ARPA-I Ideas and Innovation Challenge

ARPA-I Ideas and Innovation Challenge — Stage 2

Supports transportation infrastructure challengers advancing knowledge, construction, optimization, and enabling technologies through ARPA-I competition.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The ARPA-I Ideas and Innovation Challenge Stage 2 is a prize competition run by the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Infrastructure within the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is closed to new entrants: only the 15 teams that won Stage 1 prizes in December 2025 (each receiving $20,000) are eligible to submit. The challenge targets transportation infrastructure innovation across four strategic areas — Knowledge, Construction, Optimization, and Enabling Technologies — and accepts proposals spanning the full range of applicant types, including private companies, universities, and individuals, provided they hold U.S. residency or incorporation.

The Stage 2 prize pool totals $700,000, with a maximum of $300,000 per individual award. Up to 10 finalists were invited to an in-person finals event anticipated in May or June 2026; of those, up to five advance to a second judging round before the Secretary of Transportation or designee makes final award selections. Submissions closed April 13–20, 2026: a 25-page technical proposal, a one-page public summary, a summary slide, and a three-minute pitch video were all required. Proposals must cover a projected R&D work plan of 24–36 months and include commercialization and IP strategy.

Winning in Stage 2 requires strong scientific and technical merit, clear alignment with ARPA-I's mission to advance U.S. infrastructure, and high-quality presentations at the live finals. Evaluation uses four ratings from Highly Recommended to Not Recommended. Any use of AI tools in preparing the submission must be disclosed on the cover page. Prizes are cash awards made directly to the Team Lead; the mechanism is not a grant or cooperative agreement, so standard federal grant IP provisions do not apply. Contact is ideas.arpa-i@dot.gov.