DARPA Expands Young Faculty Award Program

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is expanding its Young Faculty Award (YFA) program research topics to 18 and is now allowing FYA researchers to work with subcontractors. The 2014 FYA solicitation includes technical topic areas in the physical sciences, engineering, materials, mathematics, biology, computing, informatics and manufacturing disciplines. The research must be of interest to DARPA’s Defense Sciences and Microsystems Technology offices. Eligible applicants must be employed in U.S. institutions of higher learning and withing five years of appointment to a tenure-track position. Grants up to $500,000 over a two-year period will be awarded. As many as four of the most exceptional researchers may be selected to receive up to an additional $500,000 for an additional year under a DARPA director’s fellowship.

Proposers may now partner with subcontractors; however, the subcontracting partner cannot receive more than 30 percent of the total grant value. This change in FYA policy is designed to provide young scientists with the chance to manage a multidisciplinary team and to improve their understanding of the work DARPA program managers perform.

Additional details about the topics and applications instructions are available online.