DASA Competition: Engineering Biology for Defence and Security

This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition seeks proposals for novel and innovative high risk-high reward projects finishing at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3/4. The technologies developed will be based on innovative engineering biology solutions that address defence challenges in one or more of the three topics:

• Materials
• Power and Energy
• Sensing

This competition will involve cutting edge, multidisciplinary research through the application of engineering biology tools and techniques, using novel research approaches and the discovery of new knowledge to address defence challenges.

Funding

The total funding available for the whole Phase 1 of the competition is £1.5m (ex VAT). This funding will be split across two 12-month phases, Phase 1a and a costed optional Phase 1b, with a maximum of £750k available per sub-phase. There is no upper-limit per proposal for this competition, but DASA is expecting to fund around 7-8 proposals in Phase 1a, approximately £100k for each phase of work (per proposal). Additional funding for further phases to increase TRL may be available.

Supporting events

• Tuesday 5 July – A dial-in session providing further detail on the problem space and a chance to ask questions in an open forum.
• Thursday 7 and Monday 11 July – A series of 20 minute one-to-one teleconference sessions, giving you the opportunity to ask specific questions.