Notice

Competition Document: Engineering Biology for Defence and Security (Phase 2)

Updated 11 January 2024

1. Introduction:

Synthetic biology is the design and fabrication of biological components and systems that do not already exist in the natural world. The process of taking synthetic biology concepts and turning them into real world solutions is engineering biology.

This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition builds on the previous Engineering Biology Phase 1 Competition launched in 2022. We are seeking new proposals that solve a range of Defence and Security challenges and enhance capability by applying engineering biology approaches. The Phase 1 Engineering Biology Competition demonstrated the potential of the technology (you can follow the links to the previously funded projects in “Synthetic biology for novel materials” Phase 1 and Phase 2 and Engineering Biology Phase 1). We are now expanding to further develop applications which identify and evaluate innovative engineering biology approaches to improve wider Defence and Security capability.

High-risk high-reward approaches are encouraged. However, there should be a plan to take the work to at least Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4  for ‘Materials’ proposals, and at least TRL3 for both ‘Power and Energy’ and ‘Sensing’ proposals by the end of the end of Phase 2.

This competition is funded by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and may also involve the US Department of Defense (DoD). The relationship will operate under, and be governed by, an extant memorandum of understanding between both nations. Both the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and other UK Government departments, and the US Department of Defense (DoD), will have access to proposals submitted under this competition in order to jointly assess which proposals to fund.

2. Competition key information

Submission deadline

Midday (GMT) Wednesday 17 January 2024

Where 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.

Total funding available

The total funding available for the whole Phase 2 of the competition is £500k (ex VAT). This funding will be awarded for up to 12 months.  Proposals must include a clear plan to complete the work by no later than 31 March 2025.  There is no upper-limit per proposal for this competition, but as a guide, we are expecting to fund around 3-5 proposals in Phase 2.  Additional proposals may be funded if further funding becomes available for up to 12 months.

3. Supporting events

Dial-in session

20 November 2023 – 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.

One-to-one teleconference session

27 November 2023 – A series of 15 minute one-to-one teleconference sessions, giving you the opportunity to ask specific questions. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page. Booking is on a first come first served basis.

Industry Collaboration Survey during Proposal Preparation

We encourage collaboration between organisations for this competition. To support this, we have a short survey to collect details of those who wish to explore collaboration possibilities. If you are interested in a collaboration, please complete the survey and your details will be circulated among other potential innovators who have completed the survey and are interested in collaborating.

If you choose to complete the innovator collaboration survey, please be aware that all of the information you submit via the survey will be provided to other innovators who also complete the survey. All industry collaboration for proposal submissions is on an industry-industry basis. Inclusion or absence of any individual innovator organisation will not affect assessment, which will be solely on technical evidence in the proposal.

4. Competition Scope

4.1 Background: Building Back Better with Biology

Engineering biology is a disruptive technology, identified as being one of the defining technologies of the 21st Century, and an important tool for achieving the sustainability targets set by the UK Government. Engineering biology contributes to the government’s ambition to create the right supportive environment in the UK to help double the size of the bioeconomy, from £220 billion in 2014, to £440 billion by 2030 ^{[footnote 1]}. The tools and technologies emerging from engineering biology have the potential to transform many parts of the UK industrial base. For many industries, transformation will be through entirely new-to-the-market products, while in others, the low-carbon nature of all biological solutions will drive implementation of new engineering biology-based processes in place of those based on petrochemicals. As with other sectors, Defence and Security is looking for new bio-enabled approaches to develop new capability and reduce its carbon footprint.

Please note this is the 2nd phase of funding for a multi-phase competition. It is not compulsory to have been involved in Phase 1 to apply. It is hoped that work for this phase will reach higher maturity than work funded in Phase 1. See the previous competition and bids we funded.

4.2 Scope

It is envisaged that 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. Solutions do not have to be exclusively engineering biology, but must contain synthetic biology as a core component of any proposed solution. Various definitions of engineering biology are acceptable, but exploiting bioinspiration ^{[footnote 2]} alone is not in scope.

Solutions must reflect a Defence and Security-relevant need, but don’t have to be exclusive to Defence and Security. The sections below give some examples of solutions. Civil applications should be identified as potential exploitation pathways where appropriate.

