The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate is “calling all researchers, innovators, non-traditional partners and anyone with ‘the next big idea’” who can help advance the nation’s security to be able to find S&T’s basic and applied research topics 
and how to apply for funding in an upcoming Facebook Town Hall.
The live town hall will take place January 26, 2017 from 1-2 PM ET with S&T’s Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (LRBAA) coordinator to discuss program processes and requirements. S&T program managers will be available to answer questions on a range of research topics contained in the LRBAA solicitation. The goal of this townhall is to better prepare candidates to apply for and receive funding. Additional information about DHS S&T’s LRBAA may be found at: https://baa2.st.dhs.gov/portal/BAA/.
LRBAA is a standing, open invitation to the scientific and technical communities to fund pioneering research and development projects in support of our nation’s security. Its purpose is to advance our scientific and technical knowledge and to apply such advances to the department’s operational environments.
A traditional Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) is fairly specific in its subject matter requirements. The LRBAA is not. By design, it covers a wide range of subjects and is short on details. This enables S&T to contemplate proposals for original research that fall outside the scope of its more narrowly defined BAAs.
“The goal,” S&T said, “is to advance our scientific and technical knowledge through a competitive solicitation for basic and applied research, and to apply such advances to DHS’s operational environments and the Homeland Security Enterprise.”
S&T said, “The LRBAA doesn’t focus on a specific system or hardware solution. Rather, the announcement seeks scientific study and experimentation focused on advancing the state-of-the-art or increasing knowledge or understanding. For example, S&T is interested in ideas that would improve situational awareness at our borders, and we can provide funding through the LRBAA to research, test and/or develop technology.”
Successful submissions to the LRBAA will answer questions such as:
- What research problem do you propose to solve?
- How is your concept different from and superior to solutions currently available elsewhere, and
- What data and analysis do you have to support the contention that funding your R&D project will result in a significant increase in capability for DHS?
