The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award (YFA) program aims to identify and engage rising stars in junior research positions in academia and equivalent positions at non-profit research institutions, particularly those without prior DARPA funding, to expose them to Department of Defense (DoD) needs and DARPA’s mission to create and prevent technological surprise for national security. The YFA program will provide high-impact funding to researchers early in their careers to develop innovative new research that enables transformative DoD capabilities. Some key points about this opportunity include: * The program is open to U.S. institutions and individuals who are U.S. Citizens, U.S. Permanent Residents, and Foreign Nationals who meet the eligibility criteria. * Proposers must be employed at a U.S. institution in a current tenured track faculty position, tenured faculty within 3 years of their tenure date, or an equivalent at a nonprofit research institution within 12 years of the receipt of their doctorate. * The YFA program will provide a 24-month base period with a maximum total funding of $500,000, and an additional 12-month option period with a maximum funding level of $500,000. * Proposals should clearly describe the relevance and impact of the proposed concept for addressing national security challenges, the current state-of-the-art technology, new insights to address key technical challenges, a credible research plan and schedule, and critical, quantitative milestones to be pursued over the research period.