5. Competition Challenges

This competition has 3 challenges.  A summary of these is given in the table below, with more details given on each in subsequent sections…

Challenge	TRL level to be achieved for each area of interest
Power and Energy	3 - Analytical and experimental critical function and/or characteristic proof-of-concept
Materials	4 - Technology component and/or basic technology subsystem validation in laboratory environment
Sensing	3 - Analytical and experimental critical function and/or characteristic proof-of-concept

5.1 Challenge 1: Power & Energy

We are seeking engineering biology concepts that can offer a step change in existing power source and energy storage solutions for military applications.

To help understand the issues Defence and Security faces is with existing power sources, some of the identified limitations of existing power sources are listed below:

• Safety concerns: High-energy batteries can be flammable and explosive when abused. Approaches that can mitigate this, either at the chemistry level by using novel cell materials or using engineered biology materials to prevent fire and thermal runaway as an appliqué to standard commercial off the shelf (COTS) cells, would be of interest.
• Limited specific energy (Wh/kg) and energy density (Wh/L): Despite significant research and advances in batteries (and other power sources), new military capabilities still require higher energy rechargeable batteries in lower mass and smaller volumes. Next-generation rechargeable batteries promise over 400 Wh/kg and 800 Wh/L, but there is interest in any technology that can improve these metrics even further.

There are two ‘sub-challenges’ in this part of the call:

Sub-challenge 1: Improving existing energy sources

(projects completing at least TRL3)

• To use engineered biology approaches to replace one or more components of a ‘traditional’ battery construction to improve energy, safety or other performance metrics
• To use engineering biology to produce packaging or other materials that enhances a battery’s safety or performance

Sub-challenge 2: Disruptive change to power and energy provision

(projects completing at least TRL3)

• To produce an entirely novel engineering biology solution to the production of useable electrical energy

It is expected that any proposal against Sub-challenge 1 would demonstrate improved performance in the metric being measured; any proposal against Sub-challenge 2 is expected to demonstrate output of electrical energy. In line with other previous calls, the use of microbial fuel cells are excluded due to living organism being part of the end product.

Please note - military power sources need to operate over a wide temperature range and many are embedded within devices, and therefore access to air cannot always be guaranteed. In addition, many devices are stored on the shelf for years before use. Whilst it is accepted that new novel engineering biology systems may not be able to address all military requirements at the outset, proposals should make comment on the ultimate practicality of any suggested solutions and their limitations and ability to meet military requirements.

5.2 Challenge 2: Materials for Defence

We are seeking materials for a range of uses in Defence and Security. These materials could be relevant to a range of challenges including protection against physical attack, survival in extreme environments and development of generation-after-next ^{[footnote 3]} capability, but excludes exposure to chemical and biological agents. Examples of such materials could include:

• Functionalised material e.g. self-disclosing for fatigue and corrosion, non-visible damage
• Lightweight but strong structural materials, including composites
• Novel camouflage solutions, including active or reactive colour change materials, variable emissivity surfaces and very high performance acoustic absorbers
• Materials for eye protection, covering physical and laser protection
• Materials for protection of physical sensors on equipment e.g. against dazzle or jamming, without blocking performance of the sensor
• Coatings suitable for Defence and Security purposes that are relatively easy to apply, repairable in the field, and easy to remove without damaging substrate. Coatings may include functional materials e.g. self-healing properties and metamaterials
• Durable novel materials for equipment with an application to specific environments, e.g. high altitude, high velocity, ice and snow, including heat shielding, anti-fouling in marine environments
• Biological approaches to creation of, or recovery of, critical materials (for a list of relevant materials see the NSI Act Advanced Materials guidance)
• Materials for enhanced antenna design or enhanced performance, e.g. enhanced microwave magnetic properties, enhanced matched impedance at elevated refractive index, materials that enable tuning of antennas
• Novel adhesives for a variety of Defence and Security applications

Any novel materials must involve engineering biology at some stage of their production, but chemical modification of biologically-derived precursors is acceptable. We are looking for basic validation and production of sufficient material to demonstrate the desired properties (e.g. strength, density), in a laboratory environment (TRL4).  A military application should be identified, but identification of other commercial applications is also encouraged.

