Solicitation
Young Faculty Award (YFA) 2027
Department of Defense · Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
AI summaryStep 1, executive summary: due November 5, 2026, 4:00 PM Eastern, and required before any full proposal. Step 2, full proposal: the response due date is January 13, 2027, 4:00 PM Eastern. DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) offers cooperative agreements (research funding awards, not contracts) of up to $1,225,000 each to early-career faculty and equivalent researchers at U.S. institutions, for basic research in 18 topic areas. It is not a small business set-aside, and the lead researcher must hold a faculty or equivalent research post. More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Oct 23, 2026. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 20, 2026. The notice was amended Oct 23, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov. This summary may miss requirements: 1 of 8 attachments weren't read (Attach_B_Proposal_Summary_Slide.pptx). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Step 1, executive summary: due November 5, 2026, 4:00 PM Eastern, and required before any full proposal. Step 2, full proposal: the response due date is January 13, 2027, 4:00 PM Eastern. DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) offers cooperative agreements (research funding awards, not contracts) of up to $1,225,000 each to early-career faculty and equivalent researchers at U.S. institutions, for basic research in 18 topic areas. It is not a small business set-aside, and the lead researcher must hold a faculty or equivalent research post.
Who can bid (7)
- The lead researcher, the principal investigator (PI), must be a current tenure-track faculty member, tenured faculty within 3 years of their tenure date, or an equivalent at a non-profit research institution within 12 years of receiving their doctorate, as of the full proposal due date
- The PI must not have received more than $500,000 from DARPA or $1,250,000 from all Department of War sources combined, as a prime or subawardee, and must not have won a Young Faculty Award as PI before
- U.S. organizations only: all key, senior and team personnel must be employed at a U.S. institution
Show all 7Show fewer
- Key and senior personnel who are citizens of China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia or Venezuela are not eligible; the submitting institution must certify this
- Researchers at federally funded research centers, university affiliated research centers, national laboratories or other Government entities, and current or former DARPA program managers, cannot take part in any role
- Submit the executive summary first; a full proposal is not accepted from a team that skipped it
- Registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) with a Unique Entity ID, kept active through the award process
How to submit: Executive summary: DARPA's Broad Agency Announcement Tool (BAAT) at baa.darpa.mil, as one zip file. Full proposal: Grants.gov, per the FAQ document. Questions: YFA2027@darpa.mil.. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (7)
- Serious: Executive summary is a required first step. Step 1, the executive summary, is due November 5, 2026, 4:00 PM Eastern. Without it you cannot send the full proposal, which is due January 13, 2027, 4:00 PM Eastern. A discouraging reply from DARPA does not block the full proposal.
- Serious: Lead researcher must be early-career faculty or equivalent. A typical small business cannot be the PI. Teaming is possible: the FAQ says subawardees are permitted, and another answer says researchers at small for-profit companies can propose if they work at a U.S. institution and meet every other rule.
- Serious: Prior federal funding cap for the PI. A PI with more than $500,000 from DARPA or $1,250,000 from all Department of War sources combined is not eligible, even as a subawardee on past work.
Show all 7Show fewer
- Worth checking: Fundamental research only. Applied research or work needing controlled unclassified information limits will not be selected, so product development ideas do not fit.
- Worth checking: One executive summary, one full proposal, one topic area per PI. If a PI sends more than one, DARPA reviews only the first time-stamped one and rejects the rest.
- Worth checking: Security risk review of key and senior personnel. DARPA runs a separate foreign-influence risk assessment of all key and senior personnel selected for negotiation, settled before final award.
- Minor: Two submission systems with account setup. Executive summaries go through BAAT, which needs a two-step account with two emails and heavy traffic is expected on the deadline day; full proposals go through Grants.gov.
Read from the notice and 7 attachments. 1 of 8 not read. Show which files.
- DARPARA2701.pdf (read)
- DARPARA2701_Administrative_FAQs_10-19-2026.pdf (read)
- Attach_G_Model_Cooperative_Agreement.docx (read)
- Attach_F_US_Citizen_Grad_Student_Option.docx (read)
- Attach_D_Vol_2.docx (read)
- Attach_C_Vol_1.docx (read)
- Attach_A_Executive_Summary.docx (read)
- Attach_B_Proposal_Summary_Slide.pptx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Proposals for new basic (fundamental) research that leads to revolutionary advances in science, devices or systems, not small improvements to current practice
- Each proposal picks exactly one of 18 topic areas, such as prompt engineering math, plasma electron emission, thermomechanical resilience, low-precision computing, quantum algorithms, deep tissue modulation, programmable biological time, continuous critical care, and frugal AI querying
- A 24-month base research period in two 12-month intervals, each capped at $250,000
- A Statement of Work (SOW) and cost proposal for a 12-month Director's Fellowship option after the base period, up to $500,000
- Encouraged: a SOW and cost proposal for a U.S. Citizen Graduate Student option, up to $225,000, running within the base period
- A credible research plan with schedule and measurable milestones, a management plan, and key personnel qualifications
- A one-slide PowerPoint summary of the proposal (Attachment B) sent as a separate file with the full proposal
- Contract type
- Cooperative agreement (research funding award, not a contract); only this instrument will be issued
- Period of performance
- 24-month base period (two 12-month intervals) + 12-month Director's Fellowship option (months 25 to 36) + a 12-month U.S. Citizen Graduate Student option that runs inside the base period
- Estimated value
- Up to $1,225,000 per award at most: base up to $500,000, Director's Fellowship option up to $500,000, graduate student option up to $225,000. This is the funding maximum, not a Government estimate.
