Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contract Management Directorate (CMD), 3701 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA 22203-1714

A -- FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH AT THE [BIO:INFO:MICRO] INTERFACE SOL RA00-14 DUE 033100 POC E. Eisenstadt, DARPA/DSO, fax (703)696-3999; A.P.Lee, DARPA/MTO, fax (703) 696-2206; G. Strong. DARPA/ITO, fax (703) 696-2202 FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH AT THE [BIO:INFO:MICRO] INTERFACE, SOL RA 00-14, DUE 033100, POCs E. EISENSTADT, DARPA/DSO, FAX (703) 696-3999, A.P. LEE, DARPA/MTO, FAX (703) 696-2206, G. STRONG, DARPA/ITO, FAX (703) 696-2202. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION: DARPA is announcing a new program called "Fundamental Research at the [Bio:Info:Micro] Interface". The goal of the program is to create interdisciplinary teams of researchers drawn from the fields of biology, information technology and microsystems technology and who are primarily from institutions of higher education. The biology or [BIO] component of the program includes the disciplines studying biology from the molecular and cellular level through the organismal and population level. The information technology or [INFO] component of the program includes, but is not limited to, the disciplines contributing to the development of theories, algorithms, models and simulations, and scalable parallel and distributed systems. The microsystems technology or [MICRO] component of the program includes, but is not limited to, the disciplines contributing to the development of sensors, materials, microfluidics, micromechanics, microphotonics, microelectronics and large-scale systems created from such components. The program will enable teams of investigators from [BIO], [INFO] and [MICRO] to work collaboratively to address fundamental research issues at the intersections of these three broadly defined areas. DARPA anticipates that long-term outcomes of this program will include the creation of new interdisciplinary research communities and the emergence of new science and technology that will provide a foundation for revolutionary systems to satisfy future national and defense needs. DARPA believes that revolutionary solutions to important science and technology problems are likely to emerge from scientists and engineers who are working at the frontiers of their respective disciplines and are also engaged in dynamic interdisciplinary interactions. DARPA further believes that biology is now particularly well poised to contribute to advances in other disciplines and to benefit substantially from interactions with those disciplines. Initially, DARPA seeks to stimulate the formation of interdisciplinary teams of investigators -- including students and postdoctoral fellows -- to promote the development of enabling concepts and technologies that will contribute to fundamental cross-disciplinary advances. An explicit intention of this program is to stimulate the development of a new generation of scientists and engineers who will focus on, and become fluent in, performing science and technology at the intersection(s) of biology with other disciplines. For this reason, this RA focuses primarily on U.S. institutions of higher education. Examples of areas that might be addressed by interdisciplinary teams of scientists and engineers can be found in the Program Information Pamphlet available from the DARPA web site identified below. This RA is jointly prepared by three offices of DARPA, namely the Defense Sciences Office (DSO), the Information Technology Office (ITO), and the Microsystems Technology Office (MTO). The points of contact for the three offices are Dr. Eric Eisenstadt (DSO), Dr. Gary Strong (ITO), and Dr. Abraham P. Lee (MTO). PROGRAM SCOPE: This RA calls for grant proposals from U.S. institutions of higher education that intend to produce new science by collaboratively sharing resources (e.g., data, personnel, prototype devices, computing) and results with the larger community. If appropriate, institutional collaborations among institutions of higher education, not-for-profits, National Laboratories and for-profit institutions are allowed by means of subawards from the primary U.S.-based grantee. DARPA's intention is to make multiple awards covering a wide range of high-risk/high-payoff interdisciplinary efforts. The vehicle to fund selected proposals will be a three-year annually funded grant, with two optional one-year extensions. A typical budget is expected to be between $500,000 and $2,000,000 per year. A model DARPA grant is provided in Section III. Any awards are expected to have substantially the same terms and conditions as are set forth in the model. Depending upon the number and quality of responses to this announcement and the outcomes of selected and funded projects, DARPA expects to expand upon the means and opportunities by which additional funding can be sought. DARPA has begun to work with representatives from other Federal funding agencies including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) in order to ensure that the DARPA Fundamental Research at the [Bio:Info:Micro] Interface Program is synergistic with and complementary to related programs at these agencies. GENERAL INFORMATION: Proposers must obtain a pamphlet entitled "RA 00-14, Fundamental Research at the [Bio:Info:Micro] Interface, Proposer Information Pamphlet" which provides further information on the biofutures program; the submission, evaluation, and funding processes; the preproposal and proposal formats; and other general information. This pamphlet may be obtained from the World Wide Web (WWW) or requested by fax, electronic mail, or mail