Calling for External Partner NAVIGATE Rotation Bids

The NAVIGATE Program is NOW CALLING for EXTERNAL PARTNERS to submit Rotation Bid Proposals – this is a fantastic opportunity to get access to leading Defence S&T minds to advance key projects, while contributing to the growth of the national STEM pool.

The intent of the external rotation is to provide participants with an opportunity to broaden their knowledge of Defence’s Science and Technology work through a placement in the broader STEM ecosystem that can benefit from their STEM knowledge and expertise.

Participants will undertake their first 6-month external rotation from Monday 6 May to Friday 8 November 2024.

To submit a rotation bid, external partners are encouraged to complete the below ‘External Project Rotation Proposal Form’ by Tuesday 26 March 2024 for consideration during the first round of placements. Rotation Bids received after this date will be filed for consideration by NAVIGATE Participants in the near future.

Once rotation bids have been submitted and collated, the NAVIGATE Team will provide these to the participants for consideration. At this time, the participant may seek to engage with the POC to discuss the bid further. The NAVIGATE Team will notify our External Partners by 9 April 2024 if a participant accepts their proposal.

If you have any questions in relation to the rotation bid, please contact the NAVIGATE Team (navigate.program@defence.gov.au).

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies show promise for autonomous cyber operations (ACO), offering the potential for distributed, adaptive defensive measures at machine speed and scale.

Cyber is a particularly challenging domain for autonomous AI that requires further research in order to enable ACO to become an operational capability. To facilitate this AI research, the TTCP CAGE working group, are releasing the fourth CAGE Challenge to invite researchers to respond.

Our aim is to support the development of AI tactics, techniques and procedures that are associated with this challenge in order to support practical demonstrations of ACO. By encapsulating the cyber elements in the CAGE challenges, we hope to engage wider research communities who are experts in the field of AI.

CAGE Challenge 4 is a scenario where multiple autonomous agents must effectively defend a simulated industry enterprise network. This challenge introduces Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning techniques where the agents must coordinate & communicate their strategy to effectively defend the network.

Further information can be found on the GitHub page.

Important dates

• 20 February 2024: Challenge 4 released. Development phase begins.
• 29 March 2024 (23:59 UTC): Development phase ends. Competition phase begins.
• 10 May 2024 (23:59 UTC): Competition phase ends. Final results are announced.

The Defence Human Sciences Symposium (DHSS) is the principal Australian forum for those interested in the application of human sciences research to enhance Defence capability.

DHSS 2023 will be co-hosted by Queensland University of Technology and the Department of Defence, with event management partners Deakin University Events, from 05-06 December at QUT's Gardens Point campus.

The theme for DHSS 2023 is "Research in action: From the lab to the battlefield". Defence's Science and Technology Strategy 2030 and the Defence Strategic Review 2023 highlight the importance of delivering impact and a capability edge through innovation. Great ideas will be transformed into innovative solutions, through national and international partnerships between Defence, academia, and industry. DHSS 2023 will provide a forum for delegates from academia, industry, and Defence to showcase human sciences, health and performance research and how its impact on Defence capability can be accelerated.

Submission requirements

Abstract submissions are now closed. The review committee will consider submissions describing theoretical and applied research, as well as discussion papers, and papers describing work-in-progress. All Defence co-authored submissions should be classified no higher than OFFICIAL, Public Release.

Further information

For further information about the event, please visit the DHSS 2023 event page.

A sovereign medical countermeasures capability, including the ability to develop and produce vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, is necessary to protect military and civilian personnel, and build Australia's preparedness against chemical, biological and radiological threats, emerging infectious diseases and pandemics.

Through its Health Security Systems Australia division, DMTC is seeking expressions of interest for collaborative project proposals focussed on the following priority themes:

• Anti-infective therapeutics, including against antimicrobial resistance
• Vaccine products or platform technologies for infectious disease threats
• Medical Countermeasures against chemical threats

For more information about this opportunity and to submit your expression of interest, go to the DMTC web site.

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies show promise for autonomous cyber operations (ACO), offering the potential for distributed, adaptive defensive measures at machine speed and scale.

