DFOP0016713 PARSE Q&A Reponses.docx

Questions and Answers for Partnership to Advance Research and Scientific Evidence (PARSE)

DFOP0016713

(Formerly: INL24CA0085-KMDDL-PARSE-061324) Date: July 25, 2024

Question(s) 1:

Does INL have any priority or preferred countries in which the evidence is generated?

Would INL be more interested in countries that receive the most INL funding and are those INL’s priority countries?

Is this research partner expected to have any geographical/regional emphasis?

Do you expect research to be conducted in West Africa and Central Asia?

INL Response:

This project is globally focused. From inception, strong preference will be given to evidence-based products that are directly relevant to the criminal justice sectors and civilian security requirements in countries with INL programming. A list of countries INL partners with may be found at Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Work by Country and Area. Upon award and in close consultation with INL, a tailored list of priority countries or regions may be identified.

Question 2:

Should the evidence/research be generally tied to existing INL investments?

INL Response:

Priority research areas will be determined in close consultation with INL upon award. Generally, this project seeks to produce evidence about criminal justice systems capacity, specifically, on “what works” to counter crime, illicit drugs, and instability abroad. Evidence does not need to come from analyzing INL projects.

Question 3:

Is this project a follow on to the National Academies consensus reports?

INL Response:

The National Academies of Science Committee on Evidence to Advance Reform in the Global Security and Justice Sectors focused on police and policing practices, with emphasis on how police reform can promote the rule of law and protect the public. The PARSE project expands the scope of research by seeking to produce evidence not just for law enforcement but also other critical functions within the broader criminal justice system.

Question(s) 4:

Can an awardee leverage their topical or geographical expertise by having foreign partners as members of the committee or involved in the project in other ways?

Can the committee comprise members from U.S. and other countries?

INL Response:

Yes, the qualifying organization can include foreign individuals as members of the committee and can propose to collaborate with foreign institutions for the purposes of this project. The qualifying organization must ensure that the committee reflects diverse academic disciplines and complementary points of view. As such, the committee can benefit from including international perspectives. Additionally, the qualifying organization will ensure that the committee configuration adheres to best practices on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

Question 5:

Is it possible to propose research projects that will exceed the 24-month POP for the cooperative agreement?

INL Response:

INL expects that the qualifying organization will submit a number of complete reports within the project period of performance (POP). If the research committee deems it methodologically necessary for a specific novel research effort to be conducted over a period that exceeds the current POP, it will consult with INL. In turn, pending funding availability, programmatic feasibility, and relevance of the subject, INL may consider funding this particular research project beyond the current POP, without exceeding 5 years. Additionally, the qualifying organization will be responsible for providing quarterly evidence briefings to INL on any preliminary findings emerging from all research products.

Question 6:

How do you envision the research projects will be proposed?

INL Response:

All research themes or questions will be part of the learning agenda developed by the qualifying organization/research committee as a result of internal deliberations, consultation with practitioners, and close collaboration with INL. Upon INL approval, the qualifying organization may assign the development of reports internally or through a call for proposals that involves the broader research community. Researchers can submit proposals based on the parameters and/or requirements stipulated in the call.

Question 7:

Is there a list of actors with which INL expects the awardee to work?

INL Response:

INL expects the awardee to work with researchers whose proposal best meets the evaluation criteria as stipulated in the call for proposals. The qualifying organization/committee will ensure that the mechanism used to put forth the call guarantees that the potential research candidates are aware a full range of scientific design and methods that may be used to effectively answer the research question, that researchers are solicited from a diverse range of academic disciplines, and that the proposal candidates are aware of the clarity, practitioner-oriented applicability, and relevance requirements for their research. The awardee should also engage with rule of law practitioners outside INL to help inform the learning agenda.

Question 8:

How much access will the awardee have to internal INL information about prior assistance projects?

INL Response:

The qualifying organization and/or researchers must independently collect all data and information from the field or open sources.

Question 9:

Does INL expect applicants to already have research committee members committed or to lay out a process for establishing a committee?

INL Response:

INL does not expect applicants to already have a partially or fully constituted research committee upon award. However, INL welcomes proposals that highlight desirable process and parameters for the committee configuration and/or potential committee members profiles that meet the project requirements. Applicants should demonstrate their capacity to recruit diverse and expert scholars, which is one of the evaluation criteria.

Question 10:

Does INL expect $500K to go toward research and the rest of the funding for supporting the research?

