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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - DARPA BAA 14-14: Big Mechanism

What is DARPA BAA 14-14 (Big Mechanism)?

DARPA BAA 14-14, titled Big Mechanism, was a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) research opportunity in the science and technology / R&D category. The program concept aimed to push the state of the art in how machines read, interpret, and assemble scientific knowledge from published literature and related scientific content.

What problem was the Big Mechanism program trying to solve?

The program aimed to move beyond systems that mainly search for and retrieve documents. Instead, it focused on technologies that could automatically extract causal and mechanistic explanations from scientific sources, represent them in computable forms, and use them for reasoning, prediction, and hypothesis generation.

What does "mechanistic" or "causal" extraction mean in this context?

In this context, mechanistic or causal extraction refers to identifying explanations that describe how causes lead to effects through intermediate steps, often involving interacting entities and events. The goal was to convert those explanations into structured models that a computer can manipulate and reason over.

What kinds of scientific content was the program interested in?

The description highlights large bodies of published text, figures, and related scientific content. The intent was to turn these materials into structured models of how complex processes work.

What are examples of "mechanisms" mentioned in the opportunity description?

Examples included biological pathways, biochemical interactions, and other scientific mechanisms where interacting entities and events produce outcomes through a sequence of causal steps.

What was DARPA looking to build, in practical terms?

In practical terms, DARPA was seeking technologies that can read and interpret scientific literature at scale, extract mechanistic explanations, and assemble them into structured, computable models that support reasoning, prediction, and hypothesis generation.

What type of solicitation was this?

This opportunity was issued as a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), which is commonly used for research and development efforts where the government is seeking innovative technical approaches.

What is the Funding Opportunity Number for this BAA?

The Funding Opportunity Number was DARPA BAA 14-14.

When was the opportunity posted?

The opportunity was posted on January 30, 2014.

What were the closing dates for submissions?

The original and final closing date listed for the opportunity was March 18, 2014.

Was this a discretionary funding opportunity?

Yes. The synopsis described the opportunity as discretionary.

What funding instruments were allowed?

The opportunity allowed multiple funding instruments, including cooperative agreements, grants, other transactions, and procurement contracts. This reflects DARPA's typical approach of using flexible instruments to partner with performers and support technology transition.

What is the CFDA number associated with this opportunity?

The CFDA number listed was 12.910, described as Research and Technology Development.

Were there minimum or maximum award amounts specified?

The award floor and ceiling amounts were both listed as 0. This commonly indicates that the government did not pre-commit to specific minimum or maximum award sizes in the public synopsis, and that award sizes would be driven by the proposed technical approach, scope, and available program funds.

Was cost sharing or matching required?

No cost sharing or matching requirement was indicated in the information provided.

Who was eligible to apply?

Eligibility was described as "unrestricted," which means the applicant pool was broadly open in principle. This can include companies (large or small), universities, nonprofit research organizations, and potentially government-affiliated labs, subject to any constraints that may have been detailed in the full BAA text.

Could teams or consortia apply?

Yes. The description notes that teams and consortia would have been viable, particularly given the interdisciplinary expertise often needed for this type of work.

What kinds of expertise were relevant for proposed teams?

The opportunity description points to a mix of capabilities that could include machine reading and natural language processing, knowledge representation, machine learning, scientific domain expertise, and software engineering needed to operationalize systems at scale.

Where were the full technical goals and submission requirements described?

The announcement referenced an attached document (the DARPA BAA 14-14 attachment) as the controlling description for technical goals, metrics, deliverables, and submission requirements.

Where were applicants directed to find full source materials?

Applicants were pointed to the DARPA I2O (Information Innovation Office) solicitations page for full source materials.

Which DARPA office managed this program?

The program was managed within DARPA's Information Innovation Office (I2O), based on the references in the announcement.

Who was the contact person listed for access issues?

The contact listed for access issues was Paul Cohen, identified as a Program Manager at DARPA/I2O and the BAA Coordinator.

What is the overall goal of the Big Mechanism opportunity in one sentence?

The Big Mechanism opportunity sought ambitious R&D to automate the construction of mechanistic, causal models directly from the scientific literature so computers can assemble and manipulate explanatory models of complex scientific systems.

Is this opportunity still open?

Based on the dates provided, the final closing date was March 18, 2014, so the opportunity described here was time-bounded to early 2014.