F02 Non-Research NoFO.pdf

PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DoD)

Washington Headquarters Services Acquisition Directorate (WHS/AD)

Title: Vietnamese Personnel Missing in Action Cooperative Program Announcement Type: Initial Announcement

Funding Opportunity Number: HQ0034-21-FoNo-VMIA-0001

Assistance Listing Number: 12.015 Past Conflict Accounting – Vietnam Anticipated Funding Purpose: U.S. assistance in locating and identifying its unaccounted Vietnamese personnel from war. The Government intends to award a non-research cooperative agreement to Harvard University based on successful demonstration and to further the national security interests of the United States.

Key Dates: This announcement will be open to receive an application until the time include in Section IV, “Application and Submission Information.”

Agency Contact:

All questions should be directed via e-mail to the following contacts:

Email: elizabeth.e.fuller2.civ@mail.mil and christopher.h.lindley.civ@mail.mil

DoD Program Technical Point of Contact:

Christopher Lindley Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy 2100 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20201-2600 christopher.h.lindley.civ@mail.mil

Date Issued: 7 July 2021 mailto:christopher.h.lindley.civ@mail.mil

Table of Contents I. Program Description 3

A. Short Description of Funding Opportunity 3 B. Background 3 C. Program Description/Objective: 3 D. Authorization 3 E. Legal Requirements 3 F. Program-Specific Requirements (optional) Error! Bookmark not defined.

II. Federal Award Information 3 III. Eligibility Information 4

A. Cost Sharing or Matching 5 B. Conflict of Interest 5

a) General Requirement for Disclosure

a) Licensure or Certification 5

i. Certifications, representations, and assurances

IV. Application and Submission Information 6 A. Submission Date and Time: 6 B. Address to Request Application Package 6 C. Application Procedures and Requirements 6 D. Application Withdrawal: 7 E. Intergovernmental Review 7 F. Content and Form of Submission: 7 G. Component-specific requirements. 7

a) Applications

b) Additional Information Required after Selection but Prior to Award . Error! Bookmark not defined.

H. Funding Restrictions 8 V. Application Review Information 9

A. Selection Criteria 9 B. Review and Selection Process: 9 C. Anticipated Announcement and Federal Award Dates: 10

VI. Federal Award Administration Information 10 VII. Reporting Requirements 10 VIII. Other Administrative Requirements 11 IX. Federal Contacts 11 X. Other Information 12

I. Program Description

A. Short Description of Funding Opportunity Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy seeks an application from Harvard University for a cooperative program with Vietnam to account for Vietnamese personnel missing in action.

Applications from other entities are excluded.

B. Background The United States and Vietnam are trusted partners with a friendship grounded in mutual respect.

Over the past twenty-six years, since both countries resumed bilateral relations, U.S.-Vietnam cooperation has become comprehensive, and spans political, economic, security, and people-to-people ties. This is a new program to assist in strengthening defense cooperation between the United States and Vietnam in a number of areas, including war legacy issues.

C. Program Description/Objective:

The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of State, is authorized to carry out a cooperative program with the Ministry of Defense of Vietnam to assist in accounting for Vietnamese personnel missing in action. The purpose of the cooperative program is to carry out the following activities: (1) Collection, digitization, and sharing of archival information; (2) Building the capacity of Vietnam to conduct archival research, investigations, and excavations;

and (3) Other support activities the Secretary of Defense considers necessary and appropriate.

D. Authorization

The authorization to make awards under this funding opportunity may be found via the Assistance Listing (CFDA) Number on beta.sam.gov.

E. Legal Requirements

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE REQUIREMENT:

Each grant awarded under this announcement will be governed by the general terms and conditions in effect at the time of the award that conform to DoD’s implementation of OMB guidance applicable to financial assistance in 2 CFR 200, “Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards,” as implemented by 2 CFR 1100.

A fixed amount award is anticipated in accordance with 2 CFR §200.201, “Use of grant agreements (including fixed amount awards), cooperative agreements, and contracts.”

