Mathematics of Boosting Agentic Communication (MATHBAC)

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document is a model "Other Transaction for Research Agreement" (OT) provided by DARPA for proposer consideration. It outlines the general terms and conditions that DARPA intends to include in awards. Proposers are encouraged to suggest edits for DARPA's consideration by providing a copy of the model OT with track changes alongside their proposal. Proposed changes will not be evaluated, but rationale for non-administrative edits is required.

• Agreement Structure: Details the agreement between the Government (DARPA) and the Performer.
• Articles: Covers scope, term, management, administration, obligation and payment, disputes, patent rights, data rights, foreign access to technology, safeguarding covered defense information, title to property, civil rights, execution, and prohibitions on certain telecommunications equipment.
• Attachments: Includes Task Description Document (TDD), Report Requirements, Schedule of Milestones and Payments, Agreement Administration details, Certifications, Property/Equipment lists, and Intellectual Property Assertions.
• Key Sections for Bidders:
  • Article 1 (Scope): Defines the purpose, background, and scope of the research and development effort.
  • Article 5 (Obligation and Payment): Outlines payment procedures, including milestone-based payments and the use of Wide Area Workflow (WAWF).
  • Article 7 (Patent Rights): Details the allocation of rights for subject inventions, disclosure requirements, and government rights.
  • Article 8 (Data Rights): Specifies the Government's rights to algorithms and data developed under the agreement (Government Purpose Rights, with potential for Unlimited Rights).
  • Article 10 (Safeguarding CDI): Notes that this article does not apply if the research is fundamental, but outlines requirements if the scope changes.
  • Attachment 2 (Report Requirements): Details various reports required, including Technical Status Reports, Business Status Reports (if applicable), Data Management Plan, and Final Reports, often submitted via the DARPA VAULT website.
  • Attachment 3 (Schedule of Milestones and Payments): Outlines specific milestones, deliverables, and associated payments.

This document is crucial for understanding the contractual framework and expectations for any potential award. Bidders should review the articles and attachments to assess the scope of work, reporting requirements, intellectual property terms, payment structure, and any other conditions that will govern the agreement. The opportunity to suggest edits to this model agreement is a unique aspect for proposers to influence the final terms.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document is a streamlined cost buildup workbook, provided as an Excel spreadsheet, designed to assist bidders in developing their cost proposals. It outlines various cost categories and provides a structure for itemizing expenses related to labor, subcontracts, consultants, and other direct costs.

• Change Notes: Tracks revisions to the workbook, detailing specific changes to formulas, labels, and data validation across different versions.
• Constants: Defines labor groups, categories, and indirect rate categories (e.g., Fringe, Overhead, G&A, Facilities & Administrative Cost Rate, Profit, Fee). It also includes selections for SBIR/STTR phases and small business size.
• Summary Cost Table: A central sheet for aggregating costs across different fiscal years and contract options (Base, Op1, Op2, etc.). It includes fields for Total Direct Labor Costs, Fringe Benefit Costs, Labor Overhead Costs, Subcontract Costs, Consultant Costs, Other Direct Costs, Material Handling Costs, G&A Costs, Cost of Money, and Fixed Fee.
• Total Amount: Provides instructions for bidders on how to populate cost information, including direct labor, subcontracts, consultants, other direct costs, G&A, cost of money, and fee. It specifies that direct labor rates should be fully burdened and details how to enter proposed period of performance (PoP).
• Materials and Supplies: A template for detailing material and supply costs, including item description, quantity, unit price, competitive/commercial/sole source information, vendor, basis of estimate, and supporting documentation requirements.
• Equipment: A template for detailing equipment costs, including description, justification, type of equipment, quantity, unit price, vendor, basis of estimate, and supporting documentation requirements.
• Travel: A detailed breakdown for travel expenses, including purpose, origin/destination, number of people/days/trips, airfare, hotel per diem, M&IE, car rental, mileage, conference fees, and other expenses.
• Milestones and Payments (TA1 & TA2): Outlines specific milestones, exit criteria, deliverables, and due dates for project phases, linked to payments. This section is not to be filled out by proposers.

This workbook is critical for bidders to accurately and comprehensively develop their cost proposals in accordance with the solicitation's requirements. It provides the structure and definitions for all cost elements, ensuring consistency and facilitating the government's evaluation of proposed costs. Bidders must carefully follow the instructions within each sheet to ensure their cost submissions are compliant and complete.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document is a certification form required for "Other Transaction" agreements, specifically related to DARPA-PA-26-05 for the MATHBAC proposal. It requires the offeror to certify compliance with various federal regulations and laws.

