Enabling Quantification of Uncertainty in Physical Systems (EQUiPS) | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the EQUiPS grant opportunity?

The Enabling Quantification of Uncertainty in Physical Systems (EQUiPS) opportunity was a DARPA Defense Sciences Office solicitation (Funding Opportunity Number DARPA BAA 15 13) focused on advancing uncertainty quantification (UQ) for large-scale Department of Defense physical systems.

What was the main goal of the EQUiPS program?

The central aim was to fund research that could fundamentally improve how uncertainty is measured, modeled, propagated, and used to support decisions in complex, real-world defense contexts, particularly for large and complicated physical systems.

What does DARPA mean by “uncertainty quantification (UQ)” in this context?

In this solicitation, UQ refers to methods for characterizing and managing uncertainty in physical systems, including how uncertainty enters through inputs and assumptions, how it is represented in models, how it propagates through simulations or analyses, and how the resulting uncertainty estimates can inform engineering and operational decisions.

What kinds of systems was EQUiPS interested in?

The program targeted large-scale DoD physical systems and other complex, real-world defense-relevant physical systems where uncertainty can come from many sources and where high-fidelity modeling can be computationally demanding.

What types of uncertainty did the opportunity description highlight?

The synopsis highlighted uncertainty arising from limited or noisy measurements, incomplete physics, unknown boundary conditions, manufacturing variability, environmental effects, imperfect or variable operational conditions, model structure uncertainty, sensor data imperfections, and the computational complexity of high-fidelity simulation.

What kind of advances was DARPA looking for?

DARPA emphasized step-change, “revolutionary” advances rather than incremental tuning or routine extensions of existing UQ tools. The opportunity was framed for high-risk, high-payoff concepts that could change what is possible in UQ for complex physical systems.

What research would likely be considered out of scope?

The description explicitly excluded work mainly producing evolutionary improvements. Examples of likely out-of-scope efforts (based on the synopsis language) include proposals that primarily refine established UQ workflows, marginally speed up standard Monte Carlo methods without a deeper leap, or apply off-the-shelf probabilistic modeling to a new dataset without a fundamental technical advance.

Why did DARPA emphasize “tractable and actionable at scale” UQ?

The synopsis indicates DARPA wanted approaches that could handle real DoD-sized problems without becoming impractically expensive computationally, while still producing uncertainty estimates credible enough to influence decisions at the engineering or operational level.

Who was eligible to apply?

Eligibility was listed as unrestricted, meaning the solicitation was broadly open to any type of entity, subject to any clarifications in the full announcement.

Was cost sharing or matching required?

No. The synopsis states there was no cost sharing or matching requirement.

What funding mechanisms could DARPA use for awards?

The listed instruments included cooperative agreements, grants, other procurement contracts, and procurement contracts. This gave DARPA flexibility to structure awards based on the nature of the work and the expected level of government involvement.

What activity category did this opportunity fall under?

It was categorized under Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

What CFDA number was associated with this opportunity?

The opportunity referenced CFDA 12.910, Research and Technology Development, which is commonly associated with defense R&D funding.

When was the opportunity posted and when did it close?

It was posted on December 18, 2014. The original closing date was February 25, 2015, later extended to March 10, 2015. The listing was archived on April 10, 2015.

Where were applicants directed to find the full details?

The synopsis pointed to the full DARPA BAA 15 13 announcement on FedBizOpps (the federal contracting portal used at the time). The detailed technical areas, submission requirements, and evaluation criteria were indicated to be in the full BAA text rather than the brief synopsis.

Who could be contacted for access issues related to the announcement?

The listing provided a contact route through the BAA Coordinator for access issues.

What does it mean that DARPA could use either grants or procurement contracts?

Based on the synopsis, DARPA reserved flexibility to choose among assistance-style instruments (like grants or cooperative agreements) and procurement-style instruments (contracts), depending on the nature of the proposed work and the anticipated government involvement.

Is this opportunity still active?

No. The timeline indicates the opportunity was archived on April 10, 2015.

How should the “revolutionary advances” requirement affect how proposals are framed?

The synopsis suggests proposals needed to be positioned as fundamentally new ideas that could enable major improvements in scientific understanding, device performance, or system-level capability in UQ for complex physical systems, not as incremental improvements to established methods.

What was the decision-support angle in the EQUiPS description?

The solicitation synopsis emphasized uncertainty estimates that are credible and useful for decision-making in complex defense contexts, implying that UQ outputs should be meaningful for real engineering or operational choices rather than purely academic metrics.