Standard terms and conditions are attached to this announcement.

II. Federal Award Information

The following information applies to awards issued under this announcement:

Single Award Anticipated: It is anticipated only one award will be made as a result of this announcement.

Anticipated Range of Individual Award Amounts: The Government anticipates making an award for an estimated average amount of $1,500,000 annually. Estimated funding amounts may increase or decrease at any time based on current and future appropriations. This expected funding does not specify the total cost.

Anticipated Period of Performance: The period of performance (POP) is anticipated to start in July 2021. The awarded agreement is anticipated to be for a base period of 12 months, and four 12 month option periods.

Instrument Type:

The type of funding instrument selected by the Government is planned to be a cooperative agreement. The Government substantial involvement involves the use of investigative results to further national security interests and the building of improved relations between the United States of America and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. To this end, the Department of Defense will review investigative results as they are developed, provide guidance to the research organizations for refinements or areas of further investigation as appropriate, and coordinate the provision of investigative results to the applicable Vietnam government organizations. The recipient will only interact with the designated US Government personnel.

Award type and funding arrangements are at the discretion of the Government. It is anticipated the Government will enter into an agreement with a base-year, plus four option years in order to complete the goals of this program. Collaborations or subawards with different entities are allowable. The Government reserves the right to accept only portions of an application and to negotiate potential awards.

III. Eligibility Information

This requirement is anticipated to be negotiated exclusively with Harvard University for a cooperative program.

U.S. Government schools of higher education, Navy laboratories and warfare centers as well as other Department of Defense and civilian agency laboratories are not eligible to receive awards under this FOA. If any such government organization is interested in performing research described herein, the organization should contact the Technical Point of Contact at christopher.h.lindley.civ@mail.mil.

The offeror must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) before submission of applications. Information on SAM registration is available at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM. The offeror must provide a valid unique entity identifier on their application. The offeror must continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency. WHS may not make a Federal award to the offeror until the offeror has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements and, if an offeror has not fully complied with the requirements by the time WHS is ready to make an award.

Conflicts of interest which are not able to mitigated will deem the offeror ineligible for award.

A. Cost Sharing or Matching

Cost sharing is not required.

B. Conflict of Interest

a) General Requirement for Disclosure

You and your organization must disclose any potential or actual scientific or nonscientific conflict of interest(s) to us. You must also disclose any potential or actual conflict(s) of interest for any identified sub recipient you include in your application. We may have to ask you more questions if we need more information.

At our discretion, we may ask you for a conflict of interest mitigation plan after you submit your application. Your plan is subject to our approval.

C. Other

a) Licensure or Certification You must include the Acknowledgment of Support and Disclaimer on all materials created or produced under our awards. This language may be found in the Terms and Conditions included in the award documents.

i. Certifications, representations, and assurances

1. To apply for grants and other funding opportunities the applicant entity must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM).

Applications will not be accepted through Grants.gov or other methods unless the entity is registered in SAM. Registration in SAM now includes the acceptance of Certifications and Assurances. See https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/grantors/grantor-standard-language.html for details on how to register in SAM, and Grants.gov

2. The Federal Assistance Certifications Report is an attestation that the entity will abide by the requirements of the various laws and regulations; therefore, as applicable, you are still required to submit any documentation, including the SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (if applicable), and informing DoD of unpaid delinquent tax liability or a felony conviction under any Federal law.

Any attachment containing additional certifications should be prefaced by the following statement:

“By checking “I Agree” on the SF-424 Block 21 you agree to abide by the following statement: “By signing this application, I certify (1) to the statements contained in the list of certifications and (2) that the statements herein are true, complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge. I also https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/grantors/grantor-standard-language.html provide the required assurances and agree to comply with any resulting terms if I accept an award. I am aware that any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or claims may subject me to criminal, civil, or administrative penalties. (U.S.

Code, Title 218, Section 1001)”.

