantly impact the Government’s ability to transition the technology.

o Cost and Schedule Realism: The proposed costs and schedule are realistic for the technical and management approach and accurately reflect the technical goals and objectives of the solicitation. All proposed labor, material, and travel costs are necessary to achieve the proposed objectives and metrics, are consistent with the proposer's Statement of Work, and reflect a sufficient understanding of the costs and level of effort needed to successfully accomplish the proposed technical approach. The costs for the prime proposer and proposed subawardees are substantiated by the details provided in the proposal (e.g., the type and number of labor hours proposed per task, the types and quantities of materials, equipment and fabrication costs, travel and any other applicable costs, and the basis for the estimates). The proposed schedule aggressively pursues performance metrics in an efficient time frame that accurately accounts for the anticipated workload. It is expected the effort will leverage all available, relevant, prior research to obtain the maximum benefit from the available funding. For proposals containing cost share, the proposer has provided sufficient rationale regarding the appropriateness of the cost share arrangement, relative to the objectives of the proposed solution (e.g., high likelihood of commercial application, etc.). The proposed schedule identifies and mitigates any potential schedule risk.

• Unless otherwise specified in this announcement, for additional information on how DARPA reviews and evaluates proposals through the Scientific Review Process, please visit: Proposer Instructions: General Terms and Conditions.

Section III: Submission Information

• This announcement allows for multiple award instrument types: Procurement Contracts, Cooperative Agreements, Other Transaction for Research, and Other Transaction for Prototype. Some award instrument types have specific cost-sharing requirements. The following websites are incorporated by reference and contain additional information regarding overall proposer instructions, general terms and conditions, and each specific award instrument type.

Proposers must review the following links:

o Proposer Instructions and General Terms and Conditions: Proposer Instructions:

General Terms and Conditions o Procurement Contracts: Proposer Instructions: Procurement Contracts o Cooperative Agreements: Proposer Instructions: Grants/Cooperative Agreements o Other Transaction for Research and Other Transaction for Prototype: Proposer

Instructions: Other Transactions

• DSO Fundamental Defense Research Talent Award (FDRTA) Option University primes are invited to include an optional task for the DSO Fundamental Defense Research Talent Award (FDRTA) in their abstract, to be further elaborated on in a proposal, if invited (FDRTA is limited to one award per Prime proposer). This option is intended to foster the development of the next generation of clearable scientific talent in strategically important areas of research by providing supplementary funding for a U.S. citizen graduate student or postdoctoral researcher involved in the proposed fundamental research.

If this option is proposed, the Government may, at its discretion, provide an additional award of up to $150,000 per year for the duration of the effort. Award of the FDRTA option is contingent upon the successful award of the base proposal. FDRTA funding decisions will be made independently based on the availability of funds and an assessment of the option's merits.

The FDRTA may be exercised only once an eligible graduate student or postdoctoral researcher has been identified and confirmed. A U.S. citizen graduate student assigned under this option can only be replaced by another U.S. citizen graduate student. If the U.S. citizen graduate student departs before the end of the option period, and no eligible replacement can be identified, the option PoP will be de-scoped to reflect the work completed, and any remaining funds will be returned to DARPA. DARPA recognizes that identifying an eligible graduate student may take time; however, the replacement process must be executed in a timely manner to ensure continued progress with the option period.

https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/proposer-instructions https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/proposer-instructions https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/proposer-instructions https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/proposer-instructions https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/procurement-contracts https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/grant-cooperative-agreements https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/other-transaction-agreements

Mandatory Pre-Proposal Phase

• Prior to submitting a full proposal, proposers MUST first submit an executive summary (utilizing Attachment A) or an abstract (utilizing Attachments B and C) as described below. This process allows DARPA to ascertain whether the proposed concept aligns to the Technical Thrust Area Descriptions of the DSO Office-wide BAA, is of important to the DSO mission and portfolio, and currently of interest. DARPA will respond to executive summaries with a brief statement either encouraging or discouraging submission of a follow-on abstract or full proposal, and will respond to abstracts with a brief statement either encouraging or discouraging submission of a full proposal. Decisions will be based on the Alignment and Conformity Criteria below.

• Proposers must wait until DARPA provides a response to their executive summary or abstract before further submissions, but may still submit follow-on abstracts or full proposals regardless of DARPA decision to encourage or discourage. The proposer must include the DARPA response letter as Attachment Q with either their abstract (if submitting after an executive summary) or full proposal as confirmation of the initial submission. If DARPA does not recommend the proposer expand the executive summary into an abstract or full proposal, or does not recommend expanding an abstract into a full proposal, we will provide brief feedback to the proposer via their notification letter regarding our rationale for this decision.

