The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is sponsoring a Proposers Day webcast to provide information to potential proposers on the objectives of an anticipated Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Molecular Informatics program. The Proposers Day will be held via webcast on April 7, 2017 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Advance registration is required for viewing the webcast. Note, all times listed in this announcement and on the registration website are Eastern Time.
The goals of the Molecular Informatics Proposers Day are to: (a) introduce the research community (Proposers, Academia, and Government) to the Molecular Informatics program vision and goals; (b) explain the mechanics of a DARPA program and the milestones of this particular effort, and (c) encourage and promote teaming among potential organizations that have the relevant expertise to develop and execute a research and development project responsive to the Molecular Informatics program goals.
DARPA anticipates releasing the Molecular Informatics BAA in early April 2017. If released, the BAA will be available on the Federal Business Opportunities website at https://www.fbo.gov and on http://www.grants.gov/. Following the event, DARPA may post presented materials as well as a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list to the DARPA/DSO Opportunities website.
To maximize the pool of innovative proposal concepts, DARPA strongly encourages participation by non‐traditional proposers (including small businesses, academic and research institutions, and first‐time Government contractors) in events such as this and any subsequent solicitations.
PROGRAM OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION
Data storage and processing is central to Department of Defense (DoD) activities across areas including platform design and optimization, sensing, mission planning and logistics, and healthcare. While our current computational architectures remain essential, new complementary approaches are needed to provide advanced capabilities as the complexity and volume of data grows.
Chemistry offers a yet untapped rich palette of molecular diversity that could be harnessed for scalable information storage and processing. Properties such as structure, size, charge, polarity, etc., if considered as independently selectable and modifiable variables, may yield a vast design space enabling dense data representations and highly versatile computing concepts that operate outside of our traditional digital, logic-based approach.
The Molecular Informatics program seeks to explore this design space by developing and testing completely new approaches to store and process information with molecules. Such an undertaking requires a diverse, collaborative community of researchers from fields including chemistry, computer and information science, mathematics, and chemical and electrical engineering. These groups will come together to answer questions such as: (1) How and what can we encode in molecules?; (2) What types of operations can molecules execute?; (3) What are the representational abstractions, mathematical or computational primitives, that can describe these operations?; (4) What does ‘computation’ mean in a molecular context?; (5) What functions can be decided via molecular means and what equivalence might they have to traditional computing methods?; and (6) Can we design approaches to compute directly on and with molecular data? By addressing a series of mathematical and computational problems with molecule-based information encoding and processing, Molecular Informatics will discover and define future opportunities for molecules in information storage and processing.
TEAMING
Interdisciplinary teams with expertise across the aforementioned research areas are expected to be essential in addressing the challenges of this program. As such, DARPA highly encourages teaming before proposal submission and will facilitate the formation of teams with the necessary expertise by sharing profiles of interested individuals and/or organizations. Potential proposers may choose to be included on this (optional) Proposer Profile List by submitting a one-page profile consisting of their contact information (name, organization, email, telephone number, mailing address and, if applicable, organization website); a brief description of their technical competencies; and, if applicable, their desired expertise from other teams/organizations. Note that the Proposer Profile List will only be shared with those individuals and/or organizations that submit a valid profile.
All profiles must be emailed to MolecularInformatics@darpa.mil no later than 12:00 PM on April 11, 2017. Following the deadline, the consolidated teaming profiles will be sent via email to the proposers who submitted a valid profile. Specific content, communications, networking, and team formation are the sole responsibility of the participants. Neither DARPA nor the DoD endorses the information and organizations contained in the consolidated teaming profile document, nor does DARPA or the DoD exercise any responsibility for improper dissemination of the teaming profiles.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
The Molecular Informatics Proposers Day will be webcast on April 7, 2017 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Note, all times listed in this announcement and on the registration website are Eastern Time. There is no registration fee for the Proposers Day webcast
Registration opens: As of publication of this announcement.
Registration website: http://events.sa-meetings.com/MolecularInformaticsProposersDay
Registration closes: March 31, 2017 at 4:00 PM or when capacity is reached, whichever comes first.
Advance registration via the above website is required in order to receive access to the webcast and is mandatory for every individual intending to view the webcast either alone or as part of a group.
Registrants in excess of the maximum capacity limitation (500 individuals) will be added to a waitlist. If slots become available due to cancellations, the slots will be filled on a first come, first served basis from the waitlist.
ELIGIBILITY
Registration is open to potential proposers who are U.S. Citizens, U.S. Permanent Residents, and Foreign Nationals. The Proposers Day event is closed to the general public and media.
Q & A
Administrative, technical, and contractual questions about the Molecular Informatics program should be emailed to MolecularInformatics@darpa.mil. All questions must be in English and must include the name and email address of a point of contact. Following the Proposers Day, DARPA will post an FAQ list to the DARPA/DSO Opportunities website.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Please refer to the Molecular Informatics Proposers Day in all correspondence.
- Technical Point of Contact: Anne Fischer, Program Manager, MolecularInformatics@darpa.mil
- Registration Website: http://events.sa-meetings.com/MolecularInformaticsProposersDay
- DARPA/DSO Opportunities Website: http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities
DISCLAIMERS AND IMPORTANT NOTES
Viewing the Molecular Informatics Proposers Day webcast is voluntary and is not required to propose to the anticipated Molecular Informatics BAA. Interested parties to this notice are cautioned that nothing herein obligates the Government to issue a solicitation. The Proposers Day does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. This announcement is issued solely for information and program planning purposes and is not a Request for Information (RFI). Since this is not an RFI, no submissions against this notice will be accepted by the Government. No classified, ITAR-controlled, or proprietary information shall be presented or discussed at the Proposers Day. DARPA will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred to participate in this Proposers Day. Recording the Proposers Day webcast is not permitted.
