Notice

Disruptive Science and Technology Impacting the Future of Defence: Competition Document

Updated 4 October 2022

1. Introduction

This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition, run on behalf of the Defence Science and Technology Futures (DSTF) programme, aims to identify and develop novel, early stage research ideas that may have a significant and disruptive impact on the future of Defence. A disruptive impact is something that radically alters how we do things – this can be positive (e.g. a new capability becomes available) or negative (e.g. a new type of threat arises).

This competition is funded by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).

The outcome of this competition is anticipated to be a pool of novel Science and Technology (S&T) ideas / concepts that may be disruptive. These ideas / concepts may then be used as the basis for further research within the DSTF Programme.

2. Competition key information

Submission deadline

Midday on Wednesday 12th October 2022

How do I submit my proposal?

Via the DASA Online Submission Service for which you will require an account. Only proposals submitted through the DASA Online Submission Service will be accepted.

You must not submit any information classified above OFFICIAL. If you wish to add supporting information that may be above OFFICIAL you must contact DASA in advance and we will discuss solutions with you.

Total funding available

The total funding available for this competition is approximately £750k (ex VAT).
The value of each submission must be for a fixed amount of £50k. Failure to submit a proposal for this amount will result in the proposal being sifted out as non-compliant.

Contracts will be awarded for a duration of up to 4 months from 3rd January 2023 and must complete with an executive summary delivered by 31st March, a 5000-7000 word report delivered by 24th April 2023, followed by a 20-minute presentation to a MOD Board on either the 3rd or 4th May 2023 in London. Dstl would prefer that the presentation is given in person. However, an option to present virtually will be made available if attendance in person is not possible. A confirmed date and time will be provided to you in April 2023.

3. Supporting events

Dial-in session

Wednesday 21st September 2022 - A dial-in session providing further detail on the problem space and a chance to ask questions in an open forum. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page . To get the most out of this session, we strongly advise that you attend with a good knowledge of the competition document.

4. Competition Scope

4.1 Background: Defence Science and Technology Futures

The Defence Science and Technology Futures (DSTF) Programme identifies novel early stage research which may have a significant game-changing or disruptive impact on future military capability, concepts of operation, threats or other areas of relevance to Defence. We are looking for ideas that may underpin generation-after-next technology, concepts or approaches and could disrupt traditional technologies or ways of thinking. The intention of this competition is to maximise the opportunities for exploiting innovation and reduce the likelihood of technological surprises caused by changes to the science and technology landscape. The programme is not about identifying incremental changes.

The ideas sought for this competition may not fulfil any current Defence requirement. Geo-politics, environmental issues, economics and many other factors will shape future scenarios and Defence requirements. The DSTF Programme has to consider what various futures might look like and speculate on how current novel Science and Technology (S&T) might develop and impact on what Defence needs to do in those various futures. This will enable Defence to better understand and plan for the future, helping to combat threats and take advantage of opportunities.

The DSTF Programme recognises the need to look beyond the current, developed science and technology landscape and beyond the traditional defence enterprise to explore emerging ideas and evaluate their future value. This DASA competition has been launched to support this need.

4.2 Scope: Evaluating Disruptive S&T ideas and their impact on the Future of Defence

The aim of this competition is to identify new ideas and ways of doing things that are potentially disruptive to Defence and then to further develop the understanding of the ideas and their future impact. It is likely that further research will be required to develop the understanding of the ideas. It may be necessary to consider multiple capability areas and multiple future scenarios to assess where the developed idea could have the most impact in future Defence. The outcome of the work should be an exciting flavour of what might be possible and what the affects might be, rather than a detailed study developing the understanding of the science.

We are interested in low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) ideas (TRL 1-2) from any discipline that you believe may, in the future, disrupt the current ways of innovating and have the potential to lead to radical change^{[footnote 1]}. Proposals may derive from horizon scanning or technology watching, the bidders own internal research activities or via any other mechanism. Ideas need to have theoretical basis, supported by reasoned explanation.

DASA provides fixed funding of £50k per project to advance these ideas and to assess how they might impact on the future of Defence.

