fy15ari comp-nofo faqs-20150608.pdf

FAQ update: 08 June 2015

US. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Frequently Asked Questions Domestic Nuclear Detection Office

Academic Research Initiative Program Notice of Funding Opportunity - DHS-15-DNDO-

077-001

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Domestic Nuclear Detection Office has received questions related to the Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcement (NOFO), Solicitation No.

DHS-15-DN-077-001. The answers provided are based on information published in the above referenced NOFO and are intended to apply to all interested applicants. The identity of the institution that has submitted the question(s) will remain anonymous. The questions may have been edited for clarification. These FAQs will be updated periodically throughout the opening period of the Solicitation. Please continue to submit your questions to dndo.ari@hq.dhs.gov.

General Questions

1. Question 1: Can a National Laboratory, Federal Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), or industry partner as a sub-recipient (sub-contractor)?

Answer 1: Yes. However, the Budget Justification must include sufficient details on the roles and responsibilities of the partner (e.g., Lab, FFRDC, industry) as a sub-recipient. Also, in some instances, there may be an Organizational Conflict of Interest if the sub-recipient is working with DNDO on this NOFO evaluation. Proposers should raise this issue with potential partners.

2. Question 2: From the NOFO, should the Cover Sheet and Quad Chart be attached as separate files? What about Project Summary? Should we combine it with Project Description, Proposed Research and so on into one single file or submit it also as a separate attachment?

Answer 2: In one file, you will be submitting the sections in the following order: Cover Sheet;

Quad Chart; Project Summary; Project Description; Proposed research; followed by the remaining sections listed in pages 10-11 of the posted NOFO.

3. Question 3: Do we budget the $300k for a single year or $300k for 60 month period of performance?

Answer 3: Please see the section (page 14) on the funding restriction that reads:

8-10 small to medium awards in FY 2015. The requested budget for small to medium awards should adhere to the following:

• Single Investigator Awards will average approximately $150,000 per year

• Multi-disciplinary Awards will average approximately $350,000 per year for a duration up to five years. For the purposes of this announcement multi-disciplinary means two or more investigators from substantially different disciplines, departments or organizations within a single university or from multiple universities.

4. Question 4: In preparing the proposal for the said priority and/or topic, do we need to include cost estimates of device and is there any expectation for additional capability (e.g., spectroscopic or directional response or other capability)?

mailto:dndo.ari@hq.dhs.gov

Answer 4: The cost estimate should include all direct costs required to complete the proposed research scope of work. These costs will typically include labor, materials and supplies, and travel. They should also include indirect costs such as university overhead.

There is no expectation for the additional capabilities not named in the proposal. The scope of work should be complete and include all proposed capabilities.

5. Question 5: I am a current ARI grant PI and was requested as Co-PI for your current FY 2015 NOFO. The NOFO mentions you can only be listed on one (1) proposal for this solicitation, and I wanted to make sure if that is interpreted as “this year’s solicitation” (then eligible), or if it refers to the “overall ARI program”?

Answer 5: For clarification, “this solicitation” refers to this year’s solicitation, in which you would be eligible to participate.

6. Question 6: Regarding, the ARI NOFO, personnel cannot participate on more than one submittal “for which financial remuneration is requested.” Can a PI submit a proposal (request for funding) and participate on a separate proposal without asking for renumeration? Is that allowed?

Answer 6: The limitation states that an individual researcher may not be named as a participant on more than one proposal submitted to this Solicitation. A participant is defined as a PI, co-PI, senior researcher, consultant, or any other role for which financial remuneration is requested. An unsupported participant should not be given a formal role in a proposed research effort. Therefore, the answer to the question is no, a PI cannot submit a proposal and also actively participate on another proposal by not asking for remuneration.

7. Question 7: The Notice of Funding Opportunity for the current ARI suggests that the average single-investigator award is $150,000. Is this number based on total direct costs, or does it include indirect costs as well?

Answer 6: This number represents the total cost of the DHS grant per year. The performer should be aware of their institution's indirect cost model and plan accordingly.

8. Question 8: Under the section “Priorities” (page 1-3) you list a total of 5 priority “challenges” topics (“The research topics in this announcement will address each of the following challenges list below.”..), but it also stated “The solicitation research topics are listed in Appendix A,” and in Appendix A only 4 RTAs are listed, which are not quite the same as the 5 “priority challenge” topics.

Which set are the topics of interests for this Solicitation? For example the first “priority challenge topic” is “Cost effective equipment with sufficient performance to ensure wide spread deployment” which listed low cost detection material (either lower the cost of the 3% energy resolution material, or improve resolution of 7% resolution material) as an area of particular interest, but this is not mentioned in the RTAs in Appendix A.

Answer 8: Please focus your proposal on satisfying one or more of the 4 RTA’s listed in the NOFO Appendix A. As stated in the NOFO, these RTA’s do address the five challenges listed.

That is, the challenges are broad in nature and the RTA’s serve to focus them in specific research areas. There is not a strict one-to-one mapping, as an RTA may span multiple challenges.

9. Question 9: What is the award restriction on students that are non-U.S. citizens?

Answer 9: Students supported under this project are classified as trainees and must be citizens or permanent residents of the U.S., its territories or its possessions.