A list of required certifications and representations not found in SAM are available at Attachment B.

An Internal Review Board (IRB) certification is required if living human subjects are involved in the investigation of materials.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Submission Date and Time:

DoD will accept an application submitted on or before 14 July 2021, 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET). Read the instructions in https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/grantors/grantor-standard-language.html about registering to apply for DoD funds. If you experience difficulties with your submission, Grants.gov provides support via the toll-free number 1-800-518-4726 and email at support@grants.gov. This ticket number will allow DoD to verify your issue if it cannot be resolved by the application date.

For questions related specifically to this NoFO, contact the program or grants office.

B. Address to Request Application Package The application package for Notice of Funding Opportunity is available on Grants.gov.

C. Application Procedures and Requirements

Organizations must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), active System for Award Management (SAM) registration, and Grants.gov account to apply for grants. Please see https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/grantors/grantor-standard-language.html for details on how to go through this process.

The applicant shall submit their application through Grants.gov. The applicant is responsible for submitting their application in sufficient time to allow them to reach Grants.gov by the date and time specified in this announcement. It is strongly recommended that the application be uploaded at least 2 days before the closing date and time. This will help avoid problems caused by high system usage or any potential technical and/or input problems involving the applicant’s own equipment. It will also allow any application errors detected by Grants.gov to be corrected in time for the application to be resubmitted. If the application is received by Grants.gov after the exact time and date specified as the deadline for receipt, it will be considered “late” and may not be considered for review.

Acceptable evidence to establish the time of receipt by Grants.gov includes documentary evidence of receipt maintained by Grants.gov, and Grants.gov e-mails to the applicant confirming receipt. These e-mails will indicate 1) the application was received on time, 2) https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/grantors/grantor-standard-language.html https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/grantors/grantor-standard-language.html mailto:support@grants.gov mailto:support@grants.gov application was rejected due to errors, 3) application was received after the deadline. Note that this Grants.gov response may occur over several e-mails, e.g., one acknowledging on-time receipt, and a later e-mail rejecting for errors the system detected. Applicants can also track the status of their applications at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/track-my-application.html.

D. Application Withdrawal:

The applicant may withdraw an application at any time before award by written notice or by email. Notice of withdrawal shall be sent to the grants officer identified in this announcement. Withdrawals are effective upon receipt of notice by the grants officer.

E. Intergovernmental Review Not applicable.

F. Content and Form of Submission:

See https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/grantors/grantor-standard-language.html for information on how to complete the application using Workspace on Grants.gov.

Common formatting requirements across all submitted documents:

● Font shall be: Times New Roman, 12 point

● Margins shall be 1 inch on all sides

● Paper size shall be 8 ½ by 11.

● Documentation submitted under this NoFO are expected to be unclassified; classified applications are not permitted.

● All documents must be submitted in PDF format.

● Proposals may be evaluated by Government personnel and/or Non-Government reviewers.

Each reviewer is required to sign a conflict-of-interest and confidentiality statement attesting that the reviewer has no known conflicts of interest, and that application and evaluation information will not be disclosed outside the evaluation panel. The names and affiliations of reviewers are not disclosed.

● All submissions will be protected from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with applicable law and DoD regulations. You are expected to appropriately mark each page of their submission that contains proprietary information.

● Curriculum Vitae (CV) is required for application submissions. There is a two (2) page limit, single-sided per applicant: The CV should include relevant experience, publications, and funding received in the area of interest, and any previous involvement and experiences with the DoD. List all previous DoD funding including project titles within the last eight years.

G. Component-specific requirements.

a) Applications

● You must mark your application with the announcement number.

● A summary of what is required for a complete application is below:

Attachments to Required forms (See Attachment A1 for detailed instructions on filling out the SF-424 Forms for DoD grants)

The below chart specifies which forms and attachments required and specifies the maximum page lengths for attachments to be submitted along with the completed form.