The cyber domain is a particularly challenging domain for autonomous AI. We nominate a challenge in this space that we believe requires further research in order to enable ACO to become an operational capability. To facilitate this AI research, we, the TTCP CAGE working group, are releasing CybORG, an experimental platform using the OpenAI Gym interface together with a cyber security scenario and a challenge to which we invite researchers to respond.

Our aim is to support the development of AI tactics, techniques and procedures with CybORG and a series of CAGE scenarios with associated challenge problems in order to support practical demonstrations of ACO. We wish to engage the AI and cyber security research communities, especially to leverage domain experts outside of the cyber field, and by encapsulating the cyber elements in environments such as CybORG along with the CAGE scenarios and challenge problems, we hope that the cyber problem set becomes accessible to a wider audience. The first CAGE scenario and associated challenge problem were released at the IJCAI-21 1st International Workshop on Adaptive Cyber Defense (ACD 2021). The second CAGE challenge scenario and challenge problem were announced at the AAAI-22 Workshop on Artificial Intelligence for Cyber Security Workshop (AICS) and have now been released.

The CAGE challenge environment, CybORG, and second challenge are available here. Any enquiries can be directed to CAGEACOChallenge@dst.defence.gov.au

The CAGE challenge is written in Python. Dependencies can be installed using pip. Further instructions are included on the GitHub page. The challenge includes red agents to test against and an example blue agent. Submissions should implement the same methods of the example blue agent.

Important dates

1 April 2022: Challenge 2 released and open for submissions.
11 July 2022 (any time zone): Final day for challenge submissions.
23 July 2022: Final results announced.

Submissions are now closed.

D.Start Fuze is a two-day, in-person networking event open to selected current participants and graduates of D.Start Ignite.

D.Start Fuze activities will coincide with a high-profile defence conference or exposition, for example:

• INDO PACIFIC International Maritime Exposition, Sydney
• LAND FORCES International Land Defence Exposition, Brisbane
• AVALON Australian International Aerospace and Defence Exposition, Avalon.

Supported by an experienced team of facilitators and coaches on the ground, D.Start Fuze will provide participants with an opportunity to meet key players in the defence ecosystem, and connect with exhibitors that may inspire you on how to best apply your idea in the defence space.

D.Start Fuze is delivered in partnership with CSIRO and is supported by the Next Generation Technologies Fund.

What teams will get out of D.Start Fuze

Participating in D.Start Fuze will help you stay connected in the D.Start program pipeline, by offering you exclusive access to events that can strengthen your engagement with the defence sector.

How D.Start Fuze is delivered

The next round of D.Start Fuze will be delivered at INDO PACIFIC 2022 in Sydney.

About INDO PACIFIC 2022

INDO PACIFIC 2022  is an opportunity for commercial maritime and naval defence suppliers to promote their capabilities to decision-makers from around the world.

As the signature maritime event for the region, INDO PACIFIC 2022 offers an unparalleled concentration of Defence and civilian decision-makers, suppliers, SME’s, prime contractors, universities, and research organisations. INDO PACIFIC 2022 will be the 12th iteration of this internationally renowned event, which in 2019 attracted:

• 657 participating exhibitor companies from 22 nations
• 182 industry, government, defence and scientific delegations from 48 nations, including 45 international naval delegations and 21 Chief of Navy counterparts from across the region
• 48 major conferences, symposia and forums
• 21,241 attendances across three days.

Example program

Day One

• Participant arrival
• Networking Event (evening)

Day Two

• 07:00-09:00 Breakfast Guest Speaker Panel 1 (Understanding Defence Opportunities)*
• 09:00-17:30: Attend exposition*

Day Three

• 07:00-09:00 Breakfast Guest Speaker Panel 2 (Learnings from Successful Defence Collaborations)*
• 09:00-17:30 Attend exposition*
• 15:00-16:00 D.Start Fuze Insights and Debrief*

*Mandatory attendance requirement.