• Debarment/Suspension Certification: Certifies that the institution and its principals are not debarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded from federal transactions.
• Drug-Free Workplace Certification: Requires confirmation of providing a drug-free workplace, with a space to specify the place of performance.
• Nondiscrimination Compliance: Certifies compliance with DoD Directive 5500.11 regarding nondiscrimination in federally assisted programs.
• Lobbying Restrictions (for actions > $100,000): Certifies that no appropriated funds have been used to influence federal contracting. If non-appropriated funds were used, Standard Form LLL must be submitted.
• Representation on Unpaid Tax Liability or Felony Conviction: Requires representation regarding any unpaid Federal tax liability or felony conviction within the preceding 24 months, as per appropriations acts for FY2016.

Bidders must complete and submit this form to affirm their compliance with critical federal regulations. Failure to submit accurate certifications may impact eligibility for the "Other Transaction" agreement and could result in penalties. The certifications cover debarment, drug-free workplace, nondiscrimination, lobbying restrictions, and tax/felony convictions, all of which are prerequisites for entering into this type of transaction.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document outlines the structure and requirements for proposals related to DARPA-PA-26-05 MATHBAC, specifically focusing on two Technical Areas (TA1 and TA2) and the proposal of new metrics.

General Guidance:

• Instructions are provided in yellow text and should be deleted before submission.
• Proposers should only fill out information for their proposed Technical Area.
• References and images are encouraged; avoid packing slides with excessive information.
• Maintain a minimum font size of 11pt Tahoma (excluding references).

Technical Area 1 (TA1): The Mathematics of Agentic Communication Protocols

• Goal: Understand and design/improve communication protocols for interacting agents.
• Methods: Proposers must identify mathematics, systems theory, and information theory methods to be leveraged and advanced.
• Specific Requirements: Describe methods for:
  • Evaluating and scheduling interactions between heterogeneous agents.
  • Enabling more efficient agent interactions (lower prompt length/faster completion) with varying access to latent spaces (none, transformer, mixed).
  • Characterizing and quantifying communication dynamics.
  • Optimizing communication protocols.
• Details: Identify selected science subdomains, families of scientific tasks, and potential generalization domains.
• Rubric: Include current results, Month 4 targets for % success rate, speedup, and generalizability. Explain target setting rationale and challenges. Specify agent details (number, types, models used), task/domain count, and platform build time.

Technical Area 2 (TA2): Geometry and Evolution of Shared Knowledge – Generalizable Principles from Data

• Goal: Discover new generalizable principles by monitoring and analyzing multiple data streams.
• Methods: Proposers must identify mathematics, information theory, and data science methods.
• Specific Requirements: Describe methods to:
  • Enable combination/comparisons of data streams across modalities and time scales.
  • Identify common and uncommon features across data streams.
  • Extract generalizable principles, laws, or correlations (explicitly describe cost functions/rewards).
  • Enable interpretability of extracted principles.
  • Generate and validate a minimum curriculum for task/domain success.
• Details: Identify selected science subdomains, corpora, families of scientific tasks, and potential generalization domains. List principles, laws, or correlations to be rediscovered.
• Rubric: Include current results, Month 4 targets for number of data streams, amount of data, time to disentangle, and interpretability. Explain target setting rationale and challenges.

Proposed Metrics:

• Proposers must submit proposed metrics on a dedicated slide per metric.
• Each metric proposal should include:
  • Technical Area
  • Description
  • Method for calculation
  • How the metric measures progress against program goals and supplements current metrics
  • Rationale for adoption and expected insights
  • Literature sources (if available)

This document serves as a template and guide for proposers. It details the specific technical areas of focus, the expected methodologies, performance metrics, and reporting requirements for proposals submitted under DARPA-PA-26-05 MATHBAC. Bidders must adhere to the structure and content requirements outlined in this presentation to formulate their proposals.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document is a template for an abstract summary slide, likely intended for use in presentations related to the DARPA-PA-26-05 MATHBAC opportunity. It outlines the key information required for an abstract summary.