• Alignment and Conformity Criteria: For the purposes of this BAA, alignment to the Technical Thrust Area Descriptions is defined as follows:

o The proposed concept aligns to the technical areas described herein.

o The proposed concept supports and aligns with DSO’s current investment portfolio.

o The proposed concept investigates an innovative approach that enables revolutionary advances, i.e., will not primarily result in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.

o The proposed work has not already been completed (i.e., the research element is complete, but manufacturing/fabrication funds are required).

o The proposer has not already received funding or a positive funding decision for the proposed concept (whether from DARPA or another Government agency).

Executive summaries, abstracts, and full proposals found to lack alignment with the DSO Office-wide BAA as defined above may be deemed non-conforming and removed from consideration. All executive summaries, abstracts, and full proposals must provide sufficient information to assess the validity/feasibility of their claims as well as comply with the requirements outlined herein for submission formatting, content, and transmission to DARPA. Executive summaries, abstracts, and full proposals that fail to do so may be deemed non-conforming and removed from consideration. Proposers will be notified of non-conforming determinations via letter.

• Executive summaries and abstracts will be reviewed on a rolling basis and can be submitted until the date and time stated in the Overview section. Executive summary submissions must use the Attachment A template. Abstract submissions must use the Attachments B and C templates. Regardless of the future instrument type desired, all executive summaries and abstracts must be submitted through the Broad Agency Announcement Tool (BAAT). For instructions on how to submit to BAAT, visit the “Unclassified Submission Instructions” section at Proposer Instructions: General Terms and Conditions.

• One Submission at a Time: Proposing PIs may only submit one (1) preproposal submission (i.e., either an abstract or executive summary) at a time. If a proposer submits multiple preproposal submissions, DARPA will only evaluate the first submission received based on the timestamp noted in BAAT, and may reject all subsequent submissions as non-conforming prior to responding to the first-received submission. For example, if Company A submits an executive summary, Company A must wait to receive a notification from the DARPA inbox HR001126S0015@darpa.mil before they can submit another executive summary or abstract for review. If, however, Company A has submitted an executive summary, and DARPA has encouraged an abstract, Company A may submit a new abstract or executive summary for a different effort even if they are also submitting an abstract for the encouraged effort.

o Agency Response Timelines: DARPA will strive to respond to all preproposal submissions within 30 calendar days. If DARPA does not respond to a preproposal submission within 60 calendar days, the proposer may submit a subsequent executive summary or abstract. The 60 day response timeline applies from the time-stamp of the BAAT submission for each preproposal submission.

Full Proposal Phase

• Submission: Full proposals can be submitted through the date and time stated in the Overview section.

• Requirement Reminder: Full proposals submitted without a corresponding abstract or executive summary will be deemed non-conforming and removed from consideration.

DARPA’s Official response to your submitted executive summary or abstract must be submitted as Attachment Q with your full proposal submission. Failure to include Attachment Q will result in the full proposal submission being deemed non-conforming and excluded from consideration. Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with evaluation criteria established in Section II: Evaluation Criteria.

o Attachments D, E, F, and G contain specific instructions and templates, and constitute a full proposal submission for proposers requesting either a Procurement Contract or Other Transaction (OT). Proposers requesting Procurement Contracts or OT must submit proposals through the Broad Agency Announcement Tool.

o Attachments D, E, and G contain specific instructions and templates, and constitute a full proposal submission for proposers requesting a Cooperative Agreement. Proposers requesting a Cooperative Agreement must also complete the SF424 (R&R) Budget form through Grants.gov. Proposers requesting a Cooperative Agreement must submit proposals through grants.gov/.

o This announcement allows for an accelerated award option for selected full proposals that do not exceed $2,000,000 for proposers who have agreed to prescribed stipulations as part of their full proposal submissions. Awards for such proposals would be made within 30 days of the selection notification. Please see Attachments I through N for details.