The DSTF programme recognises that investigation of low TRL S&T has a high risk of failure. This is accepted. Should it be discovered during the work that the original concept is not likely to be valid or an alternative low TRL idea / concept / technology would likely be more important, this would be considered to be a valid outcome of the work. However, we would still expect the work that led to this conclusion to be comprehensive, described in detail in the report and the findings to be presented, as described below.

5. Competition Requirements

This competition has 1 requirement.

5.1 Requirement 1: Evaluating Disruptive S&T ideas and their impact on the Future of Defence

This DASA competition will award each successful bidder £50k to:

• take one or more novel very low TRL idea, as identified in the proposal, and further develop them to better understand the science behind them and their potential to form a disruptive technology in the future - this might be through laboratory research, modelling, or other approaches

• develop concepts of how the idea might be deployed in the future - for example, could it only be used in particular circumstances or could it have impact across Defence?

• describe the circumstances in which the idea might be disruptive and the potential impact on the future of Defence

The intention of this requirement is to develop an understanding of ideas to help determine their potential to be disruptive. Bidders should think about how the idea / concept / technology may fit within the future Defence landscape, and the technological landscape of the world in general, rather than the confines of contemporary technologies and capabilities.

Please note, the awarded amount, contract length, deliverables and milestone payments have all been set as part of this requirement.

Ideas that might help solve this requirement include:

• your own very early stage science and technology that you did not initially see as having a Defence application

• ideas identified through your own horizon scanning or technology watch, that you believe could be disruptive and should be investigated further

• ideas that you have developed through brainstorming or other workshopping approaches that you believe have the potential to disrupt the future Defence landscape but are at a very low TRL level (TRL 1-2)

Any ideas submitted to this requirement must have a theoretical basis supported by reasoned explanation.

Your proposal should provide an outline description of the idea or ideas and their potential significance to Defence. The proposal should describe how the project funding of £50k would be used to expand upon the idea(s) and further develop an understanding of their:

• fundamental scientific or theoretical basis

• future viability and the potential development paths

• potentially disruptive impacts and use cases (both positive and negative, opportunity and threat) within future Defence

5.2 Deliverables

The following deliverables are required:

• a 2 page ‘executive summary’ to present the findings of your research to date. This must be submitted by 31st March 2023

• a short report describing the low TRL S&T, the further development work you have undertaken and how this has improved the understanding of the potential impact of the idea on Defence in the future. If more in-depth research is required to further develop Defence’s understanding of the disruptive potential of the S&T, this should be described. The report should comprise 5000-7000 words excluding the title page, contents list and reference list. It should be written in plain English and the use of specialist terminology should be minimised. The extensive use of images and figures is encouraged where they will aid in readability of the document. This mandatory report must be delivered before the 24th April 2023.

• a 20 minute briefing to an MOD Board, describing the outputs of the research and highlighting what you believe the MOD could do to further understand the potential of the low TRL ideas or concepts. It is the intention that this Board will identify the topics of most interest to be taken forward for further investigation by the MOD research programme^{[footnote 2]}. Dstl would prefer that the presentation is given in person. However, an option to present virtually will be made available if attendance in person is not possible. The event will be held in London on 3rd or 4th May 2023. A confirmed date and time will be provided to you in April 2023. Note, the costs of attending the presentation should be included in the £50k budget for funded ideas; no further funding with be provided for travel and subsistence.

6. Clarification of what we want

6.1 We are interested in…

We are interested in novel, very low TRL S&T ideas which could either benefit Defence in the future or form the basis of a threat. We would like you to provide us with an exciting flavour of what might be possible and be disruptive. Your proposal should include evidence of:

• creative ideas / concepts / technology that have the potential to cause a significant game-changing or disruptive impact on Defence

• ideas which are at an early stage of development (equivalent to TRL 1-2)

• ideas that have a theoretical basis supported by reasoned explanation

• the development of those ideas through research to understand their potential to be disruptive in the future

• development of concepts of how the ideas might be deployed in the future to become either an opportunity or threat to Defence

