DARPA GRIT Proposers Day Webinar
July 8, 2019
DARPA GRIT Proposers Day Webinar
 

Special Notice (SN) DARPA-SN-19-59
Gamma Ray Inspection Technology (GRIT)
Proposers Day

July 8, 2019

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 Gamma Ray Inspection Technology (GRIT) program. The Proposers Day will be held via webcast on July 8, 2019 beginning at 2:00 PM and slides will be posted July 9, 2019 by 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 GRIT Proposers Day are to introduce the research community (proposers, academia, and government) to the GRIT program vision and goals as well as encourage and promote teaming arrangements among potential organizations that have the relevant expertise, facilities, and capabilities for executing a research and development program responsive to the GRIT program goals. 

DARPA anticipates releasing the GRIT BAA in June 2019. 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 the 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
The program objective is to develop prototype systems capable of producing intense, tunable, and narrow bandwidth gamma rays using novel techniques and emerging component technologies that can achieve transportable form factors supporting DoD and interagency partner mission needs.

The ability to produce tunable gamma rays from 10s of keV to 10+ MeV energies, intensities as high as 1012/second with sub 1% bandwidth would afford the U.S. transformational capabilities for various missions.  Such a technology provides the ability to non-destructively characterize objects for not only their elemental content, but also for their nuclear composition. Applications include special nuclear materials detection, elemental imaging, narcotics and explosives detection, non-destructive inspection of additive manufactured components, new diagnostics and treatments in medicine and provision of a new tool to better understand detailed nuclear structures. GRIT will develop the critical sub-system and component technologies, support system integration, and perform the testing necessary to demonstrate these new capabilities.


TEAMING
DARPA highly encourages teaming before proposal submission and, as such, will facilitate the formation of teams with the necessary expertise.  Potential proposers may choose to be included on the (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. 

All profiles must be emailed to GRIT@darpa.mil no later than 5:00 PM on July 1, 2019. 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 GRIT Proposers Day will be webcast on July 8, 2019 beginning at 2:00 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 closes: July 1, 2019 at 5:00 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 limitations (500 individuals) will be added to a waitlist.  Individuals who are unable to register because the deadline has occurred may request to be added to the waitlist. If slots become available due to cancellations, the slots may be filled on a first come, first served basis from the waitlist. 
 

ELIGIBILITY
DARPA hosts Proposers Days to (1) promote teaming arrangements between researchers; (2) provide potential proposers with information on whether and how they might respond to the Government’s research and development solicitations, and (3) increase efficiency in proposal preparation and evaluation.  Therefore, Proposers Days are only open to registered potential proposers, i.e., the events are closed to the general public and media.  For this particular program, Proposers Day registration is open to potential proposers who are U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, and foreign nationals. 


Q & A
Administrative, technical, and contractual questions about the GRIT program should be emailed to GRIT@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 GRIT Proposers Day in all correspondence.



DISCLAIMERS AND IMPORTANT NOTES
Viewing the GRIT Proposers Day webcast is voluntary and is not required to propose to the anticipated GRIT 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 included in submitted materials or 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.