Binary Executable Transforms (BET) | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Binary Executable Transforms (BET) grant opportunity is a DARPA Information Innovation Office (I2O) research solicitation focused on advancing the state of the art in computer program analysis, with a specific emphasis on binary executables. Rather than concentrating on source-code-level analysis, the program targets the harder and often more operationally relevant problem of understanding software when only compiled binaries are available. The core technical aim is to develop fundamentally new methods for analyzing binary executable programs to identify their functional components and to automatically extract those components. In practical terms, DARPA is looking for research that can decompose a compiled program into meaningful building blocks (such as routines, modules, capabilities, or other functional units) and then pull those units out in an automated way, presumably to enable downstream uses like reuse, transformation, inspection, or other forms of binary manipulation and understanding.

A key feature of the BET solicitation is its emphasis on innovation over incrementalism. DARPA explicitly excludes proposals that would mainly deliver evolutionary improvements to existing tools or common approaches. That exclusion signals that the program is not meant to fund straightforward extensions of conventional reverse engineering workflows, modest accuracy gains in standard disassembly, or routine refinements to established static and dynamic analysis pipelines. Instead, proposals are expected to explore new approaches that materially change what is feasible in binary analysis, particularly around reliably recognizing functional components in the presence of compilation artifacts, optimization, limited symbol information, and other real-world complexities that make binaries difficult to interpret.

From an administrative and funding standpoint, the opportunity is a discretionary federal assistance award using a Cooperative Agreement mechanism, which typically implies substantial involvement or collaboration with the government during performance (for example, coordination on technical direction, integration, demonstrations, or evaluation activities). The activity category is Science and Technology and other Research and Development, and the CFDA listing is 12.910 (Research and Technology Development). There is no cost sharing or matching requirement stated, meaning proposers are not required to provide a mandatory cost share as a condition of eligibility under the posted summary information.

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, indicating that any type of entity may apply (such as companies, universities, nonprofit research organizations, or other qualified institutions), subject to any additional eligibility details that may be present in the full announcement text. The funding opportunity number is DARPA RA 11 56, and the title is Binary Executable Transforms (BET). The announcement was posted on June 9, 2011, with an original and current closing date of August 15, 2011, and the deadline is specified as 12:00 noon Eastern time on that date. The archive date is September 14, 2011. For access issues or questions about the full announcement, the listed point of contact is Daniel Roelker, Program Manager within DARPA/I2O, referenced as the RA Coordinator in the contact information.

Overall, BET is best understood as a DARPA effort to push beyond conventional binary reverse engineering by funding research that can automatically discover and extract functional structure from executable code, treating binaries as transformable artifacts rather than opaque endpoints. The solicitation is positioned for teams proposing novel technical concepts, not simply better versions of existing practice, and it is administered as a cooperative R&D award under DARPA I2O.

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