• clear demonstration of how the proposed work applies to Defence

6.2 We are not interested in…

We are not interested in proposals that:

• include innovation that is TRL 3 and above. Any proposed ideas that are judged to be TRL 3 and above will be viewed as non-compliant and sifted out. Please refer to the TRL guide or contact a DASA Innovation Partner for guidance here

• suggest ideas that are not likely to be disruptive, are likely to only lead to incremental change and/or offer no real prospect of out-competing existing technological solutions

• suggest ideas that cannot apply to Defence

• include ideas that have no form of theoretical basis which can be described by reasoned explanation

• constitute consultancy, paper-based studies or literature reviews which just summarise the existing literature without further development

• an unsolicited resubmission of a previous DASA proposal

• do not include an evaluation of how the ideas could be disruptive in the future and impact on Defence

Your proposal would not be expected to deliver a proof of concept capable of validation in a laboratory-style environment.

7. Further research

The deliverables of this competition should indicate if more research should enable Defence to gain the greatest benefit.

It is the intention that the MOD Board, discussed above, will identify the topics of most interest to be taken forward for further investigation by the MOD research programme. However, it is not guaranteed that any idea will be picked up and developed further. Any decisions on research programme content, structure and funding at that stage would be independent of this DASA call. Further research at that stage may be placed through competition.

8. How to apply

Submission deadline

Midday on Wednesday 12th October 2022

Where do I submit my proposal?

You must submit your proposal via the DASA Online Submission Service for which you will be required to register.

Only proposals submitted through the DASA Online Submission Service will be accepted.

This Themed Competition uses a different application form compared to previous DASA Themed Competitions. The application is shorter. For those proposals that meet the mandatory criteria, 30 minutes will be allocated for assessment. Please ensure your proposal can be read, in its entirety, within this time.

You must not submit any information classified above OFFICIAL. If you wish to add supporting information that may be above OFFICIAL you must contact DASA in advance and we will discuss solutions with you.

Total funding available

The total possible funding available for this competition is approximately £750k (ex VAT).

The value of each submission must be for a fixed amount of £50k. Failure to submit a proposal for this amount will result in the proposal being sifted out as non-compliant.

How many proposals will DASA fund

We anticipate that we will fund around 15 proposals all of which will be £50k in value.

For further guidance

Click here for more information on our competition process. This competition is using specific assessment criteria, so, click here, for more information on how your proposal is assessed. Please be advised that the time allocated for assessment will be 30 minutes and not the traditional 90 minutes.

Queries should be sent to the DASA Help Centre – accelerator@dstl.gov.uk

8.1 What your proposal must include

• the proposal should focus on the competition requirements – it should include recommendations for further research, if necessary, to better understand the potential of the S&T idea(s)

• when submitting a proposal, you must complete all sections of the online form, including an appropriate level of technical information to allow assessment of the proposal and a completed finances section

• completed proposals must comply with the financial rules set for this competition. The fixed amount for each proposal is £50k (ex VAT). Proposals will be rejected as non-compliant if the financial cost is not for this fixed amount

• you must include a list of other current or recent government funding you may have received in this area if appropriate, making it clear how this proposal differs from this work

• a project plan that clearly includes only the 3 deliverables must be provided. These deliverables have been defined in the competition document and are designed to provide evidence of progress against the project plan and the end-point for this competition; they must only include; an executive summary, a final report and final presentation. Proposals with any deliverables less than or more than the 3 required for this competition will be rejected as non-compliant

• a maximum of 2 payment milestones. The final payment milestone must be at least 20% of the overall project cost, as outlined in the terms and conditions

• you should also plan for attendance at a kick-off meeting at the start of the project, and a presentation to the MOD Board as your final deliverable. Please also plan for regular reviews with the appointed Technical Partner and Project Manager at the end of month 1 and month 2; all meetings will be in the UK. Meetings may also take place virtually

• your proposal must demonstrate how you will complete all activities / services and provide all deliverables within the competition timescales (4 months). Proposals with the final report deliverable outside the competition timeline will be rejected as non-compliant

8.2 What your resourcing plan should include

Your resourcing plan must identify, where possible, the nationalities of proposed employees that you intend to work on the project.