• Abstract Title: The main title of the abstract.
• Organization Name(s): Names of the organizations involved.
• Technical POC Name(s): Names of the technical points of contact.
• Risks: Description of the risks associated with the effort.
• New Ideas: Presentation of novel concepts or approaches.
• Expected Outcomes: Description of the anticipated results if the effort is successful.

This template guides bidders on the essential components to include in their abstract summaries for this opportunity. It highlights the types of information the government expects to see regarding the project's scope, risks, innovations, and anticipated successes.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document is a template for a proposal summary slide, intended for use by bidders responding to the DARPA-PA-26-05 MATHBAC opportunity. It outlines the required sections for presenting key proposal information.

• Proposal Title: The name of the proposed solution.
• Organization Name(s): The prime contractor and any subcontractors.
• Technical POC Name(s): Points of contact for technical aspects.
• Risks: Description of potential risks associated with the proposed effort.
• New Ideas: Presentation of innovative concepts or approaches.
• Team and Responsibilities: Details on the team structure and assigned roles.

Bidders must use this template to structure their proposal summary slide. It guides the presentation of critical information regarding the proposal's title, team, technical approach, and risk assessment, ensuring a standardized format for evaluation.

Solicitation / RFP / RFQ

This Program Announcement (PA) from DARPA's Defense Sciences Office solicits innovative research proposals focused on the "Mathematics of Boosting Agentic Communication" (MATHBAC). The program aims to advance the foundational mathematics, systems theory, and information theory required for autonomous agents and agent collectives to enable and accelerate scientific discovery. It seeks revolutionary approaches, excluding incremental improvements.

• Phase I: Focuses on developing mathematical frameworks for agentic communication protocols (TA1) and discovering generalizable principles from data (TA2). This phase involves "fixed" agents that do not evolve.

• Phase II: Focuses on agentic evolution, where agents adapt and evolve their communication and knowledge. This phase will combine the efforts of TA1 and TA2 into "Evolution Teams."

• Research should not aim to build applications or specific products, but rather to formulate and solve fundamental scientific and mathematical problems.

• Type of Instrument: Other Transaction Agreements for Research.

• Period of Performance: 34 months total, divided into Phase I (16 months) and Phase II (18 months).

• Anticipated Funding: Phase I awards are limited to $2,000,000 per award.

• Abstract Due Date: April 30, 2026.

• Question Submittal Deadline: June 4, 2026.

• Proposal Due Date: June 16, 2026.

• Evaluation Criteria: Overall Scientific and Technical Merit, Potential Contribution and Relevance to DARPA Mission, Price, and Proposer's Capabilities or Related Experience.

• All responsible sources (U.S. and non-U.S.) are encouraged to submit proposals.

• Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Small Businesses, Small Disadvantaged Businesses, and Minority Institutions are encouraged to participate, though no portion is set aside.

• FFRDCs, UARCs, and Government entities are not eligible.

• The program utilizes a Phased-Acquisition Approach.

• Proposals must address either TA1 or TA2 in Phase I and describe how they would address Phase II.

• DARPA will conduct a Fundamental Research Risk-Based Security Review for senior/key personnel.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document, Attachment E, provides the instructions and template for preparing the Price Proposal (Volume II) for the DARPA-PA-26-05 MATHBAC opportunity. It also mandates the use of Attachment F, the Streamlined Cost Buildup Workbook, for cost proposal development.

• Formatting Requirements: 8-1/2 by 11-inch paper, 1-inch margins, minimum 12-point font (smaller for figures/tables). Submissions must be in English, in PDF or Microsoft Word format. Spreadsheet files (Attachment F) must be separate.
• Cost Proposal Structure: Requires detailed price breakdowns for Direct Labor, Materials, Equipment Purchases, Travel, Other Direct Costs (ODCs), Resource Sharing, Consultant Costs, and Subawardee Costs. Prices must be traceable between prime and subcontractors, and between the cost volume and the Task Description Document (TDD).
• Subcontractor Costs: Prime proposer is responsible for compiling and submitting all non-proprietary subcontractor cost proposals. Proprietary proposals can be included in the Price Volume or emailed separately by the subcontractor to MATHBAC@darpa.mil.
• Required Templates: Proposers must use the provided Attachment F (DARPA Price Summary Spreadsheet) with intact calculation formulas for traceability. All tabs and tables should be editable.
• Cover Sheet Information: Requires details such as Proposal Title, Proposer Organization, Technical Area, Organization Type, POCs (Technical & Administrative), Award Instrument, Place/Period of Performance, Subcontractors, Total Price, SAM.gov UEI, TIN, CAGE code, DCMA/ONR POC, DCAA POC, Date Prepared, and Proposal Validity Period.

