Hearing Enhancement through ARtificially Intelligent NeurotechnoloGy (HEARING)
Closed Solicitation Posted
- Solicitation number
- ARPA-H-SOL-26-154
- Agency
-
National Institutes of Health
Department of Health and Human Services
- Responses due
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
Opportunity facts
- NAICS code
- 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)
- Place of performance
- Washington, District of Columbia, United States
- Points of contact
-
- ARPA-H Hearing Team hearing@arpa-h.gov
Notice details come from SAM.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), under the National Institutes of Health, seeks proposals for the Hearing Enhancement through ARtificially Intelligent NeurotechnoloGy (HEARING) Program via Innovative Solutions Opening (ISO) ARPA-H-SOL-26-154, with full proposals due August 14, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET. Solution summaries are due June 29, 2026. The procurement is unrestricted (no set-aside), and ARPA-H anticipates multiple awards structured as Other Transaction (OT) Agreements with optional cost sharing.
Place of performance is Washington, DC. The program spans 4.5 years across three phases: Phase 1 (18 months) for research and development with proof-of-concept in animal models; Phase 2 (24 months) for pre-clinical validation and FDA IND/IDE approval; and Phase 3 (12 months) for first-in-human clinical trials in six patients with mild to severe hearing loss. Proposals must address all three integrated Technical Areas: TA1 develops minimally invasive intracortical devices for auditory cortex recording and stimulation without craniotomy; TA2 creates an external wearable dynamic sound modulator operating 16 hours on a single charge with wireless bidirectional communication; and TA3 develops auditory read/write algorithms personalizing to new patients in 30 minutes. Key end-of-phase deliverables include 50 milliseconds closed-loop latency by Phase 2, 1-year device longevity, and demonstrated speech-in-noise improvement across gold-standard assessments in Phase 3.
Eligible proposers include universities, non-profit organizations, small and large businesses. FFRDCs and government entities are excluded as prime performers. All proposers must maintain active SAM.gov registration and provide research security disclosures, organizational conflict of interest statements, human and animal subjects research compliance documentation as applicable, and intellectual property representations aligned with open-source regimes. Proposers must identify a lead system integration manager and include clinical and regulatory expertise. Generative AI may not be used to create solution summaries or proposal text. Technical proposal (Volume I) is limited to 30 pages; supporting documents including cost proposal, Gantt chart (Appendix H), and Draft Other Transaction Agreement do not count toward page limits. The NAICS code is 541715, Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences; PSC code is AN13. Proposers' Day occurred June 8, 2026; questions were due June 15.
Notice text
4 versions
Update #4 · Latest ·
July 23, 2026: This amendment (03), incorporates the following changes:
- Addition of Appendix H: Gantt Chart
- Updated Appendix B incorporating the Gantt Chart requirement
- Updated Cost Proposal Worksheet increasing the threshold for backup documentation from $10K to $15K
- All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.
June 16, 2026: This amendment (02), incorporates the following changes:
- Updates the language within the ISO to clarify out-of-scope efforts, update the program schedule, and clarify proposal review criteria.
- The following ISO sections are updated: Sections, 1.2.5, 2.2, Figure 2, and 5.4.2.
- All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.
May 08, 2026: This amendment (01) updates the HEARING website links.
May 07, 2026: The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) posts this funding opportunity in support of the Hearing Enhancement through ARtificially Intelligent NeurotechnoloGy (HEARING) Program. ARPA-H anticipates multiple awards with Other Transaction (OT) award types resulting from this announcement. Interested parties are invited to review the HEARING Special Notice ARPA-H-SN-26-154 and Innovative Solutions Opening (ISO) ARPA-H-SOL-26-154.
Parties interested in submitting a proposal in response to the ARPA-H HEARING ISO are required (mandatory) to submit a solution summary. No awards will be made, or funding provided as a result of solution summary submissions.
The Proposers' Day event will take place in Arlington, VA. The event is intended to facilitate teaming and foster a greater understanding of the HEARING Program.
Update #3 ·
June 16, 2026: This amendment (02), incorporates the following changes:
- Updates the language within the ISO to clarify out-of-scope efforts, update the program schedule, and clarify proposal review criteria.
- The following ISO sections are updated: Sections, 1.2.5, 2.2, Figure 2, and 5.4.2.
- All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.
May 08, 2026: This amendment (01) updates the HEARING website links.
May 07, 2026: The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) posts this funding opportunity in support of the Hearing Enhancement through ARtificially Intelligent NeurotechnoloGy (HEARING) Program. ARPA-H anticipates multiple awards with Other Transaction (OT) award types resulting from this announcement. Interested parties are invited to review the HEARING Special Notice ARPA-H-SN-26-154 and Innovative Solutions Opening (ISO) ARPA-H-SOL-26-154.
Parties interested in submitting a proposal in response to the ARPA-H HEARING ISO are required (mandatory) to submit a solution summary. No awards will be made, or funding provided as a result of solution summary submissions.
The Proposers' Day event will take place in Arlington, VA. The event is intended to facilitate teaming and foster a greater understanding of the HEARING Program.
Update #2 ·
May 08, 2026: This amendment updates the HEARING website links.
May 07, 2026: The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) posts this funding opportunity in support of the Hearing Enhancement through ARtificially Intelligent NeurotechnoloGy (HEARING) Program. ARPA-H anticipates multiple awards with Other Transaction (OT) award types resulting from this announcement. Interested parties are invited to review the HEARING Special Notice ARPA-H-SN-26-154 and Innovative Solutions Opening (ISO) ARPA-H-SOL-26-154.
Parties interested in submitting a proposal in response to the ARPA-H HEARING ISO are required (mandatory) to submit a solution summary. No awards will be made, or funding provided as a result of solution summary submissions.
The Proposers' Day event will take place in Arlington, VA. The event is intended to facilitate teaming and foster a greater understanding of the HEARING Program.
Update #1 ·
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) posts this funding opportunity in support of the Hearing Enhancement through ARtificially Intelligent NeurotechnoloGy (HEARING) Program. ARPA-H anticipates multiple awards with Other Transaction (OT) award types resulting from this announcement. Interested parties are invited to review the HEARING Special Notice ARPA-H-SN-26-154 and Innovative Solutions Opening (ISO) ARPA-H-SOL-26-154.
Parties interested in submitting a proposal in response to the ARPA-H HEARING ISO are required (mandatory) to submit a solution summary. No awards will be made, or funding provided as a result of solution summary submissions.
The Proposers' Day event will take place in Arlington, VA. The event is intended to facilitate teaming and foster a greater understanding of the HEARING Program.
Files
Notice history
| Notice | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| This notice | Solicitation | |
| Hearing Enhancement through ARtificially Intelligent NeurotechnoloGy (HEARING) - Proposers' Day | Special Notice |
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