If your proposal is recommended for funding

In the event of a proposal being recommended for funding, the DASA reserves the right to undertake due diligence checks including the clearance of proposed employees. Please note that this process will take as long as necessary and could take up to 6 weeks in some cases for non-UK nationals. This will take place during November and December to allow for contracts to start on 03 January.

As contracts are of 4 months is duration, any ethical / legal / regulatory factors identified within your proposal will not be accepted.

MODREC approvals can take up to 5 months therefore any proposals identifying the need for MODREC approval will be sifted out as non-compliant. Please contact your Innovation Partner for further guidance.

Requirements for access to Government Furnished Assets (GFA), for example, information, equipment, materials and facilities, may not be included in your proposal. Given the timescales and nature of the competition, no GFA will be available.

8.3 Export control for overseas partners

All relevant export control regulations will apply if a company ultimately wants to sell a developed solution to a foreign entity. All innovators must ensure that they can obtain, if required, the necessary export licences for their proposals and developments, such that they can be supplied to the UK and other countries. If you cannot confirm that you can gain the requisite licences, your proposal will be sifted out of the competition.

Additionally, if we believe that you will not be able to obtain export clearance, additional checks may be conducted, which may also result in your proposal being sifted out of the competition.

8.4 Cyber risk assessment

On receipt of a ‘Fund’ decision, suppliers must submit a Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQ allows suppliers to demonstrate compliance with the specified risk level and the corresponding profile in Def Stan 05-138, the levels of controls required will depend on this risk level.

Successful suppliers will be emailed a Risk Assessment Reference (RAR) number and corresponding risk level, and must use this to complete a SAQ here. The completed SAQ form and resulting email response from Defence Cyber Protection Partnership (DCPP) must be downloaded and returned to DASA. Further guidance can be found at: DCPP: Cyber Security Model industry buyer and supplier guide.

If the SAQ reveals deficiencies then a Cyber Implementation Plan (CIP) is needed and requires approval before a contract can be awarded.

If you have any questions please contact accelerator@dstl.gov.uk

8.5 Public facing information

When submitting your proposal, you will be required to include a title and a short abstract. The title and abstract you provide will be used by DASA, and other government departments, to describe your project and its intended outcomes and benefits. They may be included at DASA events in relation to this competition and in documentation such as brochures. The proposal title will be published in the DASA transparency data on GOV.UK, along with your organisation name, the amount of funding, and the start and end dates of your contract. As this information can be shared, it should not contain information that may compromise Intellectual property.

8.6 How your proposal will be assessed

At Stage 1, all proposals will be checked for compliance with the competition document and may be rejected before full assessment if they do not comply. Only those proposals that demonstrate compliance against the competition scope and DASA mandatory criteria for this competition will be taken forward to full assessment.

Mandatory Criteria

The proposal outlines how it meets the scope of the competition	Within scope (Pass) / Out of scope (Fail)
The proposal fully explains in all three sections of the DASA submission service how it meets the DASA criteria	Pass / Fail
The proposal clearly details a financial plan, a project plan and a resourcing plan, which includes only 3 deliverables, to complete the work proposed	Pass / Fail
The proposal does not include the need for MODREC approval	Pass / Fail
The proposal does not require any GFA	Pass / Fail
Maximum value of proposal is £50k	Pass / Fail
The proposal demonstrates how all research and development activities / services (including delivery of the final report) will be completed within 4 months from award of contract (or less)	Pass / Fail
The bidder has obtained the authority to provide unqualified acceptance of the terms and conditions of the Contract	Pass / Fail
The bidder has confirmed they are available to attend the final presentation, this is a required deliverable	Pass / Fail

Proposals that pass Stage 1 will then be assessed against this assessment criteria (Desirability, Feasibility and Viability) by subject matter experts from the MOD (including Dstl), other government departments and the front-line military commands. You will not have the opportunity to view or comment on assessors’ recommendations.

