Amendment05 7200AA18RFA00004 LASER.pdf

RE: USAID Notice of Funding Opportunity 7200AA18RFA00004 for Long-term Assistance and SErvices for Research (LASER)

Amendment: 05 – Clarification on Submission Guidelines

Issue Date: January 18, 2018

Submission Instructions

Eligible organizations interested in applying for an award in response to this RFA are invited to submit a

Concept Note via the LASER Application intake portal at https://usaid-hesn.forms.fm/LASER or http://www.hesn2.org/laser.

Concept Notes not submitted through these sites will not be considered.

It is the Applicant’s responsibility to ensure that all necessary documentation is complete and received on time. Concept Notes in response to this RFA must be submitted electronically in MS Word or PDF format and Excel for the budget and shall be due no later than Jan 24th, 2018 at 5:00:00 p.m. EST. Late Concept

Notes will not be considered for award.

In developing the Concept Note, the applicant should carefully consider all information contained in this RFA, including the technical narrative instructions for the full application. The Concept Note must be based on the overall description of the funding opportunity described in Section A of this RFA. USAID may opt to exclude from further consideration any submission which is not within these parameters. Only applicants who have submitted a Concept Note will be eligible to submit a Full Application, if requested.

Electronic submissions ONLY. No direct email submissions. Only Concept Notes not submitted via the LASER Application intake portal(s) at https://usaid-hesn.forms.fm/LASER or http://www.hesn2.org/laser. will be considered.

1. The following revision addresses concerns/inquiries regarding possible scenarios of multiple submissions from an HEI.

On page 22 of the LASER RFA 7200AA18RFA00004 it notes that:

“3. Other

HEI applicants (organizational and/or proposed project director) are restricted to submitting one concept note as the lead applicant. If more than one application is received with the same lead HEI or has the same proposed project director, none of the applications submitted will be evaluated for consideration of award as they will be deemed non-compliant with the conditions of this RFA.

HEI’s can serve as sub-awardees or consortium members on multiple applications, however.

http://www.hesn2.org/laser https://usaid-hesn.forms.fm/LASER http://www.hesn2.org/laser

Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 2

[END OF SECTION C]”

Via this amendment the preceding language and all related FAQs published in previous amendments related to that language are hereby deleted in their entirety and replaced with the following language:

“3. Other

HEI applicants (organizational and/or proposed project director) are restricted to submitting one concept note as the lead applicant.

If more than one application is received with the same lead HEI identified as the Prime or that has the same proposed project director, USAID will seek written clarification from the relevant office(s) of sponsored programs regarding which concept note should be considered the official concept note submitted for review purposes. If clarification of the final lead application is not resolved within 2 business days, both applications will be deemed ineligible.

Alternatively, a signed letter from an authorizing official within the university’s office of sponsored programing can be submitted with concept notes by the submission date to clarify and verify that the applicant has the sole official support from the university.

The verified concept note will be accepted for evaluation and all other concept notes submitted by that HEI will be deemed ineligible for non-compliance with the conditions of this RFA. They will be notified accordingly via email.

Please note that HEIs can serve as sub-awardees or consortium members on multiple applications.

[END OF SECTION C]”

2. The following statement applies to submission of Concept Notes due January 24, 2018 by

5:00 PM EST.

On page 23 of the LASER RFA 7200AA18RFA00004, Concept Note Format, add the following:

“Concept notes must be submitted in English. Non-English submissions will be deemed ineligible and will not be read.”

[END AMENDMENT 05 OF 7200AA18RFA00004]

Amendment: 04 - Additional Questions and Answers December 06, 2017 - December 20, 2017

Issue Date: January 05, 2018

Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 3

Question 1: This RFA is being promoted as HESN 2.0. The current HESN has established a “Lab” at each university that has then developed a “Network” around a specific topic. Is this RFA looking for a

Prime to oversee all Labs within HESN 2.0, or is this RFA seeking individual labs?

USAID Response:

The LASER Network that this RFA supports is composed of all the individual researchers and higher education institutions that the LASER Prime or Consortium recruits which have a verifiable interest/commitment to working with the LASER Prime to:

1) independently identify key development challenges;

2) convene key stakeholders to co-design and conduct high quality research activities to address those challenges, as well as others identified by USAID M/B/IO's;

3) translate the results of that research into development-relevant policy recommendations, program modifications, or implementation plans;

4) increase the human and institutional capacity of LMIC HEI’s to serve as equitable partners in these activities.

This Network must be composed solely of researchers formally affiliated with an HEI and should include universities and researchers (U.S.-based and overseas) that have technical and sectoral expertise in the areas in which USAID works. Please see pages 10-11, 33 of the RFA for a more detailed description of the characteristics that this Network should have.

