The Biological Technologies Office (BTO) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is hosting a Proposers Day for the potential proposer community in support of a planned Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Next-Generation Non-Surgical Neurotechnology (N³) program. The Proposers Day will be held on April 3, 2018, at the DARPA Conference Center in Arlington, VA. Advance registration is required.  The event will be webcast to provide limited interaction for those who would like to participate remotely.  Presentations and discussion will be broadcast via the webcast; however, interaction with webcast attendees will limited.  Webcast attendees will have the chance to submit questions prior to close of the meeting. It is strongly encouraged to attend the Proposers Day in person.  Advance registration is required for both the physical meeting and the webcast. Note: all times listed in this announcement and on the registration website are Eastern Time.

The Proposers Day objectives are:

• To introduce the science and technology community (industry, academia, and government) to the Next-Generation Non-Surgical Neurotechnology program vision and goals.
• To explain the logistics of DARPA contract awards as well as the objectives of the Next-Generation Non-Surgical Neurotechnology program.
• To facilitate interaction between investigators that may have capabilities to develop elements of interest and are relevant to the goals of the Next-Generation Non-Surgical Neurotechnology program.
• To encourage and promote teaming arrangements among organizations that have the necessary expertise, facilities and capabilities to meet research objectives established by the Next-Generation Non-Surgical Neurotechnology program. 

The Proposers Day will include overview presentations by government personnel, an information session to respond to questions from participants, “lightning” talks (three to five minutes, one PowerPoint slide) and posters for potential proposers to highlight technical capability or interest to promote teaming.

Attendance at this event is not a requirement for submission of a proposal or selection for funding. Information relayed during the Proposers Day will be made available on the BTO section of the DARPA Opportunities page: https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities. 

Registration Information

PLEASE NOTE: Registration for physical participation will close on March 28, 2018 at 12:00 PM EST or when capacity is reached and webinar participation will close on March 30, 2018 at 12:00 PM EST or when webinar capacity is reached.

Registration is limited by the venue capacity, and early registration is strongly recommended. There will be no on-site registration.

Participants must register in advance through the registration website. There will an optional $45 meal fee for the Proposers Day. Early registration is strongly recommended. Due to space limitations, attendance for the Proposers Day will be limited to the first 176 registrants. Remote participation via webcast is limited to 500 participants.  Interested parties are encouraged to coordinate attendance internally within their organizations prior to registration. Physical attendance is limited to no more than two representatives per division/department. Individuals who are unable to register because the deadline has occurred or capacity has been reached, will be added to a waitlist. If slots remain open after registration closes or become available due to cancellations, the slots will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis from the waitlist.

Further administrative questions should be addressed to DARPA-SN-18-38@darpa.mil. Please refer to the Next-Generation Non-Surgical Neurotechnology Proposers Day (DARPA-SN-18-38) in all correspondence. This announcement is not a request for proposals; any sent will be disregarded.

Eligibility

Attendance is open to individuals who are U.S. Citizens, U.S. Permanent Residents, and Foreign Nationals. Upon entry to the physical meeting, all attendees will be required to present valid, Government-issued photo identification.  The government-issued, picture identification must be compliant with the REAL ID Act of 2005. Prior to your arrival at DARPA, you should check the Department of Homeland Security website, https://www.dhs.gov/real-id, to ensure your driver’s license is compliant. If your state is not compliant, you will need to provide one of the below identification credentials for entry. NOTE: You will be denied entry in to the DARPA facility if you do not have a valid, REAL ID Act compliant form of identification.

Participation

Interested attendees are invited to present a brief one-slide PowerPoint summary of their interests and capabilities (see Attachment 1). These will be presented during 3-minute “lightning” presentations at Proposers Day. Presentations consisting of multiple slides will not be granted a time slot. Attendees may also choose to present a poster (see Attachment 2) describing their research interests that will be available for viewing and interaction for the duration of Proposers Day – those interested may submit both a lightning talk and a poster.

Lightning talk and/or poster submissions will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until time constraints (lightning talks) or physical capacity (posters) is reached.  Lightning talk submissions are restricted to those attending the physical meeting.  Interested parties are also invited to submit a one-page profile describing technical competencies and facility capabilities as it relates to the program and desired technical competencies in other potential teammates (see Attachment 3).

All profiles, presentations, and posters must be emailed to DARPA-SN-18-38@darpa.mil no later than 12:00 PM EDT on March 28, 2018. Following the deadline, a consolidated list of all profiles (not presentations or posters) will be sent via email to the proposers who submitted a valid profile (following the format provided and not exceeding the single page limit). Specific content, communications, networking, and team formation are the sole responsibility of the participants. Neither DARPA nor the Department of Defense (DoD) endorses the information and organizations contained in the consolidated teaming profile document, nor does DARPA or DoD exercise any responsibility for improper dissemination of the teaming profiles.

Posters

The Poster Session is intended to facilitate interaction and team building among meeting participants. If you are interested in presenting a poster, please make sure to select this option on the registration form. Posters will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis and should not be larger than 22" width x 28" height. You will NOT be responsible for printing your poster, DARPA will print and have it available for you at registration. Please do not include any proprietary information in your poster content.