DASA reserves the right to disclose on a confidential basis any information it receives from innovators during the procurement process (including information identified by the innovator as Commercially Sensitive Information in accordance with the provisions of this competition) to any third party engaged by DASA for the specific purpose of evaluating or assisting DASA in the evaluation of the innovator’s proposal. In providing such information the innovator consents to such disclosure. Appropriate confidentiality agreements will be put in place.

After assessment, proposals will be discussed internally at a Decision Conference where, based on the assessments, budget and wider strategic considerations, a decision will be made on the proposals that are recommended for funding.

Bidders are not permitted to attend the Decision Conference.

Proposals that are unsuccessful will receive brief feedback after the Decision Conference.

8.7 Things you should know about DASA contracts: DASA terms and conditions

Please read the DASA terms and conditions which contain important information for innovators. For this competition we will be using the Innovation Standard Contract (ISC) Terms and Schedules. We will require unqualified acceptance of the terms and conditions; if applicable, please ensure your commercial department has provided their acceptance.

Funded projects will be allocated a Project Manager (to run the project) and a Technical Partner (as a technical point of contact).

We will use deliverables from DASA contracts in accordance with our rights detailed in the contract terms and conditions.

For this competition, £750k is currently available to fund proposals. There may be occasions when additional funding becomes available to allow us to revisit proposals deemed suitable for funding. Therefore, DASA reserves the right to keep such proposals in reserve. In the event that additional funding becomes available, DASA may ask whether you would still be prepared to undertake the work outlined in your proposal under the same terms.

9. Competition key dates

Dial-in	Wednesday 21st September
Competition closes	Midday on Wednesday 12th October 2022
Decision release	Friday 25th November 2022
Feedback Release	Friday 9th December
Contracting	Aim to be on contract by 3rd January 2023 and end 4 months later 4th May 2023
End of Project Presentation	3rd or 4th May 2023

10. Help: Contact the DASA Help Centre

Competition queries on process, proposal application, commercial, technical and intellectual property aspects should be sent to the DASA Help Centre at accelerator@dstl.gov.uk, quoting the competition title. If you wish receive future updates on this competition, please email the DASA Help Centre.

While all reasonable efforts will be made to answer queries, DASA reserves the right to impose management controls if volumes of queries restrict fair access of information to all potential innovators.

11. Clarification Questions and Answers

11.1 General Questions

Q. Is there a limit on the size of the company applying?

A: No limit. DASA funds organisations of any size.

Q. I understand that this application is for a single organisation? What about more than one person applying from an organisation?

A: Providing there is one named person leading submission, we are happy for collaboration. Please list the names.

Q. How many deliverables and milestone payments should be included in a proposal?

A: There are 3 deliverables which are stated in Section 5.2 competition document:

• Executive summary
• Produce a report
• Presentation to present findings.

There will be 2 milestone payments, March and May – exact dates are in the competition document.

Q. Duration is 3 to 4 month. Is there any flexibility in the dates? Or is it fixed?

A: The deadline and timeframe provided in the competition document is fixed

Q. The deliverables include a short report, but you are not looking for a paper-based study. What should the report contain?

A: The report should contain; what the idea is, the work you have done during the project, how you have developed the idea and its impact for Defence. It is basically a technical report on the work you have done – with added futures thinking around how the idea could disrupt defence in the future. We are not asking for a literature review.

Q. The assessor has 30mins. Can you confirm that the word counts for each sub-section of ‘innovation details’ apply to this specific competition (total 1700 words)?

A: As this is a shorter application, it should take the assessor an average of 30 minutes to assess the proposal. Three assessors (minimum) and a moderator will look at each bid. Further information on the assessor process for this competition can be found here.

Q. Is it possible to discuss an idea for this call with DASA prior to submitting the application?

A: Please contact your DASA Innovation Partner

Q. What kind of support can we expect from local or national innovation partners for the competition?

A: The Innovation Partners are not allowed to help you write the proposal or proofread it. They can answer big-picture questions about the application form. They can also mentor you through the application process, explaining the competition, the terms and conditions and how DASA projects are run if you are funded.