This document is critical for bidders to understand how to structure and submit their cost proposals. Adherence to the formatting, content, and submission requirements outlined in this attachment and the referenced Attachment F is mandatory for a complete proposal. Failure to use the specified templates or provide traceable cost information may result in an incomplete submission.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document provides mandatory proposal instructions and a template for Volume I (Technical and Management) for the DARPA-PA-26-05 MATHBAC opportunity. Adherence to this format is required for proposal review.

• Formatting Requirements: Submissions must be in English, formatted for 8-1/2 by 11-inch paper with 1-inch margins, and use a minimum 12-point font size (8 or 10-point for figures, tables, charts).
• Page Limits: The Technical and Management Volume (Sections 2-5) has a maximum limit of 20 pages. Excluded from this limit are the Cover Sheet, Official Transmittal Letter (Section 1), technical figures/tables/charts, Table of Contents, Resumes, References/Bibliography, and Technical Papers (max 3).
• Content Sections: The template outlines required sections including Official Transmittal Letter, Proposal Summary, Goals and Impact, Technical Plan, Capabilities, Task Description Document, Schedule and Milestones, Management Plan, Personnel Qualifications, Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) Affirmations, Novelty of Proposed Work, Intellectual Property (IP), and an optional Bibliography.
• Cover Sheet Details: Requires specific information such as Proposal Title, Proposer Organization, Topic Area, Type of Organization, POCs (Technical and Administrative), Place/Period of Performance, Team Members, Total Price, SAM.gov UEI, TIN, CAGE code, DCMA/ONR POC, DCAA POC, Date Prepared, AI-Generated Material disclosure, and Proposal Validity Period.
• Submission Instructions: Proposals must be submitted via the Broad Agency Announcement Tool (BAAT) by the due date and time specified in the Overview Information section.

This document is critical for bidders as it dictates the mandatory structure, content, and formatting requirements for the Technical and Management proposal volume. Failure to comply may result in the proposal not being reviewed. Bidders must carefully follow all instructions regarding page limits, required sections, and submission procedures.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document is a template for a Task Description Document (TDD). It provides a structured format for bidders to detail their proposed approach to fulfilling contract requirements. It is intended to guide the breakdown of work into tasks and subtasks, specifying objectives, approaches, locations, responsible organizations, human subjects/animal research involvement, milestones, and deliverables.

• General Objective: A high-level description of the proposal's goal.
• Task Breakdown: Detailed sections for each Task and Subtask, requiring:
  • Objective
  • Detailed Description of Approach
  • Location of Work (e.g., university campus)
  • Primary Organization Responsible
  • Human Subjects or Animal Research (Yes/No and description if Yes)
  • Measurable Milestones
  • Defined Deliverables

Bidders must use this template to structure and present their technical proposal. It ensures all critical aspects of the proposed work, from objectives to deliverables and compliance considerations, are clearly articulated in a standardized format. Completing this document thoroughly is essential for demonstrating a clear understanding of the requirements and a viable plan for execution.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document provides mandatory instructions and a template for submitting abstracts for the DARPA-PA-26-05 MATHBAC opportunity. It outlines the required format, content, and submission process for abstracts.

• Mandatory Template: Proposers must use this template for abstract submissions.
• Page Limit: Abstracts shall not exceed two (2) pages. This limit includes figures, tables, and charts, but excludes the cover sheet, table of contents, bibliography, and optional technical papers (max 3).
• Formatting: Submissions must be in English, formatted for 8-1/2 by 11-inch paper with 1-inch margins and a minimum 12-point font size (8 or 10-point allowed for figures, tables, charts).
• Content Sections: The template includes sections for Goals and Impact, Technical Approach, Capabilities/Management Plan, Cost and Schedule, and Bibliography.
• Submission Level: Abstracts should be UNCLASSIFIED or Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).
• Submission Method: Abstracts must be submitted through DARPA’s Broad Agency Announcement Tool (BAAT) by the deadline specified in the Overview Information section.

This document is critical for potential bidders as it dictates the specific requirements for preparing and submitting an abstract. Failure to adhere to these instructions, including page limits and formatting, may result in the abstract not being reviewed. Bidders must ensure their abstract submission includes all components described herein and is submitted by the stated deadline.