Attachment I (and Attachment M or N if requesting an OT for Agreement) must be included in the proposal submission to receive this type of award. Proposers requesting this accelerated award option must submit proposals through BAAT.

https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/proposer-instructions mailto:HR001126S0015@darpa.mil https://grants.gov/

• BAA Attachments:

o (required if submitting an executive summary) Attachment A: Executive Summary

Template o (required if submitting an abstract) Attachment B: Abstract Summary Slide Template o (required if submitting an abstract) Attachment C: Abstract Instructions and

Template o (required for all proposal submissions) Attachment D: Proposal Summary Slides

Template o (required for all proposal submissions) Attachment E: Proposal Instructions and

Volume I Template (Technical and Management) o (required for proposer requesting Procurement Contracts or Other Transaction

Agreements for Prototype) Attachment F: Proposal Instructions and Volume II Template (Cost) o (required for all proposal submissions) Attachment G: DARPA Cost Proposal Spreadsheet o (reference) Attachment H: Classified Submission Requirements, Instructions and Procedures o (required for proposers requesting accelerated award) Attachment I: Accelerated Award Option Election and Attestation Form Amendment 1 o (reference) Attachment J: Accelerated Contract Award Option – Model Contract (Large Business) o (reference) Attachment K: Accelerated Contract Award Option – Model Contract (Small Business) o (reference) Attachment L: Accelerated Contract Award Option – Baseline Model Contract Addendum: Additional Circumstance-Driven Clauses o (required for proposers requesting an accelerated OT Prototype award) Attachment M: Accelerated Contract Award Option – Model OT Agreement for Prototype Amendment 1 o (required for proposers requesting an accelerated OT Research award) Attachment N: Accelerated Contract Award Option – Model OT Agreement for Research Amendment 1 o (reference) Attachment O: DSO’s General Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) Guide o (reference) Attachment P: Model Cooperative Agreement o (required for all proposal submissions) Attachment Q: Letter received from DARPA in response to Executive Summary or Abstract submission

This table is a guide for which documents are required for the different contract types.

Attachment/Contract type Procurement

OT:

Fundamental

Research

OT:

Non-

Fundamental

Cooperative Agreement

Attachment D (Slides) X X X X Attachment E (Vol. I) X X X X Attachment F (Vol. II) X X X

Attachment G (Excel) (for prime and all subs) X X X X

Milestones (see OT website) X X

Reps and Certs (see Volume 1 template) X X X X

SF424 (see Grants.gov) X Biographical Sketch (for all key personnel) X X

Current/Pending Support (for all key personnel)

X X

Submission Method: BAAT BAAT BAAT Grants.gov https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/forms-directory/biographical-sketch-common-form https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/forms-directory/cpos-common-form https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/forms-directory/cpos-common-form https://baa.darpa.mil/Public/SecurityAgreement https://baa.darpa.mil/Public/SecurityAgreement https://baa.darpa.mil/Public/SecurityAgreement https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/grant-cooperative-agreements

Section IV: Special Considerations

• This announcement, stated attachments, and websites incorporated by reference constitute the entire solicitation. In the event of a discrepancy between the announcement, attachments, or websites, the announcement takes precedence.

• DARPA encourages new applicants to propose. All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs, including both U.S. and non-U.S. sources, may submit a proposal that shall be considered by DARPA. Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Small Businesses, Small Disadvantaged Businesses and Minority Institutions are encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals; however, no portion of this announcement will be set aside for these organizations’ participation due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of this research for exclusive competition among these entities. Non-U.S. organizations and/or individuals may participate to the extent that such participants comply with any necessary nondisclosure agreements, security regulations, export control laws, and other governing statutes applicable under the circumstances.

• Instructions for classified submissions are contained within Attachment H: Classified Submission Requirements, Instructions and Procedures. For a full proposal including both classified and unclassified information, the proposal may be separated into an unclassified and a classified portion. The proposal should use the unclassified portion to the maximum extent practicable. Instructions regarding a combined classification submission are contained within Attachment H: Classified Submission Requirements, Instructions and Procedures.

• This program is subject to Attachment O: DSO’s General Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) Guide signed May 13, 2025. All individuals accessing CUI agree to protect CUI in accordance with DoD Instruction 5200.48 CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION (CUI) and NIST Special Publication 800-171 Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations.

• Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs), and Government Entities to include National Laboratories are not eligible to propose to this solicitation.

• As of the date of publication of this solicitation, the Government cannot identify whether the work under this solicitation may be considered fundamental research and may award both fundamental and non-fundamental research. For additional information on fundamental research, please visit Proposer Instructions: General Terms and Conditions.