The LASER Prime is not currently envisioned to host individual “labs” around specific topics; rather, the

LASER Prime will be responsible for partnering with a wide variety of institutions capable of working on the wide breadth of technical and geographic regions in which USAID works.

Question 2: How many “Labs” will be funded?

USAID anticipates making one (1) Prime award under the LASER RFA. However, USAID reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted.

Question 3: Are Canadian universities eligible to be part of the consortium? RFA specifically mentions LMIC HEI institutions as members of the consortium, but doesn’t mention high-income countries?

As indicated in the Eligibility Information Section (Section C), only higher education institutions (HEIs) are eligible to apply to serve as the Prime for the LASER agreement. Such institutions can come from anywhere across the globe.

Eligibility for LASER is not limited to developing country institutions. As noted in the RFA, “Only higher education institutions are eligible to apply to serve as the Prime for the LASER agreement. Consortia applications that include non-HEI organizations are allowed and encouraged; however, these applications should identify an HEI as the Prime recipient of the award. For purposes of LASER, higher education

Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 4 institutions is defined as follows, consistent with guidance provided by USAID/E3/Education: “A tertiary education institution is an organization that provides educational opportunities that build on secondary education, providing learning activities in specialized fields. It aims at learning at a high level of complexity and specialization. Tertiary education includes what is commonly understood as academic education but also includes advanced vocational or professional education. This may include public or private universities, colleges, research institutes, training institutes [including teacher training institutes], etc.”

(page 22 of the LASER RFA).

Question 4: To what extent is the RFA focused on food security, in line with the recently released

Feed the Future Research Strategy?

The RFA is not focused on one particular sector area. Rather, the LASER RFA seeks an applicant who has the capacity to develop and support a Network that “contains the expertise needed to co-create research projects with USAID across all the major technical sectors and in all of the major regions in which USAID programs activities.” (Page 11, LASER RFA).

Question 5: Page 5 of the RFA states “seeks to support an implementing partner...and 2) partner with USAID Missions, Bureaus, Independent Offices to address unique research needs identified by

USAID.” Are these research needs already identified by other bureaus within the agency?

While USAID Missions, Bureaus and Independent Offices may have identified particular research needs within their portfolio, as indicated on page 11 of the RFA, USAID envisions that the selected Recipient will develop a network that “contains the expertise needed to co-create research projects with USAID across all the major technical sectors and in all of the major regions in which USAID programs activities”. Any unique USAID research needs, in addition to those identified by the Recipient, will be discussed and established post-award.

Question 6: Will any preference be given to a set of countries, such as Feed the Future countries, in the evolution of the project?

The current RFA is not focused on one particular geographic region over another. Rather, the LASER RFA seeks an applicant who has the capacity to develop and support a Network that “Contains the expertise needed to co-create research projects with USAID across all the major technical sectors and in all of the major regions in which USAID programs activities.” (Page 11, LASER RFA). As the project evolves, it is possible that USAID areas of focus, or focus countries, might also evolve and impact the primary countries in which LASER work is performed moving forward. However, there is no preference in the evaluation criteria of the current RFA given for geographic expertise in one region over another. Rather, USAID seeks capacity to work in “all the major regions in which USAID programs activities.”

Question 7: Who are the “local stakeholders” (USAID mission, local universities, others) who will identify and refine critical development questions and challenges. On page 10 it states that

Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 5 development challenges will be done “independently” by network universities and affiliated researchers.

The “local stakeholders” will be specific to each research question but may include entities like government, universities, community groups, or individuals. The word “independent” refers to the expectation that, as a recipient of a Cooperative Agreement (assistance) award, USAID will support a

Prime partner as they create and execute a workplan based on their own ideas to the extent that those ideas align with the goals and objectives of the overall LASER award. For example, pg. 12 of the RFA states:

“USAID seeks to support a Prime partner who also has independent [not previously directed by USAID] interest in discovering and outlining key research questions and challenges in development that could be addressed through research activities or methodological improvements in the practice of development research. USAID has learned that research has greater uptake and impact when interested stakeholders are consulted early and often in question identification and refinement. The extent of that consultation is often research-topic-dependent and can range from phone calls with targeted individuals, to large, multi-party convenings. With this understanding, USAID has particular interest in supporting a Prime partner that:

Incorporates stakeholder (particularly local stakeholder) involvement in the identification and/or refinement of research questions;

Convenes development actors, stakeholders, and network institutions to identify key, unresolved development challenges and proposes research solutions where warranted;

Assists USAID M/B/IO's in uncovering and refining questions of interest based on M/B/IO-identified research needs, paying special attention to principles of good development; and

Develops scopes of work that may be used for research calls to the LASER Network to address these identified and refined research questions.”

