What this program funds
The Young Faculty Award introduces early-career faculty to DARPA's way of doing research: high-risk, high-payoff work aimed at creating new capabilities for national security, run with active program-manager engagement and milestone discipline. Each year's Research Announcement lists specific topic areas spanning DARPA's technical offices — from materials and microsystems to AI, biology, and applied math — and your proposal must respond to one. Top-performing awardees can earn a Director's Fellowship that extends the award with additional funding.
Eligibility in plain English
- You hold a tenure-track assistant or associate professor position (untenured) at a U.S. institution of higher education; some announcements have included equivalent early-career researchers at institutions without a tenure system.
- Each year's announcement sets a specific window based on time in your faculty appointment — early enough that YFA is genuinely a first-DARPA experience.
- Your proposal must address one of the enumerated topic areas in that year's announcement; there is no open track.
- Security and citizenship requirements are generally lighter than for classified DoD work, but vary by topic — confirm with your sponsored-programs office and the current Research Announcement.
What you'll need to submit
- Executive summary (in cycles that use a preliminary stage) — a short concept document that draws feedback on fit before full proposals.
- Full technical proposal against your chosen topic area, with clear tasks, milestones, and deliverables for the base period.
- A statement of the capability impact — what the work would enable for the Department of Defense if it succeeds.
- Budget and Budget Justification for the base period (option-period budgets as instructed).
- CV/biographical sketch and eligibility documentation for your appointment date.
Tips for this mechanism
- Answer the topic area you pick, precisely. YFA topics are written by program managers with specific gaps in mind. An elegant proposal adjacent to the topic loses to a directly responsive one — and topic areas change every year, so match rather than shoehorn.
- Frame around a capability change, not a literature gap. The DARPA question is "if this works, what can DoD do that it cannot do today?" Lead with that answer; the scientific novelty supports it rather than replacing it.
- Write a plan that survives active management. DARPA runs awards with milestones, frequent reporting, and go/no-go reviews. Concrete intermediate deliverables signal you understand the model; a three-paragraph "we will explore" plan signals you don't.
- Use the executive-summary stage as a fit test. Feedback at that stage is fast and honest. A discouraging response is information — pick a different topic or cycle rather than pushing the same framing into a full proposal.
Related programs
- ONR, AFOSR, and ARO Young Investigator/Early Career Programs
- DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program
- NSF CAREER
- Regular DARPA program solicitations (BAAs) from the technical offices, at larger scale and any career stage