Examples of areas for which potential solutions could be considered for this challenge area include:

• Using engineering biology approaches to add functionality to “known” materials
• Using engineering biology to enhance survivability and endurance of materials in extreme temperatures by for e.g. utilising known natural organisms living in those niches
• Using engineering biology approaches as a method for remediation of critical materials

5.3 Challenge 3: Sensing

Sensing and sensor technologies are a fundamental enabler of Defence and Security activities.  Engineering biology will enable new sensing concepts.  We are seeking bio-enabled sensing innovations that push the boundaries of what can be achieved.  Any sensing modality may be relevant, and any operational environment is pertinent to this call, e.g. land, sea, air or space.  In addition to sensing devices, integrated response functions are also desirable.  All proposals must achieve TRL3 by the end of the project. Areas for consideration could include:

• Sensing modalities enabled by bioengineered components, i.e. where a biological component is integral in manufacture, e.g. biological scaffolding/templating to produce materials with requisite enhancements in physicochemical properties, linked to sensing functionalities.  These proposals should include appropriate analysis to determine that these materials can be produced in a repeatable and reproducible manner
• Novel sensing modalities realised through engineering biology, i.e. mediated by a new bio-part or a new combination of known bio-parts to sense new materials (e.g. ligands) or new properties (e.g. gravity, radiation, vibration, electronic/optical or magnetic signatures)
• Biomimetic sensing approaches, e.g. machine olfaction where arrays of host-guest interactions enable inference of odorant identity through patterns of binding interaction
• Response functions within bio-enabled sensing systems (e.g. information processing, event logging, motor actuation, modulated reflectance etc.).  These may employ known/established input devices (e.g. molecular sensing).  In these proposals, forward-engineering methods (e.g. systems biology) are desirable
• Rational design of bio-components (e.g. in silico or directed evolution approaches) for improved function, persistence, robustness and sensitivity within any sensing modality.  This could include techniques for recycling reagents to increase lifetime of sensor operation, engineering at the molecular level to increase stability of labile components, or enhanced functionality/stability in non-aqueous solvents.  All innovations that include in silico design methodologies must include experimental verification of outputs
• Methods for systems integration where bioelectronics or biophotonic bio-enabled sensing may be interfaced with conventional technologies to drive/interrogate them
• Bio-hybrid manufacturing methods where biotic and abiotic components are integrated to realise device/system operation, e.g. alternative solvent systems, nanoparticles, surfactants etc
• Any sensing transduction/disclosure mechanism may be considered, e.g. chemical, electronic, optical and physical measurement as sensor outputs

5.4 We are interested in…

We want novel ideas to benefit end-users working in UK Defence and Security. Your proposal should include evidence of:

• consideration of eventual scalability and translation
• a clear statement of the benefit posed by the proposed approach over existing technology
• theoretical development, method of advancement or proof of concept research which can demonstrate potential for translation to practical demonstration in later phases
• innovation or a creative approach
• clear demonstration of how the proposed work applies to any Defence and Security context

5.5 We are not interested in…

We are not interested in proposals that:

• do not include a significant engineering biology component
• solutions requiring release of viable genetically modified organisms into the environment
• offer no real long-term prospect of integration into Defence and Security capabilities
• offer no real prospect of out-competing existing technological solutions
• constitute consultancy, paper-based studies or literature reviews which just summarise the existing literature without any view of future innovation (which therefore cannot be extended into future phases)
• focus on in silico studies without experimental validation
• focus on a Chemical, Biological or Radiological (CBR) or medical application exclusively
• focus on Energetics
• are an unsolicited resubmission of a previous DASA bid or a duplication of a bid submitted through other Dstl funding channels seeking engineering biology proposals, such as R-Cloud (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/r-cloud)
• offer demonstrations of off-the-shelf products requiring no experimental development (unless applied in a novel way to the challenge)
• require the completion and attainment of ethical favourable opinion from the Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committee (MODREC)

6. Accelerating and exploiting your innovation

It is important that over the lifetime of DASA competitions, ideas are matured and accelerated towards appropriate end-users to enhance capability. How long this takes will depend on the nature and starting point of the innovation.