• Proposers should indicate in their proposal whether they believe the scope of the research included in their proposal is fundamental or not. While proposers should clearly explain the intended results of their research, the Government shall have sole discretion to determine whether the proposed research shall be considered fundamental and to select the award instrument type. Appropriate language will be included in resultant awards for non-fundamental research to prescribe publication requirements and other restrictions, as appropriate. This language can be found at Proposer Instructions: General Terms and Conditions.

https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/proposer-instructions https://ddmdraft.darpa.mil/work-with-us/proposer-instructions https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/proposer-instructions https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/proposer-instructions

• For certain research projects, it may be possible that although the research to be performed by a potential awardee is non-fundamental research, their proposed subawardee’s effort may be fundamental research. It is also possible the research performed by a potential awardee is fundamental research while their proposed subawardee’s effort may be non-fundamental research. In all cases, it is the potential awardee’s responsibility to explain in their proposal which proposed efforts are fundamental research and why the proposed efforts should be considered fundamental research.

• DARPA’s Fundamental Research Risk-Based Security Review Process (FRRBS, pronounced “FERBS”) is an adaptive risk management security program designed to help protect the critical technology and performer intellectual property associated with DARPA’s research projects by identifying the possible vectors of undue foreign influence. DARPA will create risk assessments of all proposed Senior/Key Personnel selected for negotiation of fundamental research awards (to include cooperative agreements and Other Transactions).

The DARPA risk assessment process will be conducted separately from the DARPA scientific review process and adjudicated prior to final award. For additional information on this process, please visit Proposer Instructions: Grants/Cooperative Agreements and Proposer Instructions: Other Transactions.

• Proposals could potentially include Human Subjects Research (HSR) and/or Animal Use.

Proposers that anticipate involving human subjects or animals in the proposed research must comply with the approval procedures detailed at https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/humanresearch to include providing the information specified therein as required for proposal submission.

• CYBERSECURITY MATURITY MODEL CERTIFICATION (CMMC)

COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS

o As codified in 32 CFR Part 170, and DFARS 252.204-7021, the Cybersecurity Maturity Model

Certification (CMMC) Program is designed to ensure Department of War (DoW) performers are properly safeguarding Federal Contract Information (FCI) and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that is processed, stored, or transmitted on performer information systems. FCI and CUI must be protected to meet evolving threats and safeguard nonpublic, unclassified information that supports and enables the warfighter. The CMMC Program provides a consistent methodology to assess a defense contractor's implementation of cybersecurity requirements. Proposers are encouraged to visit the DoW Chief Information Officer CMMC Resources & Documentation site for more information on CMMC: https://dodcio.defense.gov/cmmc/Resources-Documentation/.

o This provision outlines the CMMC requirements pertaining to this solicitation, to include the required CMMC level and the corresponding proposal requirements. All DARPA-awarded Procurement Contracts and Other Transactions, including those involving Fundamental Research, at a minimum require prime performers and subcontractors to demonstrate compliance with CMMC Level 1, which focuses on the protection of FCI and consists of the security requirements that correspond to the 15 basic safeguarding requirements specified in 48 CFR 52.204-21, and the 17 basic safeguarding requirements in FAR 52.204-21, Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems, and maintain practices equivalent to CMMC Level 1.

https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/grant-cooperative-agreements https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/other-transaction-agreements https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fdodcio.defense.gov%2Fcmmc%2FResources-Documentation%2F o CMMC Requirements:

1. Required CMMC Level:

a. All proposers requesting a Cooperative Agreement are not required to achieve CMMC compliance as of the time this solicitation is published.

b. All proposers requesting a Procurement Contract or Other Transaction must be

CMMC Level 1 (Self-Assessment) compliant at the time of full proposal submission at a minimum. Level 1 focuses on the protection of FCI and implementation of the 17 basic safeguarding requirements in FAR 52.204-21 (for Procurement Contracts) or the 15 basic safeguarding requirements specified in 48 CFR 52.204-21 (for Other Transactions).

c. Some proposers requesting a Procurement Contract or Other Transaction may be required to meet CMMC Level 2 (Self-Assessment). Level 2 focuses on the protection of CUI and incorporates the 110 security requirements specified in NIST SP 800-171 Rev 2.

DARPA will notify proposers in responses to conforming Executive Summaries and Abstracts if proposals would require CMMC Level 2 compliance, regardless of whether a full proposal is encouraged.