Question 8: The network is supposed to contain expertise to co-create projects in all major sectors and in all major regions of the world. And yet funding is only 2-4 million a year with 70-60% of this for project management/administration. That limits research awards to 1-2 million a year for all sectors and in all regions of the world, correct?

Contingent on availability of funds, that is a reasonable estimate of funds available for research awards based on anticipated CDR core funds, yes. However, USAID hopes that (contingent on availability of funds) additional funds will become available from other USAID M/B/IOs who would be interested in funding their own priorities in partnership with the LASER Network. That is why the overall ceiling of the

LASER award is slated to be up to $70M and why Core management funds are directed to establish a

Network that “contains expertise to co-create projects in all major sectors and in all major regions of the world.”

a) To what extent is the success of LASER as a research initiative dependent on buy-ins from USAID regional and country missions?

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USAID anticipates that LASER could function solely and successfully on CDR-core funds in pursuit of the research and development outcomes outlined in the LASER RFA. However, USAID hopes that the capacities and expertise leveraged by the LASER consortia will be of broader interest to the entire USAID community and therefore will result in significant buy-ins from both USAID/Washington and USAID Missions/Regional bureaus. This is why the overall ceiling of the LASER Award is set to be up to $70M (to accommodate potential future buy-ins). The extent to which those buys-in materialize will be contingent on the availability of funds, needs/interests/priorities of the Agency at the time, and the quality and expertise offered by the

LASER Network once awarded.

b) To what extent will the lead HEI for LASER be expected to use core funding to support research of identified critical issues?

The balance of resources expended for identification of critical issues vs research activities is left to the applicants to propose. However, please keep in mind that “of the expected $2-4M in annual core funds, USAID estimates that approximately 30-40% of the yearly core funding will be dedicated to support recipient-directed identification of crucial development research questions and subsequent design, solicitation, and execution of research activities. (Page 5 of LASER RFA)”

With respect to other funds that may be leveraged by the lead HEI to accomplish the objectives see page 22 of the LASER RFA which states, “USAID will not require a specific percentage of applicant’s budget to be cost share. Applicants will NOT be deemed ineligible for review if they do not propose cost-share. However, USAID looks to support strong partners who leverage their capabilities towards development challenges and cost-share is highly encouraged as a means to extend the development impact of the application, in accordance with 2 CFR 200.306. Therefore, applications that contain cost-share will be looked upon favorably when competing applications approach technical equivalence. Cost-share levels will also be considered in the cost evaluation. Such funds may be mobilized from the recipient; other multilateral, bilateral, and foundation donors; host governments; and local organizations, communities, and private businesses that contribute financial and in-kind support to implementation of activities.”

c) To what extent will funding for this research be expected to emerge from other USAID sources of funding, such as country missions, foundations, etc.?

Per page 5 of the RFA, “The anticipated budget includes a ceiling of $70,000,000 (estimated up to

$14,000,000 per year). Under that ceiling, and subject to the availability of funds, core funds from

LAB/CDR are anticipated to be $10,000,000- $20,000,000 over five (5) years ($2,000,000 - $4,000,000 per year) with any additional funds beyond that coming from other Centers within the Lab as well as other

USAID Missions, Bureaus, and Independent Offices (M/B/IOs) based on their programmatic needs.” This means that the remaining potential $50,000,000 to $60,000,000 of Award ceiling could potentially emerge from other USAID bureaus, missions, or independent offices interested in “buying into” the LASER mechanism (contingent on availability of funds and agreement on project scopes and alignment with the

Cooperative Agreement objectives).

d) Will this USAID program require local governments’ commitment in the form of scholarships, matching funds, or other?

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The LASER RFA does not require a specific commitment on behalf of any specific local government at this time because it is not yet known in which locales the proposed work would be performed, or if this type of commitment might be appropriate. However, as noted on page 22 of the RFA, “ USAID looks to support strong partners who leverage their capabilities towards development challenges and cost-share is highly encouraged as a means to extend the development impact of the application, in accordance with 2 CFR

200.306. Therefore, applications that contain cost-share will be looked upon favorably when competing applications approach technical equivalence. Cost-share levels will also be considered in the cost evaluation. Such funds may be mobilized from the recipient; other multilateral, bilateral, and foundation donors; host governments; and local organizations, communities, and private businesses that contribute financial and in-kind support to implementation of activities.” In this regard, an applicant could propose that their approach relies on partnership with certain governments that have indicated intentions to provide specific commitments (such as scholarships) in support of their proposed project approach; this could be demonstrated via signed memoranda of understanding submitted under the Attachments section as outlined on page 29 of the RFA.