request to the administrative contact address given below. Proposals not conforming to the format described in the pamphlet may not be reviewed. In order to minimize unnecessary effort in proposal preparation and review, proposers are strongly encouraged to submit preproposals in advance of full proposals. An original and nine (9) copies of the preproposal must be submitted to DARPA/DSO, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714 (Attn.: RA 00-14) on or before 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time, February 18, 2000. Preproposals received after this time and date may not be reviewed. Upon review, DARPA will provide a recommendation to propose or not to propose by March 3, 2000. Proposers must submit an original and nine (9) copies of the full proposal to DARPA/DSO, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714 (Attn.: RA 00-14) on or before 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time, March 31, 2000, in order to be considered. This notice, in conjunction with the RA 00-14 Proposer Information Pamphlet, constitutes the total RA. No additional information is available, nor will a formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. Requests for the same will be disregarded. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals received. All responsible U.S. institutions of higher education capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal which shall be considered by DARPA. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals; however, no portion of this RA will be set aside for HBCU and MI participation due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of research for the interdisciplinary programs envisaged for the program entitled "Fundamental Research at the [BIO:INFO:MICRO] Interface". Any objections to the terms of this RA or the RA 00-14 Proposer Information Pamphlet must be presented in writing within fifteen (15) calendar days of the publication of this RA in the CBD. Any objections to the conduct of receipt, evaluation or award of grants must be presented in writing within ten (10) calendar days of the date the objector knows or should have known the basis for its objections. Objections must be provided in letter format, clearly stating that it is an objection or protest to this RA or to the conduct of evaluation or award of a grant, and providing a clearly detailed factual statement of the basis for objection. Objections must be received at the address stated above for delivery of proposals within the times indicated in order to be considered. All administrative correspondence and questions on this solicitation, including requests for information on how to submit a preproposal or full proposal to this RA, should be directed to one of the administrative addresses below; e-mail or fax is preferred. DARPA intends to use electronic mail and fax for correspondence regarding RA 00-14. Proposals and preproposals may not be submitted by fax or e-mail; any so sent will be disregarded. DARPA encourages use of the WWW for retrieving the Proposer Information Pamphlet and any other related information that may subsequently be provided. EVALUATION CRITERIA: Evaluation of preproposals and full proposals will be accomplished by DARPA technical staff and technical staff from other government agencies through a technical review of each proposal using the following criteria, which are listed in descending order of relative importance: (l) overall scientific and technical merit including potential to contribute to the formation of new and stable interdisciplinary scientific and technical communities; (2) potential to contribute broadly to scientific and technical areas of need by the DoD; (3) offeror's capabilities and related experience; and (4) cost realism. Note: cost realism will only be significant in proposals that have significantly under- or over-estimated the cost to complete their effort. Overall scientific and technical merit will be evaluated in part via analysis of how well the offeror addresses the following questions: Does the proposed effort address fundamental problems via interdisciplinary approaches involving biology (any area or combination of areas ranging from molecular and cellular to organismal and population), microsystems technology (including, but not limited to, the disciplines contributing to the development of sensors, materials, microfluidics, micromechanics, microphotonics, microelectronics and large-scale systems created from such components) and information technology (including, but not limited to, the disciplines contributing to the development of theories, algorithms, models and simulations, and scalable parallel and distributed systems)? Is the effort feasible? If successful, does the effort promise revolutionary leaps forward? Will the effort benefit all participating disciplines? How committed are the investigators to doing interdisciplinary work? How committed are the involved institutions to supporting interdisciplinary research efforts and encouraging faculty and students to engage in interdisciplinary research? Are participating institutions leveraging or seeking other resources to enable continuation of interdisciplinary research beyond the life of the requested award? The administrative addresses for this RA are: Fax: (703) 696-3999 (Addressed to: DARPA/DSO, RA 00-14); Electronic Mail: RA00-14@darpa.mil; Mail: DARPA/DSO, ATTN: RA 00-14,3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714. This announcement and the Proposer Information Pamphlet may be retrieved via the WWW at URL http://www.darpa.mil in the solicitation area. Posted 12/21/99 (W-SN410413). (0355)

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