Other functions: the contractor shall provide the services and support described in this statement of work to support the science office for mission assessments (soma) and other organizations across…

Other functions: the contractor shall provide the services and support described in this statement of work to support the science office for mission assessments (soma) and other organizations across NASA as designated in individual task orders. The soma is located at NASA langley research center and supports the NASA headquarters science mission directorate (SMD), and other NASA offices and organizations. The specific requirements described in the scope of work shall be defined in task orders issued by the contracting officer in accordance with section h, clause h.6 task ordering procedure. Task orders will be issued for evaluation of proposals submitted pursuant to NASA far supplement part 1872, acquisition of investigations. The evaluations are conducted in accordance with NASA far supplement part 1872.4, evaluations of proposals, for space science missions and investigations, or as required in the task orders. The specific technical and performance requirements for each evaluation, assessment or study will be defined at the task order level. Due to the nature and sensitivity of the evaluations, IT is imperative that evaluations are objective and void of organizational and personal conflicts of interest. A typical evaluation task requires the contractor to staff one panel or multiple panels with panel leaders and subject matter experts to evaluate space science missions or investigation proposals. Typically, more than one expert is required in each area to ensure a competent review. A NASA representative, typically the technical monitor for the task, will act as the evaluation panel chair and provide instructions to the evaluation panel members on NASA s evaluation standards, definitions and process to be used for the panel. Each expert reviews the proposals and submits their individual initial review results via a government provided web-based system, at a specified time period prior to a plenary evaluation meeting. Panels typically engage in a series of telecons over a specified period of time prior to a plenary meeting and develop draft consensus findings of strengths and weaknesses based on the criteria for each proposal. The draft consensus findings are then posted on a NASA provided secure web site. At a plenary meeting, the draft consensus findings are reviewed by all panel members in a plenary session of all panels. If multiple panels are required, the contractor s leveling expert(s) review all findings to ensure all proposals are evaluated consistently; and raise potential leveling issues at the plenary meeting for resolution by the evaluation panel. The NASA evaluation chair provides guidance on the format of the findings to ensure they meet NASA standards and are suitable for use in debriefing the proposers. Typically, all evaluators vote on the overall grade for each proposal using the stated evaluation criteria to identify proposal strengths and weaknesses. The contractor prepares a final report of the results. Task orders will also be issued for assessments and studies supporting a myriad of NASA programs. In conducting these assessments and studies, the contractor shall be required to execute non-disclosure agreements prior to reviewing proprietary or sensitive materials that are salient to the assessment or study.