Question 9: The consortia partners can come from HEIs, but other partners are not required to be higher education institutions (p10). But on p 11, it states that the LASER network can support only researchers affiliated with an HEIs.

a) Are Consortia Partners different from institutions/researchers in the LASER Network?

b) Does a partner have to be a university or can it be an individual researcher?

a) Yes, Consortia Partners are different from institutions/researchers in the LASER Network. These could be NGO’s, private organizations, or other HEI’s that join together with the Prime applicant to provide specific elements or capabilities to ensure successful achievement of the goals of this award, including the subsequent formation and management of the LASER Network. “... ‘Consortia’ should be limited to organizations that will receive formal subaward budgets and/or scopes of work based on the applicant's proposed technical approach and cost application and should not include those organizations that are going to be included in the LASER Network and available for potential future work (pg 10 footnote 7).”

b) The Prime must be a Higher Education Institution (HEI), additional consortia partners or subawardees are not required to be higher education institutions. However, the LASER Network that is formed by this consortia must be composed solely of researchers formally affiliated with an HEI and should include universities and researchers (U.S.-based and overseas) that have technical and sectoral expertise in the areas in which USAID works. Please see pages 10-11, 33 of the RFA for a more detailed description of the

Question 10: Who are “local stakeholders” (USAID mission, local universities, others) who will identify and refine critical development questions and challenges. On page 10 it states that development challenges will be done “independently” by network universities and affiliated researchers.

Please see the answer to question #7 in this Amendment.

Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 8

Question 11: Can research RFAs only be issued to researchers in universities in the consortia?

As stated in question 9, the LASER Network is not the same thing a consortia of organization that join with the Prime to administer the award. USAID seeks to support a Prime partner (or consortia) to solicit and fund research proposals from the LASER Network in response to research calls that address questions that the Prime and / or USAID have identified and refined (LASER RFA pg 12). The LASER Network should be characterized by inclusive recruitment via rolling or periodic open admission process to promote the inclusion of new members and expertise, with eligibility and ultimate approval subject to review by the

Recipient and USAID. USAID may also elect to recommend researchers, universities, and / or institutions to be considered for inclusion in the Network (RFA pg 11).. The Prime’s application will be evaluated to “The extent to which the proposed Network implementation plan has the capability for rapid initial stand-up, recruits universities and researchers (U.S.-based and overseas including LMICs) that have expertise in each of USAID's major technical sectors and geographic areas.”

Question 12: Does the concept note need to identify key personnel?

While the RFA does not explicitly require applicants to name key personnel in the concept note phase, the qualities and strengths of the proposed key personnel to support the LASER prime are considered in the evaluation of Concept Notes so it is likely that applicants who propose a strong group of key personnel will be evaluated more favorably in this criteria than those applicants who do not fully address key personnel or their management plans.

Specifically, on page 27 of the LASER RFA under the “Concept Note Format” section, USAID indicates that applicants should use their Concept Notes to describe, “How the relevant strengths of the Prime and any partner institutions, including institutional resources, relationships, and past experience, will contribute to accomplishing the goals of this RFA.” Further, on page 33 of the LASER RFA under “SECTION E:

REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS” section, USAID indicates that “The following criteria will be used to evaluate both the concept notes and the full applications. Applicants are highly encouraged to develop their concept notes with these criteria in mind.” As noted under Factor 2 (Management Approach), USAID indicates that it will be evaluating applicants on “The extent to which proposed personnel have the appropriate background, knowledge and skills in research and international development to successfully reach program goals and objectives.”

Question 13: Can institutions/individual researchers join multiple consortiums?

Yes, individual researchers and institutions are both eligible to join multiple consortiums. There is nothing in the RFA that precludes researchers or institutions from being included in multiple applications as potential consortia members. The only exclusion relates to the lead submissions as follows:

“HEI applicants (organizational and/or proposed project director) are restricted to submitting one concept note as the lead applicant. If more than one application is received with the same lead HEI or has the same proposed project director, none of the applications submitted will be evaluated for consideration of award as they will be deemed non-compliant with the conditions of this RFA. HEI’s can serve as sub-awardees or consortium members on multiple applications, however.” (Page 22, LASER RFA).

Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 9

Question 14: Faculty in many low-middle income country higher education and research institutions are overwhelmed with teaching duties. The time that they can spend developing ideas, research strategies, and supervising high quality research is limited. Will this USAID program support faculty from these countries to spend about 1 year working in U.S. institutions, perhaps in the form of a sabbatical?

USAID recognizes that there can be a wide array of barriers to access/success for our faculty and research colleagues in developing countries. There is nothing in the LASER RFA that would preclude an applicant from proposing 1-year sabbaticals for developing country researchers as a part of their approach to accomplishing the objectives outlined in this RFA.

Question 15: An important part of the research in these countries is applied with little hypothesis-driven research. In contrast, a lot of the research that we do in the U.S. is fundamental. Will this

USAID program support helping countries develop hypothesis-driven research? In other words, will it support participation of U.S. researchers in training partner country researchers on grantsmanship and hypothesis generation?

