DARPA Program Managers have a lot of leeway to write these sorts of requests.
PMs are typically experts in their field and often come from an academic, industry, military, or government research lab. DARPA gives them a budget for grants, autonomy, and 3-5 years to fund interesting work. Many fail, many have mixed success, and a small number revolutionize their field.
(Source: worked on a few DARPA-funded projects decades ago.)
PMs are typically experts in their field and often come from an academic, industry, military, or government research lab. DARPA gives them a budget for grants, autonomy, and 3-5 years to fund interesting work. Many fail, many have mixed success, and a small number revolutionize their field.
(Source: worked on a few DARPA-funded projects decades ago.)