INL Response:

INL expects that no less than $495,000.00 will be devoted to research on countering ongoing efforts by malign actors to undermine the rule of law, civilian security, and multilateral institutions working to counter crime, illegal drugs, and instability abroad within the initial period of performance (POP). Additionally, the qualifying organization may allocate funding for other research products within the POP. INL will evaluate each applicant based on the following technical evaluation criterion: All estimates for costs are necessary, justified, realistic, and reasonable given the amount of work and oversight needed to manage the production and dissemination of different types of research products.

Question 11:

Does INL expect applicants to this NOFO to have direct experience in all areas within the NOFO’s scope?

INL Response:

INL expects that the qualifying organization will be able to establish a research committee that is sufficiently experienced as well as thematically, regionally, and methodologically diverse. INL expects that the complementary composition of the research committee and the internal capabilities of the qualifying organization will enable work on several functional areas within the criminal justice sector including but not limited to prosecution, defense, law enforcement, corrections, and the judiciary.

Question 12:

If a nonprofit FFRDC organization (operated by an institution of Higher Education) were selected as the awardee, would it be possible for INL to fund that organization via an Interagency Agreement (IAA) instead of a cooperative agreement?

INL Response:

The assistance type for this Notice of Funding Opportunity has been approved as a Cooperative Agreement.

Question 13:

Is the expectation that researchers on the research committee would be paid?

Is the role of the research committee more than an advisory body? Is the expectation that they will be paid?

INL Response:

INL expects that the qualifying organization and the committee will be able to achieve all project objectives efficiently and with the highest standards of quality. This may require substantial involvement and/or work by members of the research committee. However, the NOFO does not explicitly indicate whether their work should or should not be remunerated and leaves it up to the qualifying organization to follow relevant regulation and to determine if and how to remunerate the research committee’s efforts.

Question 14:

Would the awardee work collaboratively primarily with INL/KM or with other INL components?

INL Response:

The awardee will coordinate, collaborate, and/or seek approval from INL/KM and INL/EX/GAPP for all substantive, administrative, and oversight aspects of this project. However, upon INL/KM guidance, the awardee can expect some interaction with members of other INL offices.

Question 15:

What is “novel” research in this context? Is it the subject or the evidence that should be novel?

INL Response:

The need for novel research in this context is mostly driven by insufficient evidence to properly substantiate the relative effectiveness of interventions or mechanisms to improve partner capacities or capabilities within the criminal justice system.

Question(s) 16:

Is there an expectation that the project’s budget will fund select external researchers/research organizations conducting synthesis reports?

Can you please provide guidelines regarding the remuneration of the researchers external to the qualifying organization who will participate in writing the synthesis/research reports?

Is there a limit imposed on the level of remuneration for external researchers?

INL Response:

INL expects that the research products developed and/or commissioned by the qualifying organization are efficiently generated and meet high standards of quality. INL expects that part of the project’s funding will be used to ensure quality completion of all research products. However, INL does not have specific guidance on how qualifying organization should allocate funding to generate these external or commissioned products.

Question 17:

What do you mean by the public rule of law community and who is the target audience for this research?

INL Response:

The primary audience for research is the public rule of law community (in terms of disseminating findings from commissioned research) and INL (in terms of the delivery of completed reports and studies). The project is particularly focused on research products and dissemination efforts that can clearly inform law enforcement and justice sector officials as well as other decision makers and practitioners involved in policy formulation, program design, as well as strategic, operational, or tactical implementation.

Question 18:

Can applicants propose alternate activities to those listed in the NOFO?

INL Response:

Yes.

Question 19:

Does INL have a preference between research that identifies what would work in a particular context and what might be globally transferable?

INL Response:

Through PARSE, INL is seeking to produce evidence-based knowledge that is methodologically rigorous but also at least partially generalizable. For example, generalizability could refer to context categories, where findings may inform or be applicable to one or more countries that share commonalities relevant to the research question.

Question 20:

Is INL open to a variety of dissemination products?

INL Response:

Yes. INL welcomes different dissemination formats, mechanisms, and or products that can clearly, concretely, and compellingly convey evidence-based findings to non-scholarly audiences within the rule of law community.

Question 21:

Would INL be open to case studies as a way to share “what works”?

INL Response:

INL is open to the use of different methodologies for evidence generation and understands that work on data constrained environments may require empirical tradeoffs. Upon award and based on the specific learning agenda question or theme, INL will closely collaborate with the research committee to better determine desirable research design and methodological approaches (including the case study approach) and/or practices. In terms of dissemination, see answer to Question 20.

Question 22:

Is the PARSE awardee mostly performing a grants management role, executing research, or both?

INL Response:

The awardee is responsible for managing the project and complying with all federal award requirements pertinent to this cooperative agreement. It may or may not choose to conduct research internally. INL expects that at least a portion of the research will be produced externally via a call for proposals.

Question 23:

Can the qualifying organization also have members on the committee?

