DARPA-SN-26-112.pdf
Posted: Aug. 10, 2026
• Type: .pdf
• Size: 0.1MB
Opportunity Assistant
Loading
Overview
Related Opportunity
Related Agency
Profiled People
Summary
This **Special Notice issued by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Biological Technologies Office (DARPA/BTO)** announces an in-person **Firefox Program Proposers Day** to support a planned program solicitation for technologies that expand a non-invasive coherent optical neural-recording system into a scalable, high-performance brain-computer interface (BCI).
The event will occur Tuesday, September 1, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EDT at the DARPA Conference Center in Arlington, Virginia, with registration required by 5:00 p.m. EDT on August 21, 2026.
Attendance is limited to 160 participants and no more than three individuals per organization. Participation is encouraged but is not required to submit a future proposal or receive funding.
The Firefox Program is planned as a 36-month effort consisting of three 12-month phases and two parallel technical areas.
**Technical Area 1** will develop dynamic rastering or scanning capabilities to steer and expand a coherent optical beam across multiple neural regions of interest, potentially using spatial light modulators, MEMS, Risley prisms, wavefront engineering, or adaptive optics.
**Technical Area 2** will develop analog or non-digital data-processing architectures to manage the high data rates and computational burden associated with large-scale optical neural recording, including potential all-optical photonic, in-sensor, or neuromorphic-photonic computing approaches.
The program seeks to prove and de-risk a pathway to a 100-channel, non-invasive BCI achieving 50-micron spatial resolution and 100-microsecond temporal resolution, ultimately reducing reliance on surgically implanted electrodes.
Performers are expected to deliver functional and testable components, software models, and hardware prototypes at phase checkpoints for staged validation, testing, and benchmarking by a DARPA-designated independent verification and validation partner.
The Proposers Day will include DARPA overview briefings, a question-and-answer session with the program manager and technical team, and teaming opportunities intended to connect traditional and non-traditional performers, including small businesses, universities, research institutions, and first-time federal contractors.
Registered attendees may request an eight-minute in-person sidebar with the DARPA team, with overflow virtual meetings available September 2, 2026. Selected participants will be notified by August 27.
Attendees may also submit one public-release poster, limited to 30 submissions on a first-come, first-served basis. A 24-by-36-inch printed poster is required at the event, and an electronic version is due by 5:00 p.m. EDT August 25.
All submitted materials must exclude classified information and Controlled Unclassified Information.
U.S. permanent residents and foreign nationals must submit DARPA eForm 60, while foreign government personnel must submit an Embassy-completed Official Visit Request, in each case by the August 21 registration deadline.
The notice is for informational and program-planning purposes only, is not a request for proposals or proposal abstracts, creates no binding contractual obligation, and provides no reimbursement for response costs.
The event will occur Tuesday, September 1, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EDT at the DARPA Conference Center in Arlington, Virginia, with registration required by 5:00 p.m. EDT on August 21, 2026.
Attendance is limited to 160 participants and no more than three individuals per organization. Participation is encouraged but is not required to submit a future proposal or receive funding.
The Firefox Program is planned as a 36-month effort consisting of three 12-month phases and two parallel technical areas.
**Technical Area 1** will develop dynamic rastering or scanning capabilities to steer and expand a coherent optical beam across multiple neural regions of interest, potentially using spatial light modulators, MEMS, Risley prisms, wavefront engineering, or adaptive optics.
**Technical Area 2** will develop analog or non-digital data-processing architectures to manage the high data rates and computational burden associated with large-scale optical neural recording, including potential all-optical photonic, in-sensor, or neuromorphic-photonic computing approaches.
The program seeks to prove and de-risk a pathway to a 100-channel, non-invasive BCI achieving 50-micron spatial resolution and 100-microsecond temporal resolution, ultimately reducing reliance on surgically implanted electrodes.
Performers are expected to deliver functional and testable components, software models, and hardware prototypes at phase checkpoints for staged validation, testing, and benchmarking by a DARPA-designated independent verification and validation partner.
The Proposers Day will include DARPA overview briefings, a question-and-answer session with the program manager and technical team, and teaming opportunities intended to connect traditional and non-traditional performers, including small businesses, universities, research institutions, and first-time federal contractors.
Registered attendees may request an eight-minute in-person sidebar with the DARPA team, with overflow virtual meetings available September 2, 2026. Selected participants will be notified by August 27.
Attendees may also submit one public-release poster, limited to 30 submissions on a first-come, first-served basis. A 24-by-36-inch printed poster is required at the event, and an electronic version is due by 5:00 p.m. EDT August 25.
All submitted materials must exclude classified information and Controlled Unclassified Information.
U.S. permanent residents and foreign nationals must submit DARPA eForm 60, while foreign government personnel must submit an Embassy-completed Official Visit Request, in each case by the August 21 registration deadline.
The notice is for informational and program-planning purposes only, is not a request for proposals or proposal abstracts, creates no binding contractual obligation, and provides no reimbursement for response costs.
Show All