91990024R0011 SBIR Phase IB Questions and Responses 1.6.24.docx

QUESTIONS FROM POTENTIAL OFFERORS ABOUT ED/IES SBIR PHASE IB SOLICITATION 91990024R0011

RESPONSES

3. We will be submitting an application for the 2024 Phase IB ED/IES SBIR Program Solicitation to develop a new feature for our program (REDACTED), and have a question on how to answer the following section: SBIR/STTR Funding Agreement Certification – Life Cycle Certification

(3a) All Essentially Equivalent Work, or a portion of the work, performed under this project (check the applicable line):

* Has not been submitted for funding to this Agency or another Federal Agency.

* Has been submitted for funding to this Agency or another Federal agency but has not been funded under any other grant, contract, subcontract or other transaction.

* A portion has been funded by another grant, contract, or subcontract as described in detail in the proposal and approved in writing by the Funding Agreement officer.

In our case, our program (REDACTED) will be the project that will be adding a new feature (REDACTED) for Phase 1B funding. Besides receiving (REDACTED) for testing the prototype, this project has been awarded in (REDACTED)

As a Finalist, we will be presenting to (REDACTED)judges in February for possible additional awards (REDACTED). The proposed feature (REDACTED) has begun concept testing during the (REDACTED) program.

Should these awards be noted in the third option ("A portion had been funded..."), and if so how?

Or are these excluded from reporting for any reason?

Might this have any effect on our eligibility for the Phase 1B funding?

3. There is no rule prohibiting an offeror from submitting a proposal that is the same or similar as another proposal that is also submitted to another funding program at the same time. There is, however, a requirement that this information is disclosed by the offeror in Section H: Disclosure of Similar or Related Awards or Proposals, and that if an award is made by one program that the offeror does not accept funding from the other program to conduct any of the same or similar work. In such cases under this solicitation, the offeror can contact the Contracting Specialist and Contracting Officer listed in the solicitation to indicate that the proposal should be removed from the ED/IES SBIR review.

3a. In regard to the question about which category to select, the offeror should disclose the information about the timing of the submission for awards through this program and can select the option that * A portion has been funded by another grant, contract, or subcontract as described in detail in the proposal and approved in writing by the Funding Agreement officer.

4. Can we include an IT developer who is a foreign UK resident, whose responsibilities are limited to coding on our program for the new feature in SBIR Phase 1B? He would NOT be a Principal Investigator and would NOT be handling test data from our study, which will be done by (REDACTED). Regarding this position, there is a recent notice from NIH stipulating that foreign team members ARE allowed to work on NIH funded projects. Will this ruling pertain to IES funding as well?

https://www.nccih.nih.gov/research/blog/updated-nih-guidance-regarding-research-with-foreign-collaborators?nav=govd

4. As noted in the solicitation, all work during the SBIR award must be performed within the United States.

6. We are planning to submit a proposal in partnership with (REDACTED) who will conduct the research component of the grant project. We noted in the Program Solicitation For FY 2023 Request for Proposals: Section VI (B) (12): Subcontracting Limits – Research and Analytical Work:

For Phase I, at least two-thirds of the research and/or analytic effort must be performed by the proposing small business concern unless otherwise approved in writing by the contract officer after consultation with the Contracting Officer (CO) and the SBIR program manager.

Question: Would (REDACTED) be considered a "subcontractor"? As part of our agreement with them, they would utilize 1/3 of the total grant for the research. Would we still be able to utilize any other outside contractors (such as our outsourced development team) to fulfill the requirements of the proposal (i.e. to go above the 1/3 subcontracting limits as outlined above)? Perhaps our external development team is not considered part of the "research and/or analytic effort"?

We would love to be able to partner with (REDACTED) who would provide tremendous value to the product. We would also like the flexibility to work with our external development team to build a functional prototype to assess usability and feasibility. Would this meet the RFP requirements and if not would we be able to gain approval to move forward with the application under these conditions?

6. Yes, the organization that is identified would be considered a subcontractor. If the organization is utilizing 1/3 of the budget, there would not be other funds available to be used for other subcontracting because of the requirement that 2/3 of the funds in Phase I must be spent by the Small Business Concern that wins the award. A request for the Small Business Concern to not meet the 2/3 requirement would not be approved by the Contracting Officer in this case.

10. Is there a fee to apply for Phase 1A or Phase 1B applications? Someone in my network mentioned a $600 fee but I could find this in the documents so I wanted to be sure I did not miss something?

10a. Also we are to submit the final proposal directly to your emails not to sam.gov correct?

10. There is no fee for submitting a proposal under any ED/IES SBIR program solicitations.

10a. The instructions for preparing and submitting a proposal are located within the solicitation: https://sam.gov/opp/0853bc5631c84027b5438a257e32a66f/view

11. For our grant application, we are seeking guidance on whether to apply for Phase 1A or Phase 1B given our state of the product and the state of our ESSA Tier 4 progress?

11a. We also seek clarification on whether we can leverage our ESSA Tier 4 certification partner, (REDACTED) to serve as a representative team member "showcasing expertise in education research for the development and evaluation of education technology, particularly in a school settings"? Or can this resource be a former classroom educator with Masters Degree on our team who has completed research during their Master's program as well as for their school internal projects.

11. Offerors must make the decision about whether to prepare a proposal for Phase IA or IB based on the information and guidelines provided in the solicitations.

11a. Identifying an organization or individual to serve in this role is the responsibility of the offeror.

12. With regards to the need for a "Contractor Security Liaison", could you please share any resources for contracting such a person?

12a. Alternatively, could we potentially utilize one of our existing team members who can also fulfill the role of the targeted domain expertise team member?

12. Identifying an individual to serve in this role is the responsibility of the offeror.

12a. Page 22 of the Phase IB solicitation provides information on the Contractor Security Liaison in response to this question.

14.Must all citations be included in a single page (11), or can there be more than one page if needed for listing all citations? This information would help us determine how many citations would be allowed in the narrative of our submission. "III. CITATIONS All citations should be included on page 11, or the page immediately following the project narrative. Offerors are encouraged to use the formatting citation style of the American Psychological Association (APA). "

14. The citations may exceed one page.

18.In the solicitation it says that the Phase I Budget must equal precisely $250,000 total for an 8-month project, including subcontracts, indirect costs, and fees, but excluding any proposed cost sharing. what is meant by proposed cost sharing?

18. Offerors can provide information on whether another entity is providing additional funding beyond the ED/IES SBIR award and for what purpose.