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Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - Information
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General Information
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Seeking DARPA Support
- Industry Briefings
- Innovative Agreements
- Cost Sharing
- Proposals
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- Solicited Proposals
- Small Business Innovation Research Program
- Unsolicited Proposals
- University Programs
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- National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program
- University Research Initiative
- Augmentation Awards for Science and Engineering Research Training
- Working as an DARPA Program Manager
- DARPA's Location/Directions
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- Directions from National Airport
- Directions from the Washington Beltway (Interstate 495)
- Directions via Metro
- Telephone Directory
DARPA's strategy to accomplish its mission is to provide a forum for the
evaluation of competing scientific and technological ideas. Entities seeking R&D support from DARPA should explore the Agency's interests
in research by reviewing sources such as the Commerce Business Daily
(CBD), these Web pages, open literature, published testimony before Congressional committees, and The Department of Defense Small
Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Solicitation. DARPA welcomes new technical
ideas at any time from all public and private entities. If you have a great idea, we want to hear about it!
Additional information on doing business with DARPA is available upon request from the
Office of Administration and Small Business via its DARPA SBIR Information
Line at (703) 696-2448.
DARPA uses industry briefings whenever possible to outline problems within
specific technology areas and to request submission of technical solutions to
these problems. During these briefings, all potential offerors are provided with
identical information and therefore have equal opportunity to respond. DARPA
advertises its industry briefings through the CBD.
Offices also sometimes include information on industry briefings on the
Office Home Pages.
DARPA holds a Systems and Technology Symposium approximately every 18
months to communicate to industry our priorities for future programs.
ARPATech '96 - The Eighteenth Systems and
Technology Symposium will be held from May 22 through May 24, 1996, at
the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Proceedings of the Seventeenth Systems and Technology Symposium,
held in October 1994, are available from the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), (703)
274-7633, or from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), (703)
487-4650. The DTIC assession number is ADA287000.
Microsoft
PowerPoint documents from the 17th Symposium are available from our ftp site. Make sure your browser is set up to
download .ppt files as Microsoft PowerPoint.
In addition to legal authority to enter into contracts and grants, DARPA has been
granted broad authority to enter into "innovative agreements and other
transactions" to support research and development activities. Thus, DARPA is
able to channel its support through a variety of legal instruments and flexible
arrangements. The Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) are not applicable to
agreements under this authority. Proposals may, but need not state that an
agreement rather than a contract or grant is desired. Furthermore, DARPA does not
enter into agreements when a contract or grant is feasible or appropriate. See
FAR 35.003 for Government-wide policy on use of contracts for research and
development.
Agreements are potentially applicable to a wide variety of DARPA programs. They
are likely to be particularly applicable to support dual-use technologies (those
with commercial non-military potential as well as potential military
applications), consortia or multi-party agreements, and work supported by
multiple funding sources. Joint funding is the norm for agreements. A provision
may also be made for payments to DARPA somewhat similar to the recoupment policy
applicable to procurement contracts. DARPA also encourages cost-sharing in
procurement contracts and grants.
An increasing number of DARPA programs not only encourage but often require
cost sharing. Cost sharing is primarily an attempt by the government to discern
corporate commitment and future direction. Because cost sharing is aimed at
uncovering what the company intends to do in the future, sunk costs are
not counted as cost sharing, even though they may have led directly to the
creation of the know-how used in a successful proposal. Given this purpose --
divining corporate intent -- one can derive a commitment hierarchy of types of
cost sharing, with cash contributions to the project providing the best indicator
of commitment, and in-kind contributions of previously developed technology
indicating significantly less commitment. Most successful proposals in the 1993
Technology Reinvestment Program
(TRP), for instance, emphasized cash rather than in-kind contributions for
cost sharing. Occasionally, companies try to identify funds not directly
associated with the project as cost sharing. This is unacceptable because, like
sunk costs, it is not an indicator of intent.
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Last Updated March, 12 1996
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