Control of Material Properties through Advanced StructureS (COMPASS) | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Control of Material Properties through Advanced StructureS (COMPASS) opportunity is a DARPA Defense Sciences Office research solicitation aimed at pushing functional materials performance significantly beyond the current state of the art by combining two things that have recently advanced a lot: (1) modern, high-end fabrication methods and (2) deliberate design of a material's internal structure. The central idea is that performance gains do not have to come only from discovering new chemistries; they can also come from engineering structure at the right length scales (often micro- to nano-scale) so that properties like thermal transport, electrical transport, and other coupled behaviors can be tuned in ways conventional processing cannot achieve. DARPA is looking for proposals that demonstrate this concept in a credible, experimentally grounded way, not just as theory.

The solicitation highlights thermoelectrics as the primary focus, split into two specific technical areas where the temperature regime is critical. The first area targets thermoelectric materials for power generation operating around 1000 K, which is a high-temperature environment relevant to converting waste heat or high-grade heat sources into usable electrical power. The second area targets thermoelectric materials for cooling around 200 K, which is a low-temperature regime relevant to solid-state cooling approaches where traditional compressor-based systems can be bulky, maintenance-heavy, or difficult to integrate. In both cases, the emphasis is on using advanced structuring and fabrication to achieve performance improvements that would be hard to reach through incremental materials tweaks alone. Alongside these thermoelectric topics, the announcement also leaves room for advanced studies in other functional material systems that could matter to the Department of Defense, which gives proposers latitude if they can make a strong case that structural control can unlock high-impact properties in other material classes.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary funding opportunity issued as DARPA BAA 10-73, categorized under Science and Technology and other Research and Development, with CFDA number 12.910 (Research and Technology Development). DARPA indicates multiple possible award instruments, including cooperative agreements, grants, other transactions/arrangements, and procurement contracts, which generally signals flexibility in how the agency might structure the relationship depending on the nature of the work and the level of government involvement anticipated. Cost sharing is not required, which lowers barriers for teams that may not have matching funds but can propose strong technical work. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning the competition is open to a broad range of entity types (for example, companies, universities, nonprofits, and similar organizations), subject to any additional eligibility clarifications that may be included in the full announcement.

Key dates in the listing show it was posted on June 24, 2010, created July 9, 2010, with an original closing date of September 14, 2010, later extended to September 21, 2010, and then archived on November 26, 2010. The listing also notes an additional information link labeled "DARPA BAA 10-73" for the full announcement details, and provides a point of contact through the BAA Coordinator for help accessing the announcement electronically. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a push to prove that intentionally engineered structure, enabled by advanced fabrication, can produce a step change in functional materials performance, with thermoelectrics at extreme operating temperatures called out as the most explicit near-term targets.

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