INL Response:

Yes.

Question(s) 24:

If elected as the qualifying organization, would that exclude this organization’s researchers for any future research funding derived from the partnership?

Can the awardee be eligible to submit a research proposal?

INL Response:

Throughout the period of performance and pending future funding availability, INL expects that the majority of internally produced research will fall within the category of synthesis reports. INL expects that novel research areas are identified in the learning agenda are put forth as a call for proposals to the wider community. However, in close consultation with INL, the research committee will evaluate proposals (including internally developed ones) and may (based on pre-established criteria) assign funding for this type of research to members of the qualifying organization.

Question 25:

Can applicants provide web links to resources within our proposal narrative or within the attachments, will those links be accessible by INL and if so, will INL consider those as part of the proposal for purposes of scoring?

INL Response:

Nothing in the NOFO prohibits the use of external links included in the application documentation. However, to ensure INL has access to complete applications, all documents and forms should be submitted in Word, PDF, image, or spreadsheet formats. For further details, applicants are strongly encouraged to closely review Section D of the NOFO [Application and Submission Information]. INL reserves the right to exclusively focus on the information submitted via www.grants.gov and to reject any applications submitted through improper channels.

Question 26:

Is there a preference for this research partnership to emphasize one or several aspects of these overarching agency goals—leaning towards fighting organized crime or emphasizing institutional building and promoting rule of law?

INL Response:

INL expects that the learning agenda produced by the qualifying organization and the research committee will generate actionable evidence-based research to counter crime, illegal drugs, and instability abroad. Prioritization of these and related research areas will take place upon award and in close collaboration with INL as described in Objective 2.

Question 27:

Is the qualifying organization responsible for the dissemination of findings even if research is conducted externally?

INL Response:

Yes. The qualifying organization is responsible ensuring the dissemination of research findings, notifying INL of each time this is done by the qualifying organization, and, upon INL request, producing an agreed upon reporting mechanism to submit success stories, outcomes, and metrics associated with the dissemination efforts. To do so, and in cases where research is produced externally, the qualifying organization is expected to coordinate with these externally commissioned researchers.

Question 28:

If the qualifying organization is to monitor the development and implementation of selected research projects, will there be set aside funding from INL to perform the M&E function regarding these externally conducted projects?

INL Response:

The qualifying organization/research committee is responsible for monitoring and reviewing the development and completion of the research products. Activities under this objective (Objective 5) are part of the project. As such, the qualifying organization should consider these activities as part of the project’s overall performance during the development of the project’s Budget, Budget Narrative, and Performance Monitoring Plan.

Question 29:

Does the $1,795,000 include the grant funding as well as funding to support the committee’s work?

INL Response:

Available funding for this cooperative agreement ($1,795,000) is intended to cover all project objectives of the NOFO. During the initial POP, INL also expects that no less than $495,000.00 will be devoted to research on countering ongoing efforts by malign actors to undermine the rule of law, civilian security, and multilateral institutions working to counter crime, illegal drugs, and instability abroad. Pending future funding availability, INL expects to fund additional research products and associated project objectives as currently described in the NOFO.

Question 30:

The NOFO states that the applicant should propose “specific activities to implement suggested solutions.” Can INL please clarify what is meant by “activities”? Can INL also clarify what is meant by solutions? (i.e., does solutions refer to research results and recommendations?)

INL Response:

INL expects that the project’s vision, goal, and objectives remain unchanged. However, if necessary, applicants can propose modifications to the NOFO activities to better reflect the applicant’s plan for achieving the project objectives. “Solutions” refers to the necessary mechanisms (activities) for successful completion of the project’s objectives and the successful contribution towards the project goal.

Question 31:

Is there an expectation that the applicant proposes hypothetical research topics?

Applicants must submit a sample learning agenda, a sample research plan to generate synthesis reports, and a sample research plan to generate novel studies. However, topics covered in these products may or may not refer to hypothetical research topics that closely reflect themes associated with the overarching goal of this project. Instead, INL will focus on evaluating the applicant’s capacities as described under the NOFO Evaluation Criteria.

Question 32:

Can the required sample learning agenda and sample research plans be products that were already developed by the applicant in the past and adjusted or adapted to meet requirements of the evaluation criteria?

INL Response:

Yes.

Question 33:

Does INL have a definition of “malign actors”?

INL Response:

The NOFO uses “malign actors” to refer to countries that use overt and covert methods to undermine peace and stability. For additional information please refer to the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill, 2024.

Question 34:

Is INL interested in research on juveniles in Mexico and/or the US?

INL Response:

Specific thematic areas and regional focus will be identified upon award through the development of the learning agenda.