6.1 A clear route for exploitation

For DASA to consider routes for exploitation, ensure your deliverables are designed with the aim of making it as easy as possible for collaborators/stakeholders to identify the innovative elements of your proposal.

Whilst DASA recognises that early identification and engagement with potential end users during the competition and subsequent phases are essential to implementing an exploitation plan, during the competition phase there should be no correspondence between suppliers and DASA other than via the DASA Help Centre email at [email protected], or their local Innovation Partner.

All proposals to DASA should articulate the expected development in technology maturity of the potential solution over the lifetime of the contract and how this relates to improved capability against the current known (or presumed) baseline.

6.2 How to outline your exploitation plan

Include information to help the assessors understand how the project would ultimately be exploited:

• the intended Defence or Security users of your final product and whether you have previously engaged with them, their procurement arm or their research and development arm (not mandatory)
• awareness of, and alignment to, any existing end user procurement programmes (not mandatory)
• the anticipated benefits (for example, in cost, time, improved capability) that your solution will provide to the user
• whether it is likely to be a standalone product or integrated with other technologies or platforms
• expected additional work required beyond the end of the contract to develop an operationally deployable commercial product (for example, “scaling up” for manufacture, cyber security, integration with existing technologies, environmental operating conditions)
• additional future applications and wider markets for exploitation
• wider collaborations and networks you have already developed or any additional relationships you see as a requirement to support exploitation
• how your product could be tested in a representative environment in later phases
• any specific legal, ethical, commercial or regulatory considerations for exploitation

6.3 Is your exploitation plan long term?

Low TRL studies may not be able to articulate exploitation in great detail, but it should be clear that there is credible advantage to be gained from the technology development.

Include project specific information which will help exploitation. This competition is being carried out as part of a wider MOD programme and with cognisance of cross-Government initiatives. We may collaborate with organisations outside of the UK Government and this may provide the opportunity to carry out international trials and demonstrations in the future.

7. How to apply

Submission deadline

Midday (GMT) on Wednesday 17 January 2024

Where do I submit my 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.

Total funding available

The total funding available for the whole Phase 2 of this competition is £500k (excluding VAT). This funding will be awarded for a single phase of up to 12 months.  Proposals must include a clear plan to complete the work by no later than 31 March 2025.  There is no upper-limit per proposal for this competition.

How many proposals will DASA fund?

We are expecting to fund around 3-5 proposals in Phase 2.  Additional proposals may be funded if further funding becomes available during the competition. 

Additional funding for further phases to increase TRL may be available. Any further phases will be open to applications from all innovators and not just those that submitted Phase 2 bids.

For further guidance

Click here for more information on our competition process and how your proposal is assessed.

Queries should be sent to the DASA Help Centre – [email protected]

7.1 What your proposal must include

• the proposal should focus on the Phase 2 requirements but must also include a brief (uncosted) outline of the next stages of work required for commercial exploitation.  This is for information purposes only and DASA is under no obligation to undertake a further phase at this stage
• 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 bid and a completed finances section
• completed proposals must comply with the financial rules set for this competition. The upper-limit for this competition is £500K (excluding VAT), noting we aim to fund 3-5 proposals within from this. Proposals will be rejected if the financial cost exceeds this capped level
• 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 with clear milestones and deliverables must be provided. Deliverables must be well defined and designed to provide evidence of progress against the project plan and the end-point for this phase; they must include a final report
• you must plan for attendance at a kick-off meeting at the start of Phase 2, as well as regular reviews with the appointed Technical Partner and Project Manager; all meetings will be in the UK. Meetings may take place virtually, but some face-to-face meetings may be required. Technical updates will include presentation of results and planned experiments, plus provision of reports and slide sets. Quarterly PM reviews will cover highlights of progress, issues, and plans. A Final Technical Report will be delivered containing sufficient data to allow experiments to be reproduced
• you must plan to attend and exhibit a poster at a Dstl Showcase, which is provisionally planned to take place in the UK in late April or early May 2024

Each project will also be required to deliver a presentation with the outcomes from the project and review exploitation routes at a DASA demo event towards the end of Phase 2 (Quarter 1, 2025).

