DARPA MXO Pitch Day

All applications for this internal competition must be submitted via InfoReady. You can sign in using your Net-ID and your @stonybrook.edu email address. Please allow sufficient time to familiarize yourself with the portal prior to submitting your pre-application. Pre-application requirements are listed in the announcement below.

The Office for Research and Innovation invites applications for the DARPA MXO Pitch Day program, which is soliciting for revolutionary discovery solutions in the following thrust areas: a world beyond electronics, foundations beyond components, and
materials beyond nature and current synthetic practice. Proposed discovery solutions should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, devices, or systems. Stony Brook University can submit ONE abstract per Thrust Area.

Please see below for details. If you are interested in applying, you must submit a pre-application via the MXO Pitch Day Portal in InfoReady by July 8, 2026 at 9:00 am. Pre-applications for internal review and selection must be uploaded to the portal as a single PDF document.

KEYWORDS: Sensing, Quantum Devices, Optical Devices, Acoustic Devices, Extreme Environments, Power, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science

WHAT DOES IT FUND: The goals of the MXO Pitch Day 2026 are to: 1) fund scientific discovery solutions for short-term efforts with the intent to advance scientific understanding, generate new concepts or methods, reduce technical uncertainty, and potential to catalyze future research efforts, and 2) employ an acquisition strategy to encourage participation by non-traditional organizations and small businesses that have not previously received a DARPA-funded award as prime performers and university teams whose Principal Investigators have not previously served as a Principal Investigator under a DARPA-funded award. MXO Pitch Day 2026 aims to broaden DARPA’s goals to break down barriers of entry for performers new to DARPA and the national security space. Interested organizations (identified by a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code) will be required to submit an Abstract for evaluation in response to any of the following Thrust Areas: Thrust Area 1: A world beyond electronics (sensing and communications; optical, quantum, organic, and acoustic devices); Thrust Area 2: Foundations beyond components (technologies and methods that survive in extreme environments, including space, undersea and arctic); Thrust Area 3: Materials beyond nature and current synthetic practice (ad-hoc tunable electrical, magnetic, optical, and mechanical properties, built-in autonomous property resilience of materials/components, room temp superconductor and inorganic-like electrical characteristics in organic materials systems). MXO Pitch Day 2026 event is occurring in conjunction with the MXO Spark Tank event. Submissions containing proprietary information must have the cover page and each page containing such information clearly marked with a label such as “Proprietary” or “Company Proprietary.”

APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS: Principal Investigators who have not previously served as a Principal Investigator under a DARPA-funded award.

AWARD: $500,000 for up to 12 months

COST SHARE: Not required

SPONSOR DEADLINE: Questions due July 15, 2026 at 5:00 pm. Abstracts (required) due July 29, 2026. Pitch Day Package (PDP) due date will be provided to invitees only. Those selected organizations invited to submit a PDP package and pitch their discovery solutions at MXO Pitch Day will be required to register for the MXO Spark Tank event. MXO Pitch Day (In-Person): November 2, 2026.

A complete pre-application should comprise of the following:

Project Summary (no more than 2 pages) that includes technical approach and Technical Ability and Proposer Qualifications
High-level Estimated Budget and Schedule (no more than 1 page)
CV of PI