- How they'll choose
- Scientific and technical review of each conforming proposal; proposals are not ranked against each other, and awards go to those most advantageous to the Government, subject to available funding. The detailed review criteria were not in the text read.
- Offers due
- January 13, 2027, 4:00 PM Eastern Time (from the version posted Oct 20, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Executive summary: DARPA's Broad Agency Announcement Tool (BAAT) at baa.darpa.mil, as one zip file. Full proposal: Grants.gov, per the FAQ document. Questions: YFA2027@darpa.mil.
- Page limits
- Executive summary: 1 page, not counting the cover sheet. Volume 1 Technical and Management: 8 pages. Volume 2 Administrative and National Policy Requirements: no page limit.
What to include when you submit
- First send a one-page executive summary on the Attachment A template, by November 5, 2026, 4:00 PM Eastern; DARPA replies with a letter encouraging or discouraging a full proposal
- The executive summary is reviewed blind: leave the PI, organization and team names off the summary page and put them only on the cover sheet, or it may be rejected as non-conforming
- Upload executive summaries to BAAT as one .zip or .zipx file of 100 MB or less; a second upload overwrites the first
- Name exactly one topic area on the cover sheet of every submission; send only one executive summary and one full proposal per PI, since DARPA reviews only the first time-stamped one
- Full proposal Volume 1, Technical and Management (Attachment C template, mandatory): official transmittal letter, summary slide, executive summary, goals and impact, technical plan, management plan, personnel, capabilities, SOW, schedule and milestones
- Full proposal Volume 2, Administrative and National Policy Requirements (Attachment D template, mandatory): team members, organizational conflict of interest disclosure, intellectual property, human subjects and animal use, tax and felony representations
- Include Attachment E, the letter DARPA sent in reply to your executive summary, and Attachment F if you propose the U.S. Citizen Graduate Student option
- Send the one-slide summary on the Attachment B template as a separate PowerPoint file
- Include the SOW and cost proposal for the Director's Fellowship option; it cannot be added later if left out
- Show your federally negotiated Facilities & Administrative (F&A, overhead) rate in the cost proposal; give the budget justification as Section L of the SF 424 Research & Related Budget form on Grants.gov
- List all past, current and pending federal support with sponsor, amount and dates
- Give your Unique Entity ID in each proposal and keep an active SAM registration
- Proposal validity period is at least 120 days
- Write in English, at least 12-point font, labeled with the DARPA RA number, organization and proposal title; all money in U.S. dollars
- Describe your plan for Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) review if the work involves people or animals
- Disclose any organizational conflicts of interest, and say whether you or any team member provides advisory or technical support services to a DARPA office now or ended such work within the past year
After award, you must have
- Foreign nationals and U.S. permanent residents working on the award must register through DARPA once selected for award negotiation, and the PI reports changes within five business days From DARPARA2701.pdf:
All non-official FNs and USPRs working on DARPA programs are subject to screening…
Current contractor
No incumbent applies. This is an initial announcement, and multiple awards are anticipated.
Not in the notice text
- The middle of the Research Announcement (DARPARA2701.pdf), including topic areas 14 to 18 and part of Section III, was attached but not read; it may hold the evaluation criteria. Attachment B (the summary slide template) was attached but not read, and part of Attachment G (a reference cooperative agreement) was cut. Check these on SAM.gov.
- The review criteria and their order of importance are not in the text read.
- The Grants.gov opportunity number and package for the full proposal are not given in the text read.
- The notice gives no place of performance; each proposal states its own.
- How many awards DARPA plans in total is not stated beyond 'multiple awards are anticipated'.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Executive summary: DARPA's Broad Agency Announcement Tool (BAAT) at baa.darpa.mil, as one zip file. Full proposal: Grants.gov, per the FAQ document. Questions: YFA2027@darpa.mil. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 20, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- Def Advanced Research Projects Agcy, Arlington, VA
- Product/service code
- AC11 · National Defense R&D Services; Department of Defense – Military; Basic Research
- Business type
- Engineering, architecture & research (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 541715)
- Versions
2 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 23, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Jan 13, 2027
- Oct 20, 2026 · Solicitation (this version)Due Jan 13, 2027
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award (YFA) program aims to identify and engage rising stars in junior research positions in academia and equivalent positions at non-profit research institutions, particularly those without prior DARPA funding, to expose them to Department of War (DoW) needs and DARPA’s mission to create and prevent technological surprise for national security. The YFA program provides high-impact funding to researchers early in their careers to develop innovative new research that enables transformative DoW capabilities. Ultimately, the YFA program developes the next generation of researchers focused on national security issues.