Who can participate in D.Start Fuze

To be considered for the D.Start Fuze, you must be:

• a past or current participant in D.Start Ignite
• able to travel to the location of the relevant defence exposition and participate in the full program of activities
• willing to register and attend the relevant defence exposition (general registration is free)
• willing to arrange own travel and accommodation. In some cases, travel will be supported through a D.Start Fuze Travel Grant which will be payable after the event. Relevant teams will be notified upon receiving an offer to participate.

How to apply

Applications for D.Start Ignite are open periodically. However, applications for D.Start Fuze are by invitation only. If you meet the eligibility requirements, the D.Start team will email you directly. Successful applicants will be notified by email.

Contact

Contact the D.Start team or our delivery partner CSIRO if you have any questions about the program.

Defence is seeking Expressions of Interest from university partners to form a Centre for Advanced Defence Research and Enterprise (CADRE) to enhance the Australian Defence Force's ability to operate safely in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear environments.

The CADRE will support the ambitious research program of the Operating in a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Environments (OCE) STaR Shot. It will also, within a provided scope, have a remit to explore and capitalise on opportunities in sectors of overlapping need - such as health, civilian first responder and national security.

The CADRE will have an initial duration of five years, with an option to extend. Costs associated with running the centre will be covered by Defence through negotiation with the selected lead partner. However, Defence is looking for true integrated partners who each share a stake in the success of the CADRE.

Background

CBRN hazards, whether released on purpose or by accident, are some of the most insidious and challenging threats faced by Defence personnel and civilian first responders. The OCE STaR Shot - led by DSTG on behalf of Defence - aims to enhance the Australian Defence Force's capability to respond faster and more flexibly to CBRN threats.

The Science, Technology and Research (STaR) Shots are challenging, inspirational and aspirational S&T missions launched as part of Defence's More Together S&T strategy that will drive the evolution of innovation pathways, from fundamental research and development through to prototyping and transition into capability.

To apply

Responses to the EOI are now closed.

AUSMURI 2022 Opportunity Announced.

Australian universities are invited to submit proposals under the Australia-US International Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (AUSMURI) 2022 designated topics Control Theory for Novel Quantum Error Correction and Building Overall Cognitive Capability through Attention Control.

AUSMURI is part of Defence's Next Generation Technologies Fund (NGTF) and Australian universities selected to be part of Australia-US collaborative research projects through the US Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) program may be eligible for funding up to a maximum of AUD$1 million a year over three years, with a possible extension for a further two years.

The topics for AUSMURI funding has been selected by Defence from topics announced by the US Department of Defense MURI program.

Topic Selection

The designated topic, ‘Control Theory for Novel Quantum Error Correction’ is aligned with the Quantum NGTF Theme.

Competition for technology advantage and talent is rapidly increasing. Quantum technologies are listed as a National Critical Technology.

This project will explore novel and more efficient quantum error correction codes (QECs) using quantum control techniques, both fundamentally derived and data-driven. It will advance the state of control theory by investigating novel control problems in error correction of quantum systems.

The Concepts and techniques may support the development of quantum systems and achieve the next generation of quantum enabled networks, sensors and computers for Defence.

The designated topic, 'Building Overall Cognitive Capability through Attention Control' aligns with Enhanced Human Performance NGTF Theme.

This topic seeks a deeper formal understanding of the neural and psychological bases of Attention Control and the exploitation of this understanding to develop training techniques that will enhance this foundational capability.

• Key reference list

The Concepts and techniques may support the development of:

• Cognitive baselining at scale
• Cognitive Gym: Isolate, Overload, Recover
• Training gains tracking: data-driven instruction
• Brain-fit for duty: assessment & monitoring

If an Australian university is selected to be part of a US–Australia collaborative research project, the Australian University can apply for AUSMURI funding.

White Papers for the prerequisite MURI Round 2022/23 close on 16 May 2022 at 11:59 PM Eastern (US) Time. Applications for the prerequisite MURI Round 2022/23 must be received no later than 09 September 2022 at 11:59 PM Eastern (US) Time.

Deadline for White Paper inquiries and questions is 02 May 2022.
Deadline for Application inquiries and questions is 26 August 2022.

Go to the AUSMURI grant page for more information about the program and how to apply.