Organoid Cytomorphic Intelligence Resulting from Convergent Understanding and Information Transfer (O-Circuit) Proposers Workshop
Closed Special Notice Posted
- Solicitation number
- DARPA-SN-26-58
- Agency
-
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Department of Defense
- 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)
- Points of contact
-
- Dr. Jeffrey Zaleski o-circuit@darpa.mil
Notice details come from SAM.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) published this Special Notice announcing a Proposers Workshop for the Organoid Cytomorphic Intelligence Resulting from Convergent Understanding and Information Transfer (O-Circuit) program. The workshop will be held on Friday, April 10, 2026, at the Executive Conference Center in Arlington, Virginia, with virtual attendance available. This Special Notice supports an anticipated Program Solicitation and aims to facilitate ideation, increase proposal refinement efficiency, and promote teaming among organizations with relevant expertise. The notice was posted on March 23, 2026, with a registration deadline of April 3, 2026, at 4:00 PM Eastern Time. Free registration is required through the designated events portal, with in-person attendance limited to three representatives per division or department. The Special Notice is not a formal solicitation or request for proposals.
The O-Circuit program seeks to develop biological processing units (BPUs) that leverage synthetic biological intelligence to address power inefficiency limitations of semiconductor-based computation in austere edge environments where advanced AI and machine learning applications are deployed. Prospective proposers must register by April 3, 2026, and may submit lightning talks (single-slide presentations) and teaming profiles (one to two pages) by April 6, 2026, at 4:00 PM EST to O-Circuit@darpa.mil. U.S. Permanent Residents and Foreign Nationals must submit DARPA Form 60 by April 3, 2026, while foreign government personnel require an Official Visit Request from their respective Embassy. The program solicitation is anticipated for release in early April 2026 on SAM.gov with abstract submissions expected in early May 2026, offering Other Transaction for Prototype awards with a 32-month period of performance. DARPA encourages participation from all responsible sources, including small and medium-sized businesses, academic institutions, nontraditional defense contractors, and first-time government contractors, with no mandatory workshop attendance required for proposal submission.
Notice text
2 versions
Update #2 · Latest ·
UPDATE: Amendment 1 is the DRAFT Program Solicitation.
The Biological Technologies Office (BTO) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is hosting a Proposers Workshop in support of an anticipated Program Solicitation (PS) for the Organoid Cytomorphic Intelligence Resulting from Convergent Understanding and Information Transfer (O-Circuit) program. The Proposers Workshop will be held on Friday, April 10, 2026, at the Executive Conference Center in Arlington, VA (4075 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300). A virtual attendance option will also be available. Advance registration is required. Registrants will have the opportunity to provide teaming profiles and give a lightning talk. There are a limited number of timeslots for lightning talks, so they must be scheduled upon registration on a first-come, first-served basis. Note, all times listed in this announcement and on the registration website are Eastern Time.
While semiconductor-based computation is readily deployed in well-resourced environments, it is challenged by sustained applications ‘at the edge’ due to inherent power inefficiencies. This is a particular limitation for the Department of War (DoW) when operating in austere environments, especially when using advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) applications with high energy demands for both training and inference. New unconventional computing concepts, such as synthetic biological intelligence, have the potential to fundamentally address these limitations but do not yet possess the necessary training and inference capabilities for practical applications. To meet these needs, the O-Circuit program will explore methods for improving the learning, inference, and computational memory of neural tissue systems to develop an integrated biological processing unit (BPU) that establishes a new paradigm for sense-compute-act for edge applications.
Update #1 ·
The Biological Technologies Office (BTO) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is hosting a Proposers Workshop in support of an anticipated Program Solicitation (PS) for the Organoid Cytomorphic Intelligence Resulting from Convergent Understanding and Information Transfer (O-Circuit) program. The Proposers Workshop will be held on Friday, April 10, 2026, at the Executive Conference Center in Arlington, VA (4075 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300). A virtual attendance option will also be available. Advance registration is required. Registrants will have the opportunity to provide teaming profiles and give a lightning talk. There are a limited number of timeslots for lightning talks, so they must be scheduled upon registration on a first-come, first-served basis. Note, all times listed in this announcement and on the registration website are Eastern Time.
While semiconductor-based computation is readily deployed in well-resourced environments, it is challenged by sustained applications ‘at the edge’ due to inherent power inefficiencies. This is a particular limitation for the Department of War (DoW) when operating in austere environments, especially when using advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) applications with high energy demands for both training and inference. New unconventional computing concepts, such as synthetic biological intelligence, have the potential to fundamentally address these limitations but do not yet possess the necessary training and inference capabilities for practical applications. To meet these needs, the O-Circuit program will explore methods for improving the learning, inference, and computational memory of neural tissue systems to develop an integrated biological processing unit (BPU) that establishes a new paradigm for sense-compute-act for edge applications.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| DARPA-SN-26-58-Amendment-01.pdf | ||
| O-Circuit_PW_Attachment_2_Teaming_Profile.docx | DOCX document | |
| DARPA-SN-26-58.pdf | ||
| O-Circuit_PW_Attachment_1_Lightning_Talk.pptx | PPTX presentation |
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