Form ASSOCIATED

FIELD ATTACHMENT

Attachment Maximum Length

Project Abstract Summary Project Abstract Summary 2 Pages

SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance

20, 21

Representation for Tax Delinquency, Felony Conviction, and Internal Confidentiality Agreements

No Limit

SFLLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

No Limit

Budget Form L - Budget Justification

Budget Justification No Limit

Additional content requirements Project Abstract: The concise (shall not exceed one (1) single-spaced page) project abstract should be appropriate for public release and should describe the research project in terms that the public would understand. The project abstract should summarize the research project. Specifically, identify the principal investigator and offering institution; problems and objectives; technical approaches and anticipated outcome.

Public Purpose: Concise (approximately two hundred (200) words) statement of how the proposed research fulfills a public benefit beyond the needs of the Government. The public-benefits statement is an important part of the evaluation and award process.

Project Schedule and Milestones: A concise (shall not exceed one (1) page single-spaced) summary of the schedule of research and reporting activities and milestones should be included in table or bullet-list form. Because the date of award may change at time of application, we recommend a “month 1,” “month 2,” format, as opposed to naming specific months and dates.

Management Approach: A concise (shall not exceed two (2) single-spaced pages) discussion of the overall approach to the management of this effort at the organization level. Include planning, scheduling and oversight practices. Identify which personnel will be involved and the value they bring to the proposed research effort. Include a description of the facilities that are required for the proposed effort with a description of any Government-furnished equipment (GFE), hardware, software or information required, by version and/or configuration.

Anticipated subawards and contract requirements.

H. Funding Restrictions Per 2 CFR § 200.216, funds may not be used to procure telecommunications equipment or video surveillance services or equipment produced by:

• Huawei Technologies Company,

• ZTE Corporation Hytera Communications Corporation,

• Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company,

• Dahua Technology Company

• any subsidiary or affiliate of such entities

V. Application Review Information

A. Selection Criteria:

Applications will be evaluated using the following criteria. Criteria are of equal importance.

Overall Technical Merit:

• Demonstrated experience in applying investigative research techniques to extract data contained in the CDEC collection – loaded into the digital database – and used to assist in the successful location of missing Vietnamese personnel.

• Demonstrated extensive experience in working with captured war records, translation of war records, strong historical data research experience, significant experience in Southeast Asia studies, and strong relationships with educational and governmental institutions in Vietnam.

B. Review and Selection Process:

The application will be reviewed based on the selection criteria above rather than against other applications submitted under this Announcement.

Applicants are advised that employees of commercial firms under contract to the Government may be used to administratively process applications. By submitting an application, an applicant consents to allowing access to its application(s) by support contractors. These support contracts include nondisclosure agreements prohibiting their contractor employees from disclosing any information submitted by applicants.

In addition to the technical/program review, the DoD does a budget review and a risk review as directed by 2 CFR 200.206, including a review of the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS). Applicants may review information in FAPIIS and comment on any information entered into that system. Comments made by applicants will be taken into account in addition to other information in considering applicants’ integrity, business ethics, and record of performance.

At the time of application, there is no additional material to be submitted for this review.

However, there may be additional requests for clarification as these reviews progress.

Note that a collaborative application will be evaluated and selected for funding based on the strength of the application in combination. As such, a highly rated collaborative application will illustrate the vital nature of the collaboration and its likelihood to contribute to more novel and potentially impactful work than could be achieved by a single investigator.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Federal Award Dates:

Decisions are expected to be announced via email. The award is expected to be in place by 21 July 2021.

VI. Federal Award Administration Information A notification e-mail regarding a selection is not authorization to commit or expend DoD funds. A DoD grants officer is the only person authorized to obligate and approve the use of Federal funds.

This authorization is in the form of a signed Notice of Award. An applicant whose application is recommended will be contacted by a DoD grants officer to discuss any additional information required for award. This may include representations and certifications, revised budgets or budget explanations, or other information as applicable to the proposed award. The award start date will be determined at this time.