Q. Anything specific to know regarding foreign submissions?

A: DASA is happy to accept applications from outside the UK. Talk with the international Innovation Partner. It will be the same application process. Please note, if your proposal is successful, DASA do a basic security check on those involved and ask you, if you can, identify the nationality of individuals in the contract. You may need to hire someone who is unnamed at this stage, which is acceptable. Please reach out to your Innovation Partner for further clarification and guidance.

Q. The submission portal section A states, “Your disruptive S&T idea(s).” Should we submit a single proposal for multiple ideas, or one per (distinct) idea? Would DASA be interested in a proposal containing multiple concepts with a common theme? How many applications can I submit?

A: If distinctly different, then different proposals. If related, then they should be combined in to one proposal. If you combine multiple ideas, please ensure that the £50k can cover the entire proposal submitted.

There is no limit on the number of proposals that can be submitted, providing they are different ideas.

Please also ensure that you have the resource available to deliver more than one proposal should you be successful with multiple.

Q. Section 4 “We just need the names of the deliverables here, and whether they will be as full rights or full and limited rights versions.” What are these rights?

A: Please refer to the section in the terms and conditions, which details ‘Deliverables and Deliverable markings’. Check with the commercial team in the supplier organisation.

We would like a full rights report but can understand if you might want to use limited rights appendix. However, we would only expect this if you have unprotected intellectual property to report on.

Q. Under section 8.6. What constitutes a pass or fail for each section, i.e., what would a panel assessor deem as pass or fail? Can that be shared please?

A: In the competition document, there are mandatory criteria. For example, if the proposal exceeds the £50k cap, it would be classed as non-compliant and rejected at the pre-sift stage. You can view how the assessor will assess your proposal here.

Q. Can you clarify how Intellectual Property (IP) ownership is managed?

A: In the terms and conditions it states that DASA uses DEFCON705. Under this, any Intellectual Property generated under the contract belongs to the innovator. There is a link in the document to DEFCON705, in plain English.

Q. Do you own the content we generate? Can we peddle it off to other known interested allies?

A: Under the DASA terms and conditions, DASA use DEFCON705 so the IP remains with supplier but Defence has rights to use it. If you are not comfortable with this, talk to your Innovation Partner.

Q. I understand re: Intellectual Property (IP) and DefCon 705 - but many step-change inventions can be a new and simple idea. I am concerned that our idea will become public domain.

A: The application form asks for a title and summary - these may be published and publicly available. You will need to be comfortable with the title and information being publicly available. For an example, go to the DASA website and to transparency data. The information we publish is the name of the organisation, the money received and title of project. In some instances, the abstract might be shared. Other than this, information will not enter the public domain.

Q. If you have already got MODREC approval for a project, would that satisfy the MODREC requirement if your proposal includes human subject analysis?

A: It is hard to answer the question without the specifics within the forum. It is ideal to have a direct chat with your Innovation Partner as soon as possible. If the supplier has already got MODREC for a running project, the MODREC may not include how the data will be used in the project for this competition.

There is not enough time left in this project to apply for MODREC. If it is required, consider a move forward to an Open Call application.

MODREC was described for the benefit of the call.

Q. Disruptive ideas by nature pose a security risk. How can those risks be mitigated in transit/reports online?

A: For this competition, DASA will only accept applications at OFFICIAL classification. However, it may be possible to conduct the work at a higher level of classification if you have the appropriate facilities, etc. You should talk with your Innovation Partner about this matter.

11.2 Financial Questions

Q. Is the 50k funding inclusive or exclusive of VAT?

A: Exclusive of VAT

Q. Does accessing the 50k futures funding prohibit any further funding in other areas?

A: DASA cannot support getting funded twice from two different organisations for exactly the same research. DASA cannot fund multiple organisations for the same idea. Other than this, there are no restrictions.

Q. Are there stipulations for sub-contracting work out using this £50k, for example, to labs with facilities for dealing with energetics that an SME may not have?

