DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA): Eligibility, Award Structure and How to Apply

The DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA) is a DARPA research program for junior faculty at U.S. academic and non-profit research institutions. Most of the questions research offices send DARPA are about one thing: whether a particular person counts as eligible. This guide answers that first, using DARPA’s own administrative and technical FAQ for the 2027 announcement (DARPARA2701), then covers the award structure and the mechanics of the mandatory executive summary. Everything below is as described on the official DARPA pages and FAQ on 2026-10-29; programs change, so check the current announcement before you commit time to a proposal.

What the DARPA Young Faculty Award is and who runs it

DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, runs the YFA. Its program page says the aim is to “identify and engage researchers in junior faculty positions at U.S. academic and non-profit research institutions” and to expose them to national security needs and DARPA’s program development process. The current round is titled “2027 Young Faculty Award (YFA) Research Announcement (RA)” and is numbered DARPARA2701. DARPA states that the announcement is typically posted on grants.gov and SAM.gov in the autumn, and that solicitation depends on funding availability. Topic areas tend to vary from year to year.

The program is for fundamental research only. DARPA’s FAQ says it will not select proposals for negotiation if they are deemed applied research or would require Controlled Unclassified Information restrictions. For background on how DARPA’s technical offices fit together, see CASRAI’s guides to DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office, the Microsystems Technology Office and the Tactical Technology Office.

Who is eligible for the DARPA Young Faculty Award?

The principal investigator (PI) must hold one of two kinds of position at the time of submission: a current tenure-track faculty position or tenured faculty within 3 years of their tenure date; or an equivalent position at a non-profit research institution within 12 years of receiving their doctorate. Only the current position counts. DARPA’s FAQ states that previous positions held do not apply.

Darpa young faculty award eligibility: common questions DARPA has answered

Situation	DARPA’s answer (2027 FAQ)
Assistant professor not on the tenure track	Not eligible (A1-4).
Hired at full professor rank without tenure	The PI must meet the requirements for the position currently held; only tenure-track or tenured-within-3-years positions qualify (A1-3).
Previously tenure-track, now in a non-tenure-track job	Previous positions do not apply (A1-5).
Tenured at one institution, then moved	Use the date you first received tenure (A1-19).
Is a Ph.D. required?	Not for tenure-track faculty or faculty within 3 years of tenure. Equivalent non-profit researchers must be within 12 years of an M.D., Ph.D. or other doctorate (A1-7).
Non-profit institute with no tenure track	The appointment must be a continuing appointment; soft-money and visiting appointments do not apply. The PI must be within 12 years of the Ph.D. (A1-13).
Researchers at FFRDCs, UARCs, National Laboratories or other government entities	Not eligible to serve in any capacity (A1-17).
U.S. citizen or permanent resident who is also a citizen of China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia or Venezuela	Not eligible for inclusion as Key or Senior Personnel (A1-18).
Prior YFA awardees	Cannot be PI again, but may be Senior Personnel (A2-5).
Advisor is a prior YFA recipient	You may still apply if you meet the eligibility requirements (A1-15).
Subaward lead on a YFA	Does not bar you from a future YFA as PI, or from other DARPA opportunities (A1-14).

For an institute within a university, DARPA says your appointment position at your employing organization determines eligibility, and recommends discussing it with your Office of Sponsored Projects (A1-6). For leaves of absence within the 3-year window (A1-8), DARPA calls the situation case-dependent: approved leave dates go on the submission cover sheet, and DARPA accepts only the official tenure start date according to the university.

What the award funds and requires

The award is a cooperative agreement between DARPA and the submitting institution, not the individual, and it cannot be transferred to another institution. The base period is 24 months with a maximum of $500,000, and that limit includes indirect costs (A5-3). Two options sit on top of the base period.

Component	Maximum amount	Notes from the FAQ
Base period	$500,000	24 months; limit includes indirect costs.
Director’s Fellowship option	$500,000	If not proposed, it cannot be added later if the base proposal is selected (A7-1).
U.S. Citizen Graduate Student option	$225,000	Up to 12 months, running concurrently with the base period.
Combined maximum	$1,225,000	Base plus both options (A5-2).

Other requirements the FAQ states: the announcement solicits single-PI proposals only, with no Co-PIs, although teaming is allowed where the research needs it (A2-1). Equipment priced over $5,000 needs supporting documentation such as a vendor quote, and there is no specific equipment cap beyond the base budget limit (A5-5). Funds from any DoW or DARPA source count against the funding limit regardless of mechanism (A1-10), while other agencies’ young-investigator awards are not a bar (A1-11).