VII. Reporting Requirements

1. Financial Reporting

a) Interim Federal Financial Report (SF 425). A quarterly Federal Financial Report (SF

425) is required within 30 calendar days after the end of reported quarter period: 3/31, 6/30, 9/30, and 12/31 and must include in the remarks the location of financial records and a point of contact for the Government to obtain access to the financial records associated with this agreement.

b) Final Federal Financial Report (SF 425) is required within 90 calendar days of the completion date for the term of this Grant and must include in the remarks the location of financial records and a point of contact for the Government to obtain access to the financial records associated with this agreement.

c) Federal Financial Report (SF 425) is required if receiving advance payments; the awardee shall submit a Report of Federal Cash Transactions (SF 425) within 15 calendar days following the end of each quarter. The Grantee shall provide forecasts of Federal cash requirements in the “Remarks” section of the report.

d) Audit Reports. The Grantee shall ensure that if an independent auditor is used for this award, copies of any audits conducted shall be provided to the Government. At a minimum, the following should be provided a certified statement from the independent auditor evidencing that Grantee has complied with all requirements of this agreement.

Upon completion or termination of this Grant, the Grantee shall provide a list of all audits conducted which reviewed expenditures under this Grant.

2. Interim Performance Progress Reports (PPR).

a) The Grantee shall provide Interim PPR to the Government Technical Program Point of

Contact, no later than 30 calendar days after the close of each quarter period: 3/31, 6/30, 9/30, and 12/31, except the final quarter of the agreement period. These reports shall detail the period’ activities, intermediate results, progress toward goals and other specific information and any issues that may impact completion of the planned work on schedule. If findings or discoveries are made that the recipient feels are of sufficient importance that they would mitigate or impact operations, the Government Technical Program Point of Contact should be notified immediately.

3. Presentation of Findings:

a) The grantee should expect that the Abstract and Technical Report will be printed and/or read by the general public, senior managers and policymakers in the DOD.

Completed Technical Reports will be posted under the publications tab at www.acquisitionresearch.net.

b) The Technical Report should follow a typical academic format (i.e., background, scope, literature review, methodology, analysis, results, recommendations and conclusion). A status report or a collection of published articles will not be accepted as the Technical Report.

4. Property Reports The recipient shall submit annual inventory listing to all equipment in excess of $5,000 acquired under this grant.

6. Document submission:

All reporting requirements above shall be sent via email to the Government Technical Program Point of Contact.

7. Other Points of Contact:

Grants Officer –Elizabeth Fuller at elizabeth.e.fuller2.civ@mail.mil Administrative Grants Office – TBD

Report Requirements/Form Frequency Progress Reports (Interim and Final)

Quarterly

Financial Report SF 425 Quarterly Payment Report SF 270 As needed Closeout Report Once

Additional mandatory reporting requirements include those include in the following:

2 CFR 180.335 - What information must I provide before entering into a covered transaction with a Federal agency?;

2 CFR 180.350 - What must I do if I learn of information required under § 180.335 after entering into a covered transaction with a Federal agency?;

2 CFR Part 170 - Reporting Subaward and Executive Compensation Information; and, 2 CFR Appendix XII to Part 200 - Award Term and Condition for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters.

VIII. Other Administrative Requirements Not applicable.

IX. Federal Contacts Questions regarding program policy, program content, or technical issues should be directed to

DoD Program Technical Point of Contact:

Christopher Lindley Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy christopher.h.lindley.civ@mail.mil

Questions regarding administrative problems or grant administration should be directed to:

DoD Grants Officer Elizabeth Fuller

Grants Officer elizabeth.e.fuller2.civ@mail.mil

Questions regarding Grants.gov should be directed to: the toll-free number 1-800-518-4726 and email at support@grants.gov.

X. Other Information

The Federal government is not obligated to make any Federal award as a result of the announcement. Only grants officers can bind the Federal Government to the expenditure of funds.