Participants will be given the opportunity to attend and present at future Dstl Showcase events after their contracts are completed, and are encouraged to present at other events to aid exploitation, such as the annual SBUK Symposium. Briefings given at Dstl events should clearly identify anticipated benefits to Defence and Security.

Your proposal must demonstrate how you will complete all activities/services and provide all deliverables within the competition timescales (up to 12 months). Proposals with any deliverables (including the final report) outside the competition timeline will be rejected as non-compliant.

All Phase 2 work must complete by 31 March 2025 at the latest, your proposal should therefore make it clear how you can resource the work in order to complete by this date.

7.2 What your resourcing plan should include

Your resourcing plan must identify, where possible, the nationalities of proposed employees that you intend to work on this phase and should show how you can resource the work to complete by 31 March 2025.

7.3 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 (the timely submission of requested documentation by the innovator will impact this process).

You must identify any ethical / legal / regulatory factors within your proposal.

As discussed above, we will not accept proposals that require MODREC. If you are unsure if your proposal will need to apply for MODREC approval, then please refer to the MODREC Guidance for Suppliers or contact your Innovation Partner for further guidance.

Requirements for access to Government Furnished Assets (GFA), for example, information, equipment, materials and facilities, may be included in your proposal. DASA cannot guarantee that GFA will be available. If you apply for GFA, you should include an alternative plan in case it is not available.

Failure to provide any of the above listed will automatically render your proposal non-compliant.

7.4 Export control for overseas partners

Contracts awarded as a result of this competition may fall under an extant memorandum of understanding between the UK MOD and the US DoD.

This will facilitate the unimpeded exchange of proposals, prototypes and associated information between the UK and the US Governments. However, this effective exemption from export controls only applies to the UK and the US, not to other countries, and all innovators must therefore abide by the export control requirements of their originator country.

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.

7.5 Cyber risk assessment

Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ)

On receipt of a ‘Fund’ decision, successful innovators must prove cyber resilience data before the contract is awarded. The start of this process is the mandatory submission of 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, and the level of control required will depend on this risk level.

To expedite the contracting time of successful suppliers we ask all suppliers to complete the SAQ before they submit their proposal.  The SAQ can be completed here using the DASA Risk Assessment RAR-321573032 and answer questions for risk level “very low”. In the form, for the contract name please use the competition title and for the contract description please use the title of your proposal.

Defence Cyber Protection Partnership

The Defence Cyber Protection Partnership (DCPP) will review your SAQ submission and respond with a reference number within 2 working days. The resulting email response from DCPP should be attached (JPG or PNG format) and included within the DASA submission service portal when the proposal is submitted. You will also be asked to enter your SAQ reference number. Please allow enough time to receive the SAQ reference number prior to competition close at Midday (GMT) on Wednesday 17 January 2024.

If the proposal is being funded, the SAQ will be evaluated against the CRA for the competition, and it will be put it into one of the following categories:

1. compliant – no further action
2. not compliant – if successful in competition and being funded, the innovator will be required to complete a Cyber Implementation Plan (CIP) before the contract is placed, which will need to be reviewed and agreed with the relevant project manager.

Innovators can enter a proposal without all controls in place, but are expected to have all the cyber protection measures necessary to fulfil the requirements of the contract in place at the time of contract award, or have an agreed Cyber Implementation Plan (CIP).

The CIP provides evidence as to how and when potential innovators will achieve compliance. Provided the measures proposed in the Cyber Implementation Plan do not pose an unacceptable risk to the MOD, a submission with a Cyber Implementation Plan will be considered alongside those who can achieve the controls.

A final check will be made to ensure cyber resilience before the contract is placed.  Commercial staff cannot progress without it. This process does not replace any contract specific security requirements.

Additional information about cyber security can be found at: DCPP: Cyber Security Model industry buyer and supplier guide.