As part of USAID’s efforts in accelerating local potential with individual researchers and universities in developing countries, “LASER is designed to achieve these outcomes through an emphasis on building strong, equitable partnerships between USAID, U.S. universities, and LMIC institutions of higher education.

Specifically, the LASER cooperative agreement is intended to build international research collaboration opportunities through participation of LMIC institutions in the LASER network, direct technical assistance to network LMIC institutions, and engagement of local stakeholders in problem identification, research, and translation processes (as indicated on page 10 of the RFA). Such efforts to build individual and institutional capacity may very well include training partner country researchers on grantsmanship and hypothesis generation, as part of a broader effort to also addressing the objectives under this RFA.

Interested parties are also encouraged to continue to check grants.gov for additional USAID solicitation opportunities that might be relevant to the type of project that is proposed in this question. Specifically, (contingent on the availability of funding), USAID/CDR envisions releasing an “Science, Technology, Innovation and Partnership Annual Program Statement (STIP APS)” in early 2018 with a CDR APS addenda that will invite U.S. universities to partner with developing country universities to identify and develop solutions, focused on capacity-building, to address human and institutional gaps and weaknesses in the current local research ecosystem.

Question 16: Many institutions in these countries do not offer Doctoral degrees. Will this program support leadership and mentoring training of students that will become advisors of PhD students and of faculty that need to earn PhD degrees with the objective of developing PhD programs at their institutions? Will this USAID program fund U.S. faculty to serve as Adjunct Faculty and travel to leverage the creation of PhD programs?

Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 10

“Through LASER, USAID seeks to improve the generation, translation and utilization of development-relevant research.” (RFA, page 10). USAID anticipates accomplishing that objective through “the creation and/or expansion of a broad network of universities and university-affiliated researchers to: 1) independently identify key development challenges; 2) convene key stakeholders to co-design and conduct high quality research activities to address those challenges, as well as others identified by USAID M/B/IO's;

3) translate the results of that research into development-relevant policy recommendations, program modifications, or implementation plans; 4) increase the human and institutional capacity of LMIC HEI’s to serve as equitable partners in these activities.”

While it is possible that an applicant may propose supporting either PhD development programs or adjunct faculty travel and support as a portion of their approach to addressing these objectives (particularly objective #4 above), it is not likely that an applicant that proposes to do those activities exclusively will be evaluated favorably in the application review process. Instead, USAID anticipates that applicants that propose well-rounded responses to all of the evaluation criteria outlined on pages 33-34 of the RFA will be evaluated most favorably.

Interested parties are also encouraged to continue to check grants.gov for additional USAID solicitation opportunities that might be relevant to the type of project that is proposed in this question. Specifically, (contingent on the availability of funding), USAID/CDR envisions releasing an “Science, Technology, Innovation and Partnership Annual Program Statement (STIP APS)” in early 2018 with a CDR APS addenda that will invite U.S. universities to partner with developing country universities to identify and develop solutions, focused on capacity-building, to address human and institutional gaps and weaknesses in

Question 17: Many researchers in these countries do not speak English. Despite existing technical translation services, this still inhibits their ability to publish in high quality refereed journals. Will this USAID program fund international researchers in the specific task of writing high quality research articles in English?

As noted on page 5 of the LASER RFA, “As part of the Cooperative Agreement, USAID will support a recipient to identify new research questions, fund research activities, translate research results into development impact, and build capacity of local higher education institutions and researchers. USAID seeks to support a recipient with a defined plan to achieve these goals, with the specific details and workplan proposed by the recipient, in consultation with USAID.” Applicants should propose the best approaches possible for partnering with USAID to accomplish these objectives; there is nothing in the RFA language that would preclude applicants from including funding to support international researchers with the specific task of writing high quality research articles in English as part of a broader effort to translate research results and build capacity.

Question 18: Equipment and instrumentation in some of these institutions is obsolete or non-existent.

Will this USAID program support the purchase of equipment and instruments? Will this program partner with other Global Development Lab supported activities such as Seeding Labs to leverage investment opportunities?

Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 11

While there is nothing in the LASER RFA that would preclude applicants from proposing to provide equipment or instruments in support of capacity development as a part of their planned approaches/a portion of their proposed budgets, the purpose of the RFA is broader than JUST equipment or supply purchases. LASER aims to “support an implementing partner whose workplan includes the creation, engagement, and/or growth of a large, international network of university researchers, centers, and institutes across disciplines that can 1) independently identify and address new and impactful research questions with high relevance to the international development community AND 2) partner with USAID

Missions, Bureaus, and Independent Offices (M/B/IOs) to address unique research needs identified by

USAID.” (Page 5 of the LASER RFA).

