B Sources Sought Notice.pdf

Contract Opportunities on SAM.gov

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

1. Solicitation Number: 75N95025Q00052

2. Title: NINDS Undergraduate Summer Research Preparatory Program

3. Classification Code: U008

4. NAICS Code: 611310

5. Size Standard: $34.5M

6. Description:

This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations.

The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses;

HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition.

Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice.

This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified sources technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.

Background:

The 2022 National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Undergraduate Summer Research Preparatory Program was a two-year program designed to prepare undergraduate students from traditionally underserved populations to become competitive applicants for the NIH Summer Internship Program (SIP) or equivalent research program. Increasingly, graduate programs expect incoming students to have substantial research experience prior to matriculation. Unfortunately, even undergraduate summer programs have increased the experience bar for scientific exposure. Students who obtain their education at resource limited institutions often do not have the same exposure or early opportunity to connect the research concepts or awareness about opportunities. Since disadvantages tend to be cumulative, this lack of an entry point often prevents this diverse pool of potential talent from showing up later in our NINDS summer research programs and eventual research investigator pathway.

While we have extramural training mechanisms, these mechanisms largely fund a competitive pool of research active and intensive schools that have a base of research grant funded mentors, research infrastructure, and feasibility/preliminary data for the design of the program intervention. The proposed contract initiative aims to bridge this gap by providing these undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in biomedical research and receive guidance from experienced researchers to become competitive applicants for future research opportunities. Moreover, one of the goals of the NIH Strategic Plan is to develop, maintain, and renew scientific human resources that will ensure the nation's capability to prevent disease. Therefore, encouraging the enrollment of new trainees in NIH programs aligns with this important mission.

The objective of this program is to expose diverse students to basic and clinical laboratory procedures and other training activities for scientists. Enrichment activities offered during the academic year and summer program will offer mentoring opportunities, professional development and college readiness seminars, career exploration activities, and preparation for applying to the summer research programs in future years. Cohorts of 10-15 students per class-level will be expected. Possible topics for a program will be provided in the attached sample curriculum, but each offeror is expected to tailor the curriculum to their student population and the existing resources at the institution. Virtual and hybrid (combination of in-person and virtual) program applications will be considered.

Purpose and Objectives:

The objective of this contract is to provide comprehensive summer training to undergraduate students from Minority Serving (MSIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), supporting their preparation for attending STEM-M programs at the NIH or other research institutions in the next few years. Broad objective of the contract goals include:

• Increased confidence to participate in biomedical research/STEM fields

• Increased interested in pursuing STEM bachelor’s or graduate degrees

• Increased knowledge in pathways to clinical and/or research careers

• Increased understanding of health disparities

• Strong sense of community between peers, staff and NIH official

Project requirements:

The Contractor shall furnish services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government under the terms of this contract.

The Contractor must have demonstrated extensive experience providing program support services, working with underserved populations, and coordinating programs to increase scientific experience. The contractor must have evidence of an ongoing relationship with the community for whom they will provide training.

The contractor will be expected to conduct a summer internship program for 10-15 rising freshman and sophomore undergraduate students (preferred) who have little or no prior research experience and intend to pursue a career in STEM-M. Rising juniors and seniors in undergraduate may be considered along with an appropriate curriculum for this targeted audience. The program will include an introductory to research session (base period summer program) and a one-day fall activity that will build off the summer program for the students. Option Period One will have a one-day spring of 2025 activity building off the prior summer curriculum and fall activity for the same group of students.

The contractor shall coordinate with student participants for scheduling that works best to maximize participation for the fall and spring activities.

The base period summer program will be based on the attached sample curriculum and schedule. The contractor is expected to develop their own curriculum for option period one summer program which is more advanced and builds off the lessons learned in the base period summer program. In Option Period One, the contractor will utilize best efforts to retain the same group of students who participated in the Base Period. In the event a student who participated in the base period summer program elects to not participate in the option period one summer program, the contractor shall recruit and replace the departing student with an undergraduate student capable of meeting the requirements of the more advanced curriculum in the option period summer program.