7.6 Public facing information

When submitting your proposal, you will be required to include a title, short abstract and Proposal Value Proposition Statement (PVPS). The title, abstract and PVPS 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 and should include the expected Defence and Security use in a format suitable for this wider sharing. The proposal title will be published in the DASA transparency data on GOV.UK, along with your company name, the amount of funding, and the start and end dates of your contract. As this information can be shared, it should not contain content that may compromise Intellectual Property, or be considered above ‘OFFICIAL’ security classification.

7.7 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 will be taken forward to full assessment.

Mandatory Criteria

The proposal outlines how it meets the scope of the competition	Within scope (Pass) / Out
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 to complete the work proposed in Phase 2	Pass / Fail
The proposal identifies there is no need for MODREC approval	Pass / Fail
The proposal identifies any GFA required for Phase 2	Pass / Fail
Maximum value of proposal is £500k	Pass / Fail
The proposal demonstrates how all research and development activities / services (including delivery of the final report) will be no later than 31 March 2025	Pass / Fail
The bidder has obtained the authority to provide unqualified acceptance of the terms and conditions of the Contract	Pass / Fail
The proposals includes a plan to attend and exhibit a poster at a Dstl Showcase, which is provisionally planned to take place in the UK in late April or early May 2024	Pass / Fail

Proposals that pass Stage 1 will then be assessed against the standard DASA 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, which includes the full proposal, to any third party engaged by DASA for the specific purpose of evaluating or assisting DASA in the evaluation of your proposal. In providing such information you consent to such disclosure. Appropriate confidentiality agreements will be put in place.

Further guidance on how your proposal is assessed is available on the DASA website.

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.

Innovators are not permitted to attend the Decision Conference.

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

7.8 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), links to the contract: TERMS. We will require unqualified acceptance of the terms and conditions; if applicable, please ensure your commercial department has provided their acceptance.

More information on DEFCON 705 can be found by registering on the Knowledge in Defence site.

Funded projects will be allocated a Project Manager (to run the project) and a Technical Partner (as a technical point of contact). In addition, the DASA team will work with you to support delivery and exploitation including, when appropriate, introductions to end-users and business support to help develop their business.

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

For this competition, £500K is currently available to fund proposals. Where a proposal meets the fundable requirements for a competition, but is not funded, DASA will continue to seek funding from partners across government and shall consider your proposal fundable for 12 months from the date of the decision release. We will share the abstract, PVPS and title of your proposal with any other UK government departments that may express an interest in funding the proposal through DASA, in accordance with the competition document. If a budget holder within the MOD wishes to read the full proposal to decide if they will fund it, we will share it with them under these circumstances. If it is within 60 days of the original NOT FUNDED decision release date, we will share the full proposal with them without seeking your permission. If it is over 60 days since the original NOT FUNDED decision we will seek your permission before sharing the full proposal with them.

For other potential funders, we will seek your permission before sharing the full proposal regardless of the number of days since the original NOT FUNDED decision release.

In the event that funding becomes available, DASA may ask whether you would still be prepared to undertake the work outlined in your proposal under the same terms. Your official DASA feedback will indicate if your proposal was deemed fundable, but not awarded funding at the time.

8. Phase 2 key dates

Dial-in	20 November 2023
Pre-bookable 1-1 telecom sessions	27 November 2023
Competition closes	Midday (GMT) Wednesday 17 January 2024
Feedback release	14 March 2024
Contracting	April 2024  to  March 2025

9. Help: Contact the DASA Help Centre

Competition queries including on process, application, commercial, technical and intellectual property aspects should be sent to the DASA Help Centre at [email protected], 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.

10. Clarification Questions and Answers from Webinar and supplier 1-2-1s

10.1 Challenge areas and clarifications

Q: Can my proposal address more than one challenge?

A: Yes, but please identify the primary challenge it fits against.

Q: Does my plan have to fit all the challenges?

A: No, any one challenge is acceptable.

Q: To clarify, you’re not focusing on the detection or clean-up of chemical agents?

A: That is true, in terms of projects that only focus on the detection or clean-up of chemical warfare agents (e.g. Schedule 1 materials as listed in the Chemical Weapons Convention). If a proposal has multiple attractive uses aligned with the competition criteria, but also involves the clean-up or detection of chemical agents, that’s okay. Dual-usage is fine, but exclusivity of clean-up or detection is not.

