NIH Recruitment Advertisment 2010-2015

The National Institutes of Health awarded a Master IDIQ on March 4, 2010, for recruitment advertising services to attract scientists for NIH positions; ordering closed on March 4, 2015, and the vehicle is no longer active.

The vehicle procured publication-based recruitment advertising across peer-reviewed scientific journals and online platforms. Task orders funded full-page and half-page display advertisements, multi-issue publication campaigns, and banner ads placed primarily in Science (via the American Association for the Advancement of Science), Nature, and the New England Journal of Medicine. Orders also funded intramural research program recruitment, tenure-track investigator searches, and director-level position advertisements. All 67 task orders were firm-fixed-price and unrestricted; no set-asides were used.

Three firms captured the entire portfolio. The American Association for the Advancement of Science dominated by order count with 37 awards totaling $299 thousand in combined potential value, representing roughly 51 percent of the vehicle's total. Springer Nature America, Inc., held 14 orders valued at $167 thousand (28 percent), and the Massachusetts Medical Society held 16 orders valued at $123 thousand (21 percent). Activity was heavily front-loaded: 41 of 67 orders were placed in 2011, with 21 in 2012 and only 5 total in 2013 and 2014 combined.

Funding concentrated within NIH's own institutes and centers. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases accounted for 22 orders valued at $227 thousand; the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development placed 15 orders ($84 thousand); the Office of the Director placed 8 orders ($151 thousand). These three customers covered roughly 60 percent of awarded task orders. Eleven distinct funding agencies received services, though the remainder were minor.

Task-order ceilings ranged from under $4,000 to roughly $24,000, with a combined obligated value and potential value of $589 thousand across all 67 orders. The largest individual awards, both issued in 2011, were multi-issue Science campaigns valued at $23,990 and $23,790 respectively. By June 2014, the final order was issued; all funds had been obligated by the closure date.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the premier biomedical research organization in the world. One of its missions is to carry out research to advance the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. In order to better carry out this mission the NIH has awarded a Master IDIQ for the development of better recruitment strategy to attract the best scientists for the many types of scientific positions in order to handle the increased complexities of modern biomedical research.