Applicants are advised to monitor Grants.gov for potential amendments to this Notice of Funding Opportunity. You can also elect to be automatically notified by Grants.gov whenever there is a change to the opportunity.

Applications must not include any information that has been identified as classified national security information under authorities established in Executive Order 12958, Classified National Security Information.

mailto:elizabeth.e.fuller2.civ@mail.mil

Appendix I – Glossary

2 CFR 200 contains the sections of the US Government's Code of Federal Regulations that provide uniform guidance on the making and administration of Federal awards. It is implemented by the DoD in 2 CFR 1100

Abstract: A concise summary of an applicant’s project or technical proposal in response to a funding opportunity.

Assistance: is the transfer of a thing of value to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United States (see 31 U.S.C. 6101(3)). Grants, cooperative agreements, and technology investment agreements are examples of legal instruments that DoD Components use to provide assistance.

Assistance Listing is the information about the program under which the Federal award is funded are required for governmental reporting and auditing. Formerly called the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)

Award is a grant, cooperative agreement, technology investment agreement, or other nonprocurement instrument subject to one or more parts of the DoDGARs. Within each part of the regulations, the term includes only the types of instruments subject to that part.

Certifications and Representations are a set of statements all grant applicants must agree to. Most Federal-wide certifications and representations may be found in the System for Award Management (SAM).

Conflict of commitment a situation in which an individual accepts or incurs conflicting obligations between or among multiple employers or other entities. Many institutional policies define conflict of commitment as conflicting commitments of time, including obligations to dedicate time in excess of institutional or funding agency policies or commitments.

Other types of conflicting obligations, including obligations to improperly share information with, or withhold information from, an employer or funding agency, can also threaten security and integrity, and are an element of a broader concept of the conflicts of commitment.

Conflict of interest: a situation in which an individual has a financial interest or relationship that could directly and significantly affect the design, conduct, reporting, or funding of research or other program activities.

Cooperative Agreement: a legal instrument which, consistent with 31 U.S.C. 6305, is used to enter into the same kind of relationship as a grant (see definition of “grant” in this subpart), except that substantial involvement is expected between DoD and the recipient when carrying out the activity contemplated by the cooperative agreement. The term does not include “cooperative research and development agreements” as defined in 15 U.S.C. 3710a.

Cost Sharing or Matching the portion of project costs not borne by the Federal Government, unless a Federal statute authorizes use of Federal funds from another agency for cost sharing or matching. If required, DoD offices should explicitly indicate the source (cash, in-kind, equipment use, etc.) of cost sharing or matching funds are allowed.

Grant: a legal instrument which, consistent with 31 U.S.C. 6304, is used to enter into a relationship:

(a) Of which the principal purpose is to transfer a thing of value to the recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United States, rather than to acquire property or services for the DoD's direct benefit or use.

(b) In which substantial involvement is not expected between DoD and the recipient when carrying out the activity contemplated by the award.

Grants.gov is the approved website for Federal agencies to post discretionary funding opportunities and for grantees to find and apply to them. All competitive, discretionary DoD financial assistance opportunities must be posted to Grants.gov.

Nonprocurement instrument a legal instrument other than a procurement contract that a DoD Component may award. Examples include an instrument of financial assistance, such as a grant or cooperative agreement, or an instrument of technical assistance, which provides services in lieu of money.

NoFO: Notice of Funding Opportunity. NoFOs only result in the award of an assistance instrument.

OMB is the Executive Office of the President, United States Office of Management and Budget.

This office responsible for, among other things, financial management across the US government, including assistance awards.

Program DoD defines ‘program’ as a coordinated effort towards a specific goal.

System for Award Management (SAM) an official repository of the U.S. Government. Anyone applying for an assistance award or contract offered by the US government must register in

SAM.

Terms and Conditions are administrative requirements governing recipients’ execution of the award. These may be found at 2 CFR 1100 Subchapter D.

H. Funding Restrictions