A: We recognise you might need partners. Any partners will need to be identified and the project must remain with the party that submitted the proposal as the contract is with the named organisation. You may need an NDA if co-operating with partners.

Q. There hasn’t been a great deal of notice for this call (deadline 12th October) - are further calls planned for the future?

A: The application is short and only requires a light touch, so even with the deadlines, this should be possible. This competition should take about 1-3 pages for a submission.

This is a trial run from the Futures Programme perspective. It’s a way to understand what novel ideas are out there. If it is deemed successful, another competition may be run.

Q. Is the £50k funding a hard limit or could some bid for smaller? There are 15 proposals that will be accepted at £50k. Is that an up-to £50k, or it is block amount assigned?

A: The contract awarded is for £50k per bid. Any bid requiring more will be pre-sifted out as non-compliant. All bids will be awarded £50k. The advantage of this is that we are comparing everything on a purely science and technology novelty basis.

Q. Could you please reiterate what we can spend with the funding? Do we charge for overheads from our organisation? Can we buy compute time for the project?

A: Overheads, in an academic sense: Universities can apply for staff costs, which can be academic or technical, and should be full daily rate costs. You can also apply for materials and consumables (computer time is consumable), overhead/indirect costs can be applied. Breakout the costs, people costs and equipment as much as possible, as different institutes do it in different ways. The institution should help with the breakdown.

Reach out to your Innovation Partner if this is still unclear.

Reminder that there is £50K for this project and overheads need to fit within that.

DASA has said in the competition document, that the contract length is 3-4 months, the likelihood of getting the GFA in time is low, so please address alternatives.

Q. Are there any restrictions on publishing research funded by this call, after the end of the funding period?

A: Not as such, but there is a permission to publish process which all work funded by Dstl has to undergo before it is published. Dr Deb Carr has been through this process - it is very easy, very smooth and quick. Talk with your Technical Partner about this.

Q. Is this match funding?

A: No, 100% funding

Q. I have proof-of-concept, can I apply?

A: Assuming that the proof of concept is Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 on the MOD scale, we suggest looking at Open Call, as this call is for earlier stage ideas at TRL1-2. Innovation Partners can guide suppliers through the process.

Q. Will DSTF fund costs which are already being part-funded via grants?

A: As long as it’s not double dipping. However, if you have been funded via a research council grant, this isn’t likely to provide the outputs we want relating to potential for disruption to Defence.

Q. For an academic project that has no costs apart from research time, how should we structure the costs? As buyout of time, or as a consultancy fee?

A: Different institutions do it differently. For example, a consultancy can attract a higher level of overhead. Also, think about personal time available to you. The competition is for the first quarter next year. Check that your teaching time and supervisory time is scheduled in. It is recommended that suppliers chat with the institution regarding this.

Q. Do you need to submit an accountant’s report at the end of the project to corroborate spending? (Common requirement, e.g. InnovateUK)

A: No. We just need the evidence described in the competition document to approve those deliverables. A Technical Partner will be assigned to you if funded who will go over those needs.

Q. Is being part of a business startup accelerator/incubator program considered “Double Dipping”?

A: No, as long as research is not being done once and paid for twice

Q. Pay-out Milestones - is it the case that Projects start Early January 2023, but first Pay-out Milestone is March - is this fund based on reimbursing?

A: DASA can only pay for work that has been completed.

11.3 Scope Questions

Q. How can we know our idea is novel to DASA?

A: If you submit cutting edge science, it will clearly be novel. Whilst you cannot know exactly what would be novel for us, you should focus on things you believe are truly novel, that you have not seen in other places. This should mean that we are excited by it.

Q. The term “defence” does that only cover national defence, or does it also include protecting Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) and/or crowded places?

A: Yes, it covers almost all areas. When looking at low TRL novel technology, it is likely that ideas could equally apply across all Defence and Security related areas.

Q. Can you characterise the scope of defence? To what extent does it go beyond military matters? In particular are psyops within scope.

A: Anything goes, along as there is a basis in theory and it may be disruptive to Defence or Security in its widest sense.

