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BTO will host two promotional events in August for bio-innovators, blue sky thinkers, and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) experts to:

The Biological Technologies Office (BTO) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) presents AIxBTO!

• Get to Know BTO Program Managers
• Introduce a special invitation-only event (based on submitted concepts)
• Discover a new and exciting vision for the office

AIxBTO promotional events will be hosted in-person/hybrid in both East Coast and West Coast venues in the mid- to late-August 2024 time frames. Details will be forthcoming!

BTO is interested in engaging first-time or non-traditional proposers; this is a chance to learn what we do and how to work with us. We seek revolutionary approaches to emerging DoD challenges. This opportunity supports short-term efforts with the potential to grow into groundbreaking new programs.

BTO aims to promote an understanding of funding opportunities along with ways to connect with the DARPA community. Attendees will:

• Get to know BTO Program Managers

BTO program managers and office leadership support a broad range of concepts across biological disciplines. Program managers will introduce their portfolios along with future visions and interests. There will be opportunities for 1:1 engagement with program managers.

• Learn about a special invitation-only event (based on submitted concepts)

BTO leadership will introduce an exciting special event to be held in November where program managers will compete for your innovative ideas to address AI/ML challenges in the bio space! Details will be forthcoming.

• Discover a new and exciting vision for the office

BTO leadership will introduce 5 new overarching topics that align with AI/ML applications:

1. Prediction and Health:
   • ‍Develop transformational tools that improve health outcomes through early exposure risk models; predictive disease assessments; personalized counterfactual prediction and explanation based on fine-grained individual data; and rapid, safe interventions that avoid human or animal subject research. Devise novel experimental approaches to validate that AIxBio tools perform as intended. Formulate models to envision potential risks and benefits of future AIxBio democratization.‍
2. ‍Autonomous Science
   • Enable multiple areas of autonomy that increase data generation and curation by orders of magnitude compared with standard techniques, including disruptive autonomy, new cloud lab instances, and improved human-machine teaming.
3. Biomanufacturing/Synthetic Biology
   • Discover new techniques and algorithms to design bespoke proteins and other biomolecules based on desired material properties, function, or enzymatic activity. Improve protein and biomolecule design using closed loop inferences that link sequence, structure, and function. Design tools to scale and accelerate bioproduction that prioritize both biofidelity and economy.
4. Challenges with Scale
   • Devise mechanisms to handle challenging or sparse data sets for predictive models, including ecosystem-scale data across disparate databases, or extreme environment data with limited availability in space and time; and develop digital twins across size and complexity scales from microbes to mammals.
5. Exciting Frontiers
   • Create biomolecules with ‘new to nature functionality’ such as novel mechanisms of catalysis or fluorescence. Predict and design new multicellular communities to generate and maintain desired collaborative functions. Develop capabilities that allow for modeling and prediction in entirely new areas of AIxBio, from biological data validation and constraints to explainability and trustability. Develop operational analyses to assess the tactical or strategic impact of biotech capabilities in DoD scenarios. Promote development of unique biomimicry capabilities through advanced models of biological systems.

DISCLAIMERS AND IMPORTANT NOTES

Attendance at AIxBTO promotional events is voluntary and is not required to propose to any DARPA BTO solicitation. Interested parties are cautioned that nothing herein obligates the Government to issue a solicitation. AIxBTO promotional events do not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. This announcement is issued solely for information and program planning purposes and is not a Request for Information (RFI). Since this is not an RFI, the Government will not accept submissions against this notice. No classified, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) controlled, or proprietary information shall be presented by the Government at AIxBTO promotional events. DARPA will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred to participate in AIxBTO events. Recording these events is not permitted.

Participation in the November invitational event may result in immediate funding awards. Interested parties must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number and must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at SAM.gov prior to the November invitational event in order to receive an AIxBTO award. Due to the compressed timeline, interested parties are advised to register on SAM.gov as early as possible. It is highly recommended that registration is completed prior to attendance at the August AIxBTO promotional events.

POC: Dr. Michael Koeris, DARPA/BTO, E-mail: AIxBTO@darpa.mil‍