Competition: Disruptive Science and Technology Impacting the Future of Defence

This competition 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 be used as the basis for further research within the Defence Science and Technology Futures Programme (DSTF) Programme.

What innovations are we looking for?

We are interested in novel, very low Technical Readiness Level (TRL) S&T ideas which could in the future either benefit Defence or form the basis of countering an adversarial 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 ideas through research to understand their potential to be disruptive in the future

• development of concepts of how novel 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

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.

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.