Q: You mentioned Literature Reviews being prohibited. But can you try to assess feasibility of a current technology being applied to an unexplored domain, e.g. Defence?

A: We do not want to exclusively receive proposals for literature reviews, but if your project starts with a literature review and then is followed by experimentation, that is fine. If there is literature that can be brought forward for a Defence and Security project, there is nothing wrong with that. It just needs to be a practical implementation and investigation of new ideas, rather than a literature review alone.

Q: Can you expand on the exclusions in Challenge 3? What sensing opportunities outside of Medical/Diagnostics/CBR are of particular interest?

A:  We are looking to evidence new modalities in biosensing, i.e. beyond molecular species.  For any molecular sensing proposal, the key benefit(s) would need to be evident, e.g. machine olfaction through arrays of molecular sensing entities, or information processing to cue effects/material responses. 

Q: In Challenge 3, you named sensing modality for radiation, but then excluded radiation in CBR – can you clarify what you meant by this?

A:  Radioactive radiation is the exclusive, (Alpha, Beta and Gamma).

10.2 Competition Phases

Q: Is it necessary to have submitted a project in Phase 1 to have a bid in Phase 2?

A: No, not at all. You can bid for Phase 2 if you have already bid for Phase 1, but you do not need to have bid for Phase 1 in order to bid for Phase 2.

Q: What is the process for bidding into Phase 2 if you wish to continue your project funded in Phase 1?

A: This depends on the proposal. The majority of projects from Phase 1 contained options for funding extensions. If this is the case, you would need to discuss this with the Dstl project team. If you did not opt for funding extensions/further funding, or now wish to propose something different, then it would be best to bid into Phase 2.

Q: Will a second phase call be run via R Cloud tendering?

A: At the moment we do not know. This project ends in March 2025, and this DASA call will take us to the end of that current project. We are not currently certain what will happen after that.

10.3 Budget and duration

Q: What is the expected project budget and duration?

A: The funding budget for the entire competition is £500,000, from which we are hoping to fund between 3 and 5 bids. However, there is technically no limit to how much a project can receive within this budget. With regards to the duration, we are hoping for contracts to start in April 2024, with the non-negotiable deadline of project completion by 31st March 2025. Please account for these dates in resource planning for your projects.

10.4 Completion of proposal form

Q: Is registration on JOSCAR (Joint Supply Chain Accreditation Register) required to apply?

A: No, you do not need to be registered on JOSCAR to apply for a DASA competition. To register it should take you 2 minutes via a link in the competition document. It is also recommended that you register via Chrome.

Q: What is a ‘SAQ number’ and ‘MODREC approval’?

A: The SAQ number links to the cyber security perspective, it is confirmation of cyber assurance. The process can take a while so do not leave it until the last minute.

MODREC is an ethical committee, so approval should not apply in most cases unless your proposal involves human studies.

Q: I noticed there were sections on the application to list core resources, including hired researchers. Does it matter if I hire a research assistant?

A: It is perfectly fine to hire a research assistant, you need to just explain what they are going to do, and address the risk of hiring someone in appropriate section. You need to incorporate the hiring process into your project plan.

Q: When looking at the section on the form about risk, what risks should I be addressing? Technical risk or research risks?

A: This is a R&D contract, so address all the risks that you think matter to the tax payer and assessor community.

1. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1037343/181205BEIS_Growing_the_Bioeconomy__Web_SP.pdf ↩

2. Bioinspiration is a field based on observing the remarkable functions that characterize living organisms and trying to abstract and imitate those functions. It involves using phenomena in biology to stimulate research in non-biological science and technology. Please see Whitesides 2015 Bioinspiration: something for everyone. Interface Focus. 5: 2015003120150031 http://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2015.0031 for more information. ↩

3. Generation-After-Next definition: A capability that does not presently exist and contributing technology is not fully understood. Concepts will be ‘leap ahead’ and world-leading to challenge the boundaries of current knowledge and emerging understanding ↩