This requirement is specific to MSI/HBCU students, therefore any recruitment of students who are not specifically from an MSI or HBCU are subject to approval from the government Contracting Officer's Representative (COR).

The contractor shall:

• Identify qualified key personnel to coordinate the summer prep program, ensuring that they have appropriate expertise and experience in biomedical research (travel personnel as needed).

• Define and identify the supplies (both administrative and scientific) as well as all curriculum needs for the entire program.

• Coordinate selected personnel to recruit 10-15 undergraduate students capable of participating in the base period summer program and fall activity. Students who are recruited shall be capable of returning for the option period 1 spring activity and summer program.

• Coordinate with selected personnel to provide a list of student enrichment activities that will occur during the academic year. At least two activities (professional development workshops, career sessions, and/or scientific lectures) are required throughout the academic year, during both the Fall and Spring semesters

• Coordinate with selected personnel to create the summer curriculum and schedule, including a list of seminar and workshop titles and speakers.

• Provide a tentative agenda for both the summer welcome and farewell ceremonies to the COR.

• Provide final training materials, schedule, and curriculum to the COR for review and approval prior to the start of the course.

• Coordinate local travel/transportation for students in summer program, if necessary

• Coordinate with local universities and/or medical schools to provide a laboratory and/or clinical environment to host the summer program activities.

• Coordinate with local universities to locate qualified personnel to provide oversight on health disparities component of the curriculum to teach about various diseases and medical conditions that are prevalent in underserved rural and/or urban communities.

• Create weekly and/or final evaluations for the summer program for participant feedback, collecting data on the effectiveness and areas of improvement of the program, student learning outcomes, satisfaction of training activities offered (both scientific and professional development), the quality of teaching/classroom environment, administrative processes, student demographics, etc. It should be submitted to the COR at the end of the summer program.

• Track all participant’s academic progression and successes for at least 2-4 years, after completing the program. This could include if the student consistently had a strong GPA during their freshman and sophomore college years (3.0 or above), remained a science major throughout their four years of college, graduated from the university/college with a B.S. or B.A. in the sciences, and/or participated in the NIH Summer Internship Program (SIP) or an equivalent summer research training program as an undergraduate.

Anticipated period of performance:

The estimated period of performance is on or about:

Base Period: 03/10/2025– 03/09/2026 Option Period 1: 03/10/2026 – 03/09/2027

The Base Period includes a seven (7) week summer program provided with the attached schedule and curriculum. The base period will also include a one-day activity to be held during the spring and fall of 2025 and the spring of 2026 for the same students who participated in the coming and prior summer program.

Option Period 1 will include a one-day activity to be held during the Spring of 2025 and an eight (8) week summer program.

Capability statement /information sought.

Companies that believe they possess the capabilities to provide the required services should submit documentation of their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contracting Officer. The capability statement must specifically address each of the project requirements separately. Additionally, the capability statement should include 1) the total number of employees, 2) the professional qualifications of personnel as it relates to the requirements outlined, 3) any contractor GSA Schedule contracts and/or other government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) by which all of the requirements may be met, if applicable, and 4) any other information considered relevant to this program. Capability statements must also include the Company Name, Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, Physical Address, and Point of Contact Information. The response must include the respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.

Interested companies are required to identify their type of business, applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code, and size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration. The government requests that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted in a response to this notice.

However, responses that indicate the information therein is proprietary will be properly safeguarded for Government use only. Capability statements must include the name and telephone number of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Capability statements in response to this market survey that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation will be considered non-responsive. When submitting this information, please reference the solicitation notice number.

One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font, 8-1/2” x 11” paper size, with 1” top, bottom, left and right margins, and with single or double spacing.

The information submitted must be in and outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement /information sought paragraphs stated herein. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required.

The response is limited to ten (10) page limit. The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested.

All responses to this notice must be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer. Facsimile responses are NOT accepted.

The response must be submitted to Kelly Dempsey at e-mail address kelly.dempsey@nih.gov, and Rieka Plugge at rieka.plugge@nih.gov.

The response must be received on or before December 12, 2024, at 10 am Eastern Time.

“Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in www.sam.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).”

mailto:kelly.dempsey@nih.gov mailto:rieka.plugge@nih.gov