Interested parties are also encouraged to continue to check grants.gov for additional USAID solicitation opportunities that might be relevant to the type of project that is proposed in this question. Specifically, (contingent on the availability of funding), USAID/CDR envisions releasing an “Science, Technology, Innovation and Partnership Annual Program Statement (STIP APS)” in early 2018 with a CDR APS addenda that will invite U.S. universities to partner with developing country universities to identify and develop solutions, focused on capacity-building, to address human and institutional gaps and weaknesses in

Question 19: Many low-middle income countries are in tropical and subtropical regions that produce indigenous products as potential jobs with potential markets. Will this USAID program support the creation of commodity focused research laboratories where individuals from different countries can work and benefit entire regions, as opposed to single countries?

The RFA does not preclude applicants from proposing research projects that will benefit entire regions as opposed to single countries.

Please also see USAID’s response to question 16 in this amendment as it relates to specific focus projects.

Question 20: Research is only one part of the picture. For that research to be meaningful, it needs to translate in the mid-term into business and the creation of jobs. Will this USAID program support entrepreneurship as a research outcome/output?

USAID agrees that research is “only one part of the picture.” It is for this reason that USAID/CDR has identified “Facilitate the Translation of Research to Impact” as one of our three major desired outcomes from the LASER project. As noted on pages 9-10 of the RFA, “Through LASER, the Lab will support programming that helps make research actionable so that development actors understand and apply research into their development work. This outcome represents an extension beyond the generation of research to the subsequent translation and use of research. Research findings and knowledge products are often not effectively applied to development problems. The Lab seeks to fill this gap by facilitating synthesis and translation of research, increasing access to research results, and promoting greater communication between researchers and other actors involved in development. This will involve activities that help identify and refine research questions through stakeholder consultations prior to initiation of a research activity, to

Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 12 ensure that the activity is responding to a demonstrated need and the outputs will be articulated and formulated in usable ways. Involving stakeholders early will facilitate translation of the research to impact through dissemination meetings, policy briefs, new standard operating procedures, etc., while strengthening the capacity of participating individuals and institutions to purposefully serve as drivers for research-to-impact. Additionally, the Lab seeks to promote activities related to knowledge management, communications, and/or convening around research products and the policies or practices that those products inform.”

The RFA does not preclude applicants from proposing the translation of research to impact through acceleration of social entrepreneurship/creation of a viable workforce as an outcome. However, it is not likely that an applicant that proposes to do those activities exclusively will be evaluated favorably in the application review process. Instead, USAID anticipates that applicants that propose well-rounded responses to all of the evaluation criteria outlined on pages 33-34 of the RFA will be evaluated most favorably.

[END AMENDMENT 04 OF 7200AA18RFA00004]

Amendment: 03 - Clarification Statements on Question and Answer Period, Appendix

References, and LMIC Functional Link; Questions and Answers December 06, 2017 - December 20, 2017

Issue Date: January 03, 2018

Clarification Statement re: Question and Answer Period:

USAID received many phone inquiries and requests for meetings during the question and answer period. Per directives on pages 1 and 22 (Section D) of 7200AA18RFA00004, all questions were to be submitted per the following:

Agency Point of Contact Trenae Bonner, Acquisition & Agreement Specialist, tbonner@usaid.gov

Questions and Answers: All questions regarding this RFA should be submitted in writing to the e-mail address listed above as the Agency Point of Contact with a cc: to Roderick

Watson, Agreement Officer, rwatson@usaid.gov. Questions regarding this RFA should be submitted via email no later than December 20th, 12pm EST to provide sufficient time to address the questions and incorporate the questions and answers as an amendment to this solicitation. Any information given to a prospective Applicant concerning this RFA will be furnished consistently to all other prospective Applicants as an amendment to this

RFA, if that information is necessary in submitting applications or if the lack of it would be prejudicial to any other prospective Applicant.

mailto:tbonner@usaid.gov

Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 13

Any inquiries received after this deadline, via phone, or outside of these guidelines did not and will not receive a response. To maintain fairness during this open and competitive process, questions submitted within these parameters were compiled and answered in a public format via amendment to the RFA.

USAID will not be answering any additional questions but refers you to these amendments in hopes that they clarify your concerns. Thank you and we welcome all eligible and interested parties to apply here.

Appendix References

The only reference provided by USAID for the RFA is Appendix A – Past Performance Information.

Throughout the LASER RFA and the Questions and Answers, there are several references to an

“Appendix B”. Please replace all references to USAID's major technical sectors and geographic areas

“Appendix B” with the following links:

Overview of USAID’s Technical Sectors: https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do

Overview of Where USAID Works: https://www.usaid.gov/where-we-work

With this Amendment, consider all references to “Appendix B” to have been removed in their entirety and replaced with the preceding references.

