Firefox Proposers Day

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office is hosting an in-person-only Proposers Day for the Firefox Program on Monday, September 21, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EDT at the SPA Arlington Research Collaboration Center in Arlington, Virginia, with registration closing at 5:00 PM EDT on September 11, 2026. Advance registration is required; in-person attendance is limited to three individuals per organization and capped at 160 total participants.

Firefox is a 36-month coherent optics research initiative developing non-invasive brain-computer interface technology across two parallel technical areas: TA1 focuses on beam steering of a 1310 nanometer short-coherence length source using spatial light modulators, MEMS, or Risley-prisms; TA2 encompasses analog domain signal processing via all-optical photonic, in-sensor, or neuromorphic-photonic computing. The program consists of three 12-month phases requiring functional, testable deliverables at specified checkpoints for validation by an Independent Verification and Validation partner. Performers should possess expertise in coherent optical sensing, beam steering, laser physics, optical and photonic data processing, and wavefront engineering; neuroscience knowledge is optional.

The Proposers Day agenda includes government overview presentations, a question-and-answer session with the Program Manager and Contracting Officer, a dedicated Contracting Q&A session from 2:00–3:00 PM EDT via Teams, a poster session (conforming 24" by 36" posters due by 5:00 PM EDT on September 15, 2026), and eight-minute sidebar meetings with program personnel on a first-come, first-served basis. Overflow sidebar meetings will be offered virtually on September 22, 2026, from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM EDT. U.S. Permanent Residents and Foreign Nationals must submit DARPA eForm 60 by the registration deadline. Attendance is not required for proposal submission.