Department of Defense Advanced Computing Initiative (ACI) Fiscal Year 2019

The ACI is a DoD-sponsored computing systems research program initiated by the NSA and the Combat Capabilities Development Command/Army Research Laboratory/ARO. It focuses on areas of strategic importance to U.S. national security policy. It seeks to increase the Department's intellectual capital in computing systems and improve its ability to address future challenges and build bridges between the Department and the computing research community. ACI brings together universities, research institutions, companies, and individual scholars and supports multidisciplinary and cross-institutional projects addressing specific topic areas determined by the Department of Defense. The ACI aims to promote research in specific areas of computing systems and to promote a candid and constructive relationship between DoD and the computing research community. The end of CMOS transistor scaling, and the emergence of non von Neumann architectures, portends an explosion of potentially valuable computing ideas across a wide range of applications, technologies, and system concepts. The ACI competition should explicitly target research related to one or more of the four (4) thrust areas listed below. Detailed descriptions of the areas can be found in the following section, "Specific Advanced Computing Initiative Research Thrusts." The detailed descriptions are intended to provide the applicant a frame of reference and are not meant to be restrictive. Innovative proposals related to these research topics are highly encouraged. Full proposals are solicited which address the following thrusts: a. Novel Methods of Computing b. Hardware and Software Systems Components c. Exploration of System Concepts d. Algorithms and Architectures Quantum computing ideas are outside the scope of this BAA. Proposals will be considered for both single-investigator awards as well as larger teams. A team of investigators may be warranted because the necessary expertise in addressing the multiple facets of the topics may reside within different organizations. The research questions addressed should extend across a fairly broad range of linked issues, where there is clear potential synergy among the contributions of the distinct disciplines represented on the team. Team proposals must name one Principal Investigator as the responsible technical point of contact. Similarly, one institution will be the primary recipient for the purpose of award execution. The relationship among participating institutions and their respective roles, as well as the apportionment of funds including sub-awards, if any, must be described in both the proposal text and the budget. This will be a two-step application process: The application process under this BAA consists of a Concept Paper stage and a Proposal stage. The purpose of this two-step approach is to facilitate pre-screening by the U.S. Government such that detailed proposals are only sought from applicants whose concept papers demonstrate the most promise for award (this also helps to reduce unnecessary bid and proposal effort). The government's decision to invite a Proposal will be based upon the evaluation results of a timely and compliant Concept Paper submission. Only the most highly rated Concept Papers will receive an invitation from the government to submit a Proposal. An Applicant that does NOT submit a timely and compliant Concept Paper, is NOT eligible to submit a Proposal for consideration for funding. An Applicant that does NOT receive an invitation from the Government to submit a Proposal is NOT eligible to submit a Proposal. An Applicant invited to submit a Proposal will receive feedback on their Concept Paper that is expected to substantially improve their Proposal submissions. Response Dates a. Concept Papers- 25 March 2019 no later than 4:00 PM Eastern Time b. Selection of concept papers for full proposal on 25 April 2019 c. Selection for short term funding - 25 April 2019 d. Proposals Due - 31 May 2019 no later than 4:00 PM Eastern Time