LMIC Functional Link

The link included in the response for the question clarifying the LMIC definition was not functional. The complete link is http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/daclist.htm and has been updated in the response to question 8 in the Technical/Clarifying section of Amendment 01 below as well.

TECHNICAL/CLARIFYING:

Question 1: Does USAID require applicants to name key personnel in the concept note submission?

While the RFA does not explicitly require applicants to name key personnel in the concept note phase, the qualities and strengths of the proposed key personnel to support the LASER prime are considered in the evaluation of Concept Notes so it is likely that applicants who propose a strong group of key personnel will be evaluated more favorably in this criteria than those applicants who do not fully address key personnel or their management plans.

Specifically, on page 27 of the LASER RFA under the “Concept Note Format” section, USAID indicates that applicants should use their Concept Notes to describe, “How the relevant strengths of the Prime and any partner institutions, including institutional resources, relationships, and past experience, will contribute to accomplishing the goals of this RFA.” Further, on page 33 of the LASER RFA under

“SECTION E: REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS” section, USAID indicates that “The following criteria will be used to evaluate both the concept notes and the full applications. Applicants are highly encouraged to develop their concept notes with these criteria in mind.” As noted under Factor 2

(Management Approach), USAID indicates that it will be evaluating applicants on “The extent to which https://usaid-hesn.forms.fm/LASER https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do https://www.usaid.gov/where-we-work http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/daclist.htm

Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 14 proposed personnel have the appropriate background, knowledge and skills in research and international development to successfully reach program goals and objectives.”

Question 2: If USAID requires applicants to name key personnel, are CVs required? If CVs are required and/or allowed, will USAID confirm that they may be included in the appendix which will not count against the total page limit and/or the current page limit of the Appendix?

CVs are not required at the concept note phase. See answer #1 for additional information.

During the full application phase, per page 27 of the LASER RFA, applicants will be required to submit

2-page resumes for each proposed key personnel if they are invited to submit full applications, “Applicants should provide 2-page (max) resumes of the proposed management team through hyperlink or as attachments. Longform academic curriculum vitaes (CV) should be summarized in resume form.” These 2-page resumes will NOT count against the 20-page Appendix Limit noted on pages 29-30 of the RFA in the Appendix section.

Question 3: On page 11 of the RFTOP. In Figure 1: LASER Process, USAID lays out a process that illustrates key roles for the Prime, USAID and the Laser Network. In the third circle - entitled

Research Implemented, only the Laser Network is noted. In this figure 11 and in the terminology, “Laser Network” does USAID include the Prime?

Please note that this is not a “Request for Task Order Proposals (RFTOP)”; rather this is a “Request for

Application (RFA).”

Regarding the role of the Prime in the third circle of this diagram, yes, the Prime is involved in that they are responsible for the management and oversight of the subawards issued to accomplish the research.

Additionally, researchers associated with the Prime are allowed to be a part of the LASER Network, propose research solutions, and receive subawards to implement research projects.

Question 4: Depending on which entity is awarded the contract, it may be that the Prime includes a diverse group of researchers that could serve as lead researchers or as research team members, will a Prime be excluded from implementing the research?

No, the Prime will not be excluded from having its own researchers apply for consideration as potential implementers of research projects under LASER. Please see the answer to question #3 above.

Question 5: On page 14-15 of the RFTOP, USAID outlines the role of the Recipient and USAID.

Since USAID is substantially involved in the Review and Selection Process, will the Recipient be eligible to receive subawards, assuming that the process is transparent, open and meets other

Selection Process Standards.

Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 15

If the process is transparent, open and meets other standards as indicated in the eventual Cooperative

Agreement, the Recipient will be eligible to receive subawards. Please see the answer to question #3 for additional information.

Question 6: On page 16, in the experience and qualifications, will USAID allow for a J.D. in lieu of a

Ph.D. and/or Master’s Degree for the Program Director and the Technical Director, plus the other related experience?

Yes, any terminal degree (PhD, JD, MD, etc) will be accepted provided that the proposed person has the appropriate expertise and experience necessary to successfully fulfill that role.

Question 7: On Page 23 and 24 of the RFTOP, the Concept Note is described. Will USAID please confirm that the Concept Note uses the structure outline for the full technical narrative in Section 3 on pages 26-28, specifically from 3.a. -3.b.iv. and does not include #4-6 (Institutional Capacity, Past

Performance and the Attachment Section)?

