SPECIAL NOTICE
A -- Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT)
- Notice Date
- 3/16/2016
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541711
— Research and Development in Biotechnology
- Contracting Office
- Other Defense Agencies, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Contracts Management Office, 675 North Randolph Street, Arlington, Virginia, 22203-2114, United States
- ZIP Code
- 22203-2114
- Solicitation Number
- DARPA-SN-16-20
- Archive Date
- 4/15/2016
- Point of Contact
- Dr. Douglas Weber,
- E-Mail Address
-
DARPA-SN-16-20@darpa.mil
(DARPA-SN-16-20@darpa.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Special Notice (SN) DARPA-SN-16-20. TNT Proposers Day DATE: Friday, April 8, 2016 LOCATION: Westin Arlington Gateway; 801 N. Glebe Rd. Arlington, VA. 22203 REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Thursday, March 31, 2016 at 5:00 PM ET REGISTRATION WEBSITE: http://www.sa-meetings.com/TNTProposersDay TECHNICAL POC: Dr. Doug Weber, DARPA/BTO E-mail: DARPA-SN-16-20@darpa.mil Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT) The Biological Technologies Office (BTO) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is sponsoring a Proposers Day for the potential proposer community in conjunction with the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT) Program. The Proposers Day will be held on April 8, 2016, at the Westin Arlington Gateway, 801 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA, 22203. Advance registration is required. The goals of the Proposers Day are: 1. To introduce the science and technology community (industry, academia, and government) to the TNT program vision and goals; 2. To facilitate interaction between investigators who may have interests and capabilities of relevance to TNT goals; and 3. To encourage and promote teaming arrangements among organizations having relevant expertise, research facilities and capabilities for executing research and development responsive to the TNT program goals. The Proposers Day will include overview presentations by government personnel and invited scientists. The meeting will also provide the opportunity for participants to briefly share their experience and expertise. Attendance is not a requirement for submission or selection. PROGRAM OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION: Service members are required to learn a variety of specialized skills that require sharp perceptual acuity, rapid and accurate judgement, and effective planning and execution of complex actions. Many of these skills, such as understanding and speaking a new foreign language, can be challenging to learn. Current training programs are time consuming, require intensive study, and usually require evidence of a more-than-minimal aptitude for eligibility. Thus, improving cognitive skill learning in healthy adults is of great interest to our national security. To address this challenge, DARPA is pursuing the advancement of technology to enhance learning through an approach called Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT), which uses peripheral neurostimulation to selectively promote synaptic plasticity in the brain. TNT aims to develop a platform technology to enhance learning of a wide range of cognitive skills. The research objectives of the TNT program are as follows: 1) elucidate the anatomical and functional map(s) of the peripheral and central nervous system circuitry that regulates synaptic plasticity in the brain, 2) demonstrate effects of peripheral neurostimulation on cognitive skills learning and the brain activity supporting that learning, and 3) optimize noninvasive stimulation methods and training protocols for long-term retention without negative side effects. To develop capabilities for enhancing plasticity and cognitive skill learning, research in the TNT program will focus on two Technical Areas (TA): TA1, Biological Foundations for Targeted Neuroplasticity Training, and TA2, Targeted Neuroplasticity Training Applications for Humans. Integration of both TAs is essential to achieve the program's goal of creating human-ready systems, and proposers are required to respond to both technical areas in full. It is expected that TA1-2 teams will be multidisciplinary, spanning backgrounds such as cognitive neuroscience, neural plasticity, electrophysiology, systems neurophysiology, biomedical engineering, human performance and computational modeling. Proposer teams are strongly encouraged to include expertise across these fields, as well as with industry partners that can develop commercial applications based on outputs of the TNT program. DARPA encourages participation in the TNT program and at the Proposers Day by all eligible applicants, including non-traditional performers, academic institutions, not-for-profit institutes, and industrial partners of all sizes. DARPA encourages collaboration and use of the program's teaming website to facilitate the formation of teams with necessary expertise. Proposers interested in teaming should submit a profile through the teaming website. The profile will contain such information as your research interests, capabilities and expertise, as well as areas in which you are seeking collaborators and your contact information so that other teams may reach out to you. The teaming website will remain live until the close of the BAA and is located at: https://team.sainc.com/TNT/home.aspx. Profiles from the teaming website will be printed and distributed to attendees at the Proposers Day. Registrants will also have the opportunity to briefly present a summary of their expertise and capabilities to the audience during a 1-2 minute presentation consisting of a single PowerPoint slide. The profiles, website and presentations are being offered to facilitate interaction between investigators and promote teaming arrangements. Requests for a presentation will be handled as part of the registration process on a first come, first served basis. REGISTRATION INFORMATION: PLEASE NOTE: Registration closes on Thursday, March 31, 2016 at 5:00 PM ET There will not be a registration fee for this workshop. Registration is limited by the venue capacity, and early registration is strongly recommended. Teams are limited to four attendees per organization. The registration cutoff date is Thursday March 31, 2016, at 5:00 PM EDT, or once attendance capacity is met, whichever comes first. There will be no on-site registration. An online registration form, teaming website link, foreign national visit request form, and various other meeting details can be found at the registration website, http://www.sa-meetings.com/TNTProposersDay. All attendees are required to present government-issued photo identification upon entry to the event. Non-US citizens are required to submit a DARPA Form 60 "Foreign National Visit Request," which is available in the registration confirmation email. The completed DARPA Form 60 must be submitted by Thursday, March 31, 2016, at 5:00 PM EDT. All inquiries should be directed to the Special Notice Inbox (DARPA-SN-16-20@darpa.mil). Please refer to the TNT Special Notice number (DARPA-SN-16-20) in all correspondence. This announcement is not a request for proposals; any so sent will be disregarded.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/DARPA-SN-16-20/listing.html)
- Record
- SN04053050-W 20160318/160316235930-4ec0dd6d3282505d0985d71c21c0b8c9 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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