Funds Available:
Not specified in the call.
Duration:
48 months
Relevant Research Areas:
Engineering plant varieties able to receive a variety of stimuli and produce measurable signals as output ("stimulus-response"). APT will rigorously explore the feasibility of using engineered plant varieties as independent biosensors for chemicals, bacteria/viruses, or radioactivity (see below for details).
Deadlines:
- Proposal Abstract Due Date and Time - January 11, 2018, 4:00 PM ET
- Proposal Due Date and Time/BAA Closing - February 21, 2018, 4:00 PM ET
- Proposers Day (event and webinar for applicants) - December 12, 2017
Proposer's Day webinar: An event for potential applicants will be held December 12 in Arlington, VA to facilitate the formation of proposer teams that can also be attended via webinar but requires registration by December 11, or until webinar capacity is reached, whichever comes first:
https://events.sa-meetings.com/ehome/index.php?eventid=290978&
Description:
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals to enable the development of advanced plant technologies for the detection of environmental threats. Respondents to this BAA must propose research that leads to groundbreaking advancements in robust plant-based sensing and reporting of specific stimuli. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in incremental improvements to the existing state of practice.
The APT program will create novel plant-based sensors that sense and report DoD-relevant stimuli. These stimuli should be related to human activities (e.g., intentional or accidental chemical or biological release) and not be a natural function of the plant. Engineered plant responses must be distinguishable from background plant phenotypes. Proposers should explore
sense-and-report traits that overcome drawbacks associated with currently deployed, non-plant sensors and consider the creation of systems capable of concurrently sensing multiple (>3) stimuli with separate identifiable response traits for each.
Classes of DoD-relevant stimuli include: biological agents (e.g., spores, virus, bacteria, toxins), chemicals (e.g., organic, inorganic), and radiative signals (e.g., EM, RF, particle decay). Substitute stimuli that are similar to but less toxic/dangerous than existing national security threats, and that are equally difficult to detect, are preferred.
Plant sensor platforms developed in the APT program must be based on non-model plants that have the ability to persist for long periods without being affected by normal variation in outdoor conditions (e.g., climate, native biota). Proposals relying solely on model systems, such as Arabidopsis and Nicotiana, will be considered non-responsive to this BAA. Despite this emphasis on robustness in the environment, there will be no environmental release of any developed plant sensors and all research will occur in secure biocontainment that will progress from small (e.g., benchtop) to large (e.g., greenhouse) scale over the life of the program. To accomplish the above program goals, proposers will leverage state-of-the-art plant gene alteration techniques towards three specific and complementary technical objectives:
- Identify, test, and integrate genetic components for plant sensing and reporting. Proposers will engineer sense-and-report traits into plants by designing and engineering the appropriate gene sequences and pathways for sensor and signal transduction components and for the production of response phenotypes.
- Tailor plant resource collection and allocation to support sense-and-report traits. Proposers will modify the genetics of the plant chassis to ensure sensing and reporting capabilities by collecting energy, nutrients, water, and other potentially limiting substrates that negatively affect the plant's ability to sense and report target stimuli.
- Ensure long-term sense-and-report capability by engineering plants to be robust in intended environments. Proposers will modify the plant chassis for robustness in theenvironment, by enhancing interactions with other species of plants, insects, and microbes,without disruption to native ecological communities.
It is expected that proposals will involve multidisciplinary teams that include expertise from multiple complementary disciplines (e.g., synthetic biology, sensor technology, plant genomics and ecology).
DARPA will hold a Proposers Day (see above) to facilitate the formation of proposer teams with the expertise necessary to meet the goals of the program and enable sharing of information among interested proposers through the DARPA Opportunities Page and the Proposers Day registration website.
How to Apply:
Proposers are strongly encouraged to submit an abstract (6 pages plus various other documents such as CVs) in advance of a proposal to minimize effort and reduce the potential expense of preparing an out of scope proposal. DARPA will respond to abstracts providing feedback and indicating whether, after preliminary review, there is interest within BTO for the proposed work. DARPA will attempt to reply within 30 calendar days of receipt.
The page limit for the technical part of a full proposal is 42 pages, so URS staff strongly recommends that any applicants interested in this opportunity attend the webinar to obtain a good understanding of the program, and then use the abstract option to gauge DARPA's interest. Detailed instructions are in the BAA call document. Email
[email protected] for the call document or download it using the URL in the "Further information" section below.
Please note that URS already has the various registrations and numbers required for US government applications, so applicants should get in touch with
[email protected] for those and NOT register individually for the various US platforms, systems and numbers (DUNS, CAGE, Taxpayer ID, SAM, grants.gov etc.). Queen's also has a negotiated overhead rate for US government grants that has to be used.
Eligibility:
All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal that shall be considered by DARPA. Non-U.S. organizations and/or individuals may participate to the extent that such participants comply with any necessary nondisclosure agreements, security regulations, export control laws, and other governing statutes applicable under the circumstances.
Controlled Goods:
The Canadian export control list consists of a catalogue of goods and technologies whose possession and export are controlled by the Government of Canada. The list is divided into seven groups, and different governmental agencies have authority to regulate specific groups. The Canadian Controlled Goods Directorate regulates three of these groups and classifies the items in them as controlled goods and technology, e.g., military, strategic, and military-related goods and technology, as well as dual-use goods such as specified advanced materials, and specified telecommunications systems and equipment.
Dan Langham, Queen's director of Health and Safety, is also in charge of Controlled Goods for Queen's and can advise if proposed research for the US on certain topics for military use may be subject to Controlled Goods export restrictions. He can be reached at: e-mail
[email protected]
Phone 613-533-6000 x74980 Internal 74980.
Further Information about this funding opportunity:
(click on the "Related Documents" tab to access the call documents, then click on the last file link)
Technical support for BAA Website may be reached at
[email protected], and is typically available during regular business hours, (9:00 AM- 5:00 PM EST Monday - Friday).
DSS Requirements: not required for the abstract stage, but a TRAQ DSS is required for a full application.