Q. Can novel simulation methods be TRL 1 or 2? At some level any concept will make use of existing complex tools so the use of tools should not disqualify.

A: Yes, this is acceptable as long as the underlying technology being researched is a low TRL.

Q. What TRL should we expect to achieve in competition?

A: TRL 1 or 2 should be a start. The money is to develop the idea further. This competition is different from other DASA competitions as there is no finish level. The intention with this call was to be novel and innovative, not only in the ideas but also in the running of the competition.

Q. In terms of the future impact requirement of 10 years, what about where a v1.0 would be useable in the near future but v5.0 is a future game changer?

A: Focus on the implications of V5.0 to defence

Q. How much theoretical detail should the proposal include?

A: Please provide enough so that we can assess your bid. The content needs to be read and understood by a degree level scientist – which may or may not be a specialist in that particular field. It needs to be founded in reality. There needs to be an understanding of the underpinning theory and where it may lead.

Q. What exactly constitutes as an “incremental change”?

A: We don’t want technology where the implication to Defence is obvious within the next 10 years or so. Incremental in this sense means gradually building on existing approaches.

Q. How much, if any, experimental work does DASA expect in proposals?

A: As little or as much as you wish that will help develop the idea/ concept and enable you to present an improved understanding/ view of the potential for the idea/concept to give rise to Future disruptive capability or threat

Q. How much experimental work is expected at the end of this award? Online, it’s states that a proof of concept isn’t needed.

A: A suitable amount for you to progress the idea to a point at which you can better explain its potential to be disruptive to Defence. We are leaving this up to you and are not setting specific goals. However, you will need to present in your report how you have progressed the low TRL idea to better understand its future impact on Defence.

Q. DASA usually requires some kind of physical demonstration as part of their contracts. Presumably that doesn’t apply here, given the low TRL and contract value?

A: There is no requirement for demonstration apart from presentation – unless you decide that you would like to provide one. There are no specific facilities to support this. There will be no demo days.

Q. What if generation-after-next technology future were to leap from +10 down to 1-2 years. For example, a Black Swan, that we know about but Defence may be unaware of?

A: If this has implications for what you are proposing to submit, progress with the bid. We are interested in shocks/ disruption. The application process is quick.

Q. What if the tech is dual-use & potentially weapons of mass destruction (WMD)?

A: Many technologies have potential dual use and we can fund things that could be dual use - but we would need to consider the implications of this. We cannot fund things that would contravene conventions such as the Chemical Weapons Convention or the Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention. Please talk to an Innovation Partner about the specifics if you are concerned about this or submit a bid and we will consider these issues during the assessment process.

Q. Please go into detail about Exploitation Routes - what potential is there for a contributing company to lead development relating to DSTF-submission content?

A: The deliverables of this competition should indicate if more research should enable Defence to gain the greatest benefit. It is the intention that the MOD Board, discussed above, will identify the topics of most interest to be taken forward for further investigation by the MOD research programme. However, it is not guaranteed that any idea will be picked up and developed further. Any decisions on research programme content, structure and funding at that stage would be independent of this DASA call. Further research at that stage may be placed through competition.

Q. Do Generation-after-next technologies, concepts, ideas relate to near future 10-20 years or distant future 20 years + for exploration?

A: For this call, we are interested in disruptive ideas 10 years + into the future, but this could also include ideas that are 30 years +.

Q. Do you need to know specifically how the mechanism-of-action works or would you be satisfied that the phenomenon is scientifically known to exist?

A: You need to explain the concept, logically, in language which can be understood by a graduate level scientist. You may include references.

Q. Can we submit an idea that may be a few years old, but that a recent science/technology breakthrough allows us to follow up in a new way?

A: Yes, providing it is novel and disruptive to defence

1. Note - While we refer to Technology Readiness Levels – the outputs do not have to relate to technology and equipment. Any early stage research or idea of relevance to Defence is within scope. ↩

2. Note – this is not a guarantee of further funding for any particular organisation. Any decisions on funding at that stage would be independent of this DASA competition and may be through further competition. ↩