2. Eligibility for Award To be eligible for award under this solicitation, the CMMC Unique Identifier (UID) associated with the prime proposer must reflect a current CMMC status (representing either Final or Conditional status) posted in the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS) indicating compliance at the required level above. Additionally, the proposer must have a current annual CMMC affirmation, submitted by an authorized Affirming Official, posted in SPRS. Further, as some entities may have multiple business segments, multiple CAGE codes, etc., DARPA must reasonably be able to relate the CMMC UID in SPRS to the proposing entity.

(Note: SPRS is housed within the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment https://piee.eb.mil; an additional resource on SPRS is located here:

https://dodcio.defense.gov/Portals/0/Documents/CMMC/CMMC-SPRS.pdf )

3. Subcontractor Flow-Down Prime proposers are responsible for verifying subcontractor compliance. In the proposal, the prime proposer must attest that all subcontractors who will process, store, or transmit FCI or CUI under a resultant award will meet the applicable CMMC level required by DFARS 252.204-7021 (Level 1 for Procurement Contracts), or 32 CFR § 170.23 (Level 1 for OTs). The proposal must also describe the verification method the prime proposer will use to ensure subcontractors have the required CMMC status in SPRS prior to subcontract award in Attachment E: Proposal Instructions and Volume I Template.

Specifically:

If the Subcontractor will process, store, or transmit...

...the Subcontractor's Minimum Required CMMC Level is:

Federal Contract Information (FCI) only CMMC Level 1 (Self-Assessment)

Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) The CMMC Level required by this solicitation as noted in the Executive Summary or Abstract response https://piee.eb.mil/ https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fdodcio.defense.gov%2FPortals%2F0%2FDocuments%2FCMMC%2FCMMC-SPRS.pdf

• DSO has been using new solicitation formats to speed award timelines. These include Disruption Opportunities (DOs, also known as "Disruptioneering"), Advanced Research Concepts (ARCs), Pitch Days, and the accelerated award option detailed in this BAA. These are focused, milestone-based contracts designed to reduce negotiations and emphasize the quality of the idea and its potential for disruption over the proposer's ability to write a proposal. The milestone structure, where payment is tied to research execution rather than meeting aggressive metrics, is intended to incentivize ideas with high potential for disruption even if they are riskier. We are seeking feedback regarding these mechanisms from our proposer community. Please consider completing the survey at this link: https://events.sa-meetings.com/esurvey/126974

Additional Resources Available to Proposers

• The APEX Accelerators program, formerly known as the Procurement Technical Assistance Program (PTAP), focuses on building strong, sustainable, and resilient U.S. supply chains by assisting a wide range of businesses that pursue and perform under contracts with the DoD, other federal agencies, state and local governments, and government prime contractors. See www.apexaccelerators.us/ for more information.

APEX Accelerators helps businesses:

o Complete registration with a wide range of databases necessary for them to participate in the government marketplace (e.g., SAM).

o Identify which agencies and offices may need their products or services and how to connect with buying agencies and offices.

o Determine whether they are ready for government opportunities and how to position themselves to succeed.

o Navigate solicitations and potential funding opportunities.

o Receive notifications of government contract opportunities on a regular basis.

o Network with buying officers, prime contractors, and other businesses.

o Resolve performance issues and prepare for audit, only if the service is needed, after receiving an award.

• Project Spectrum is a nonprofit effort funded by the DoD Office of Small Business Programs to help educate the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) on compliance. Project Spectrum is vendor-neutral and available to assist businesses with their cybersecurity and compliance needs. Their mission is to improve cybersecurity readiness, resilience, and compliance for small/medium-sized businesses and the federal manufacturing supply chain. Project Spectrum events and programs will enhance awareness of cybersecurity threats within the manufacturing, research and development, and knowledge-based services sectors of the industrial base. Project Spectrum will leverage strategic partnerships within and outside of the DoD to accelerate the overall cybersecurity compliance of the DIB.

www.projectspectrum.io is a web portal that will provide resources such as individualized dashboards, a marketplace, and Pilot Program to help accelerate cybersecurity compliance.

• DARPAConnect offers free resources to potential performers to help them navigate DARPA, including “Understanding DARPA Award Vehicles and Solicitations”, “Making the Most of https://events.sa-meetings.com/esurvey/126974 https://events.sa-meetings.com/esurvey/126974 https://www.apexaccelerators.us/ https://www.projectspectrum.io/

Proposers Days”, and “Tips for DARPA Proposal Success”. Join DARPAConnect at www.DARPAConnect.us to leverage on-demand learning and networking resources.

http://www.darpaconnect.us/