Application steps

1. Choose one topic area. Each submission must name one and only one topic area on its cover sheet. Research outside the listed topic areas should go to another DARPA solicitation and cannot be called a YFA proposal (A8-4, A8-5).
2. Submit the executive summary. It is mandatory for the 2027 announcement. Submit through the Broad Agency Announcement Tool (BAAT) at baa.darpa.mil, where each topic area has its own listing such as DARPARA2701-01. Each proposer may submit only one executive summary (A3-1 to A3-3).
3. Format it correctly. The limit is 1 page excluding the cover sheet, using the template in Attachment A. It is reviewed blind: do not name personnel or organizations, and include no references. Upload one .zip in .pdf, .ppt, .pptx, .doc, .docx, .xls or .xlsx format (A3-4, A3-8 to A3-10).
4. Read DARPA’s response. You cannot submit a full proposal without an executive summary (A4-1). You may submit one after a discouraging response, but DARPA says that response should be viewed as a strong indicator it is not interested in the proposed research (A4-2).
5. Submit the full proposal. Full proposals go through Grants.gov, with the budget justification in Section L of the SF 424 Research and Related Budget form (A5-1). A PI may submit only one executive summary and one full proposal; DARPA reviews only the first time-stamped submission (A4-3). You may change your approach from the executive summary (A4-4).

Typical timeline phases

Dates change every cycle and are set in each announcement, so plan by phase instead. DARPA’s program page lists cycle-specific dates for the executive summary, the question deadline and the full proposal; check them in the current announcement.

1. Announcement posted to grants.gov and SAM.gov.
2. Executive summary due in BAAT (mandatory).
3. Questions accepted by email until the announcement’s question deadline. DARPA says it cannot arrange meetings with program staff because of the volume of responses, so questions go to [email protected] and may be shared publicly (A8-2).
4. Full proposal due through Grants.gov.
5. Selection and cooperative agreement negotiation with the institution.

Common mistakes

• Assuming a previous tenure-track or tenured post still qualifies after a move into a different kind of job (A1-5).
• Counting from the wrong tenure date; DARPA uses the date you first received tenure (A1-19).
• Submitting more than one executive summary or naming more than one topic area; the extra submissions can be rejected or removed from consideration (A3-3, A4-3).
• Naming the PI or institution in the blind executive summary, or adding references to it (A3-10).
• Leaving out the Director’s Fellowship or graduate student option budget at proposal time, since neither can be added later (A7-1).
• Proposing applied research or work that needs CUI restrictions, which DARPA says it will not select for negotiation (A8-1).
• Forgetting that FFRDC, UARC and National Laboratory staff cannot participate in any capacity (A1-17).

Related programs

Other early-career and DARPA entry points covered on CASRAI:

Page	What it covers
Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program	CASRAI’s guide to the ONR early-career program.
AFOSR YIP vs DOE ECRP	A comparison of two other federal early-career research programs.
OTA vs grants and contracts	How other transaction authority differs from grants and contracts, useful context for DARPA agreements.

DARPA’s FAQ confirms that holding a non-YFA DARPA award does not bar a YFA proposal (A1-11).

FAQ

Is the executive summary required for the DARPA Young Faculty Award?

Yes. For the 2027 announcement DARPA states that submitting an executive summary before a full proposal is not optional (A3-1).

Can a tenure-track assistant professor apply?

Yes. Current tenure-track assistant and associate professors are eligible, and they are not required to hold a Ph.D. (A1-7). An assistant professor who is not on the tenure track is not eligible (A1-4).

How much can a Young Faculty Award be worth?

Up to $500,000 for the 24-month base period, plus up to $500,000 for the Director’s Fellowship option and up to $225,000 for the U.S. Citizen Graduate Student option, for a combined maximum of $1,225,000 (A5-2).

Can I apply with more than one topic area?

No. Each proposer is limited to one executive summary and one topic area (A3-3, A8-4).

Who do I ask when the FAQ does not answer my question?

DARPA directs questions to [email protected] by the deadline stated in the announcement.

Sources

• DARPA, Young Faculty Award program page, checked 2026-10-29.
• DARPA, DARPARA2701 Administrative and Technical FAQs, Version 2, October 26, 2026, checked 2026-10-29. Question numbers in parentheses above refer to this document.