Yes, the body of the Concept Note should be structured according to the full Technical Narrative (sections

3a-3b.iv). However, please note that within this structure, applicants are asked to “pay particular attention to...how the relevant strengths of the Prime and any partner institutions, including institutional resources, relationships, and past experience, will contribute to accomplishing the goals of this RFA” (pg

23 of the RFA). So, while applicants are not asked to draft stand-alone sections on Institutional Capacity or Past Performance, elements of these sections should be addressed in Concept Note. The Attachment section of the full RFA is not required for the Concept Note.

[END AMENDMENT 03 OF 7200AA18RFA00004]

Amendment: 02 - Clarification Statement on Question and Answer Period, Questions and

Answers December 06, 2017 - December 20, 2017

Issue Date: January 03, 2018

Clarification Statement re: Question and Answer Period:

USAID received many phone inquiries and requests for meetings during the question and answer period. Per directives on pages 1 and 22 (Section D) of 7200AA18RFA00004, all questions were to be submitted per the following:

Agency Point of Contact Trenae Bonner, Acquisition & Agreement Specialist, Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 16 tbonner@usaid.gov

Questions and Answers: All questions regarding this RFA should be submitted in writing to the e-mail address listed above as the Agency Point of Contact with a cc: to Roderick

Watson, Agreement Officer, rwatson@usaid.gov. Questions regarding this RFA should be submitted via email no later than December 20th, 12pm EST to provide sufficient time to address the questions and incorporate the questions and answers as an amendment to this solicitation. Any information given to a prospective Applicant concerning this RFA will be furnished consistently to all other prospective Applicants as an amendment to this

RFA, if that information is necessary in submitting applications or if the lack of it would be prejudicial to any other prospective Applicant.

Any inquiries received after this deadline, via phone, or outside of these guidelines did not and will not receive a response. To maintain fairness during this open and competitive process, questions submitted within these parameters were compiled and answered in a public format via amendment to the RFA.

USAID will not be answering any additional questions but refers you to these amendments in hopes that they clarify your concerns. Thank you and we welcome all eligible and interested parties to apply here.

Question 1: What is about maximum and minimum duration of each project?

As noted on page 8 of the LASER RFA, USAID envisions expanding its “support of long-term research efforts (typically > 1 year) that address specific development needs via the LASER Award”. Implementation of these long-term research efforts will be typically between three and five years.

Question 2: Is there a minimum and/or maximum number of partners? Can these partners come from countries other than our own country and the USA?

There is no minimum or maximum number of partners to meet for this RFA. However, as noted in the

Technical Evaluation Criteria section (page 33), applicants will be evaluated on, “The extent to which the proposed Network implementation plan has the capability for rapid initial stand-up, recruits universities and researchers (U.S.-based and overseas including LMICs) that have expertise in each of USAID's major technical sectors and geographic areas (see Appendix B) AND demonstrates an individual and institutional capacity strengthening approach that fosters and leverages a high rate of inclusion and engagement of female, MSI, and LMIC researchers / HEIs in the network to result in sustainable engagement amongst members of the Network following the end of the award.”

Partners can come from countries other than the country of the higher education institution applying for the

RFA and the United States.

BUDGET/COST:

Question 1: What is about project budget (max and min values)?

mailto:tbonner@usaid.gov https://usaid-hesn.forms.fm/LASER

Amendment 05 to 7200AA18RFA00004 –Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) | 17

As noted in Section A1 of the RFA, “The anticipated budget includes a ceiling of $70,000,000 (estimated up to $14,000,000 per year). Under that ceiling, and subject to the availability of funds, core funds from

LAB/CDR are anticipated to be $10,000,000- $20,000,000 over five (5) years ($2,000,000 - $4,000,000 per year) with any additional funds beyond that coming from other Centers within the Lab as well as other

USAID Missions, Bureaus, and Independent Offices based on their programmatic needs.

Question 2: Is it possible to have investment in the budget of this project? The construction of a building or office, for example?

USAID does not envision allowing construction under this Cooperative Agreement.

[END AMENDMENT 02 OF 7200AA18RFA00004]

Amendment: 01 - Questions and Answers December 06, 2017 - December 20, 2017

Issue Date: December 22, 2017

Question 1: What is the anticipated number of awards available? It is blank on the FOA.

USAID anticipates making one (1) award under the LASER RFA. However, USAID reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted.

Question 2: I was wondering if this topic might be of interest for applying for funding under the above cooperative agreement announcement?

I have an ongoing USAID supported project on the evaluation of a vaccine for the prevention of Rift Valley

Fever in livestock in Tanzania and will end Sept, 2018. Therefore, I am looking for additional funding opportunities preferably to do research in developing countries and since I have an infrastructure established in Tanzania, I would like to stay there at the Sokoine University of Agricultural (SUA) with my collaborator – my idea, would be to continue research at SUA, where we have an ABSL 2 large animal holding facility and the virology lab, was thinking about research project to improve the health of livestock and livestock dairy products as a…