HR001119S0075.pdf

HR001119S0075 POLYPLEXUS PILOT 3 1

Broad Agency Announcement Polyplexus Pilot 3

Defense Sciences Office

HR001119S0075

July 3, 2019

HR001119S0075 POLYPLEXUS PILOT 3 2

Table of Contents I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Introduction B. Background C. Program Description/Scope D. Program Structure E. Technical Area Descriptions F. Schedule/Milestones G. Deliverables H. Government-furnished Property/Equipment/Information I. Other Program Objectives and Considerations

II. Award Information A. General Award Information B. Fundamental Research

III. Eligibility Information A. Eligible Applicants B. Organizational Conflicts of Interest C. Cost Sharing/Matching

IV. Application and Submission Information A. Address to Request Application Package B. Content and Form of Application Submission C. Submission Dates and Times D. Funding Restrictions E. Other Submission Requirements

V. Application Review Information A. Evaluation Criteria B. Review and Selection Process C. Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information (FAPIIS)

VI. Award Administration Information A. Selection Notices B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements C. Reporting

VII. Agency Contacts VIII. Other Information

A. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) B. Proposers Day

BAA Attachments:

Attachment A: ABSTRACT SUMMARY SLIDE TEMPLATE Attachment B: ABSTRACT TEMPLATE Attachment C: PROPOSAL SUMMARY SLIDE TEMPLATE Attachment D: PROPOSAL TEMPLATE VOLUME 1 TECHNICAL & MANAGEMENT VOLUME Attachment E: PROPOSAL TEMPLATE VOLUME 2 COST VOLUME Attachment F: COST PROPOSAL TEMPLATE Attachment G: PROPOSAL TEMPLATE VOLUME 3 ADMINISTRATIVE & NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS VOLUME

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PART I: OVERVIEW INFORMATION

Federal Agency Name: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Defense Sciences Office (DSO)

Funding Opportunity Title: Polyplexus Pilot 3

Announcement Type: Initial Announcement

Funding Opportunity Number: HR001119S0075

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 12.910 Research and Technology Development

Dates (All times listed herein are Eastern Time.)

o Posting Date: July 3, 2019 o Proposers Day: July 17, 2019. See Section VIII.C.

o Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notices will be released on http://fbo.gov o FAQ Submission Deadline: June 22, 2020, 4:00 p.m. See Section VIII.A.

o BAA Close Date: July 2, 2020

Anticipated Individual Awards: Approximately 20 awards at the estimated $100,000 level are anticipated throughout the duration of this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA); however, the level of funding for individual awards has not been predetermined and will depend on the scope and quality of the proposals received, as well as the availability of funds. Individual Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notices may provide additional guidance on award levels. See Section II for further information.

Types of Instruments that May be Awarded: Procurement contracts, grants, cooperative agreements or other transactions. Individual Polyplexus Pilot 3 Opportunity Notices may provide additional guidance on types of instruments that may be awarded.

Agency contacts o Technical POC: Bart Russell, Program Manager, DARPA/DSO o BAA Email: PolyplexusPilot@darpa.mil o BAA Mailing Address:

DARPA/DSO

ATTN: HR001119S0075

675 North Randolph Street Arlington, VA 22203-2114 o DARPA/DSO Opportunities Website: http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): FAQs for this Broad Agency Announcement may be viewed on the DARPA/DSO Opportunities Website. FAQs for specific Polyplexus Pilot 3 Topic Opportunities posted as incubators on https://polyplexus.com/will be located in the Q&A function within the appropriate incubator. See Section VIII.A for further information.

http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities?tFilter=&oFilter=2&sort=name http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities?tFilter=&oFilter=2&sort=name https://polyplexus.com/

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PART II: FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) constitutes as a public notice of a competitive funding opportunity as described in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.102(d)(2) and

35.016 as well as 2 C.F.R. § 200.203. Any resultant negotiations and/or awards will follow all laws and regulations applicable to the specific award instrument(s) available under this BAA, e.g., FAR 15.4 for procurement contracts.

A. Introduction The Defense Sciences Office (DSO) at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking participants for a pilot program designed to utilize modern connectivity to rapidly develop promising basic research pathways leading to basic research proposals. DSO’s intent is to fund research proposals resulting from this pilot program. As with other recent DARPA/DSO opportunity announcements, the goal of this program is to deliver research proposals that seek to investigate innovative approaches to enable revolutionary advances in science, devices, or systems. In particular, this announcement is intended to support the DSO mission to anticipate scientific surprise.

Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.

B. Background Polyplexus is a forum for the scientific community to interact with sponsors (e.g., DARPA program managers) in order to develop solicitations in any technical domain that lead to, for example, the opportunity to propose research projects. The core premise of the Gamification for the Search for Strategic Surprise (GS3) program is that it is possible to use freedom of expression combined with modern communication technology and modalities to further accelerate the pace of research and development. The Polyplexus online platform is the core capability under development in the GS3 program. Specifically the Polyplexus platform is intended as a tool for sponsors to initially express a general scientific area of interest, and then engage with the technical research and development community through a constructive online conversation. The purpose of the structured conversation is to enable the research sponsor to guide the exploration, vetting, and refinement of a technical area of interest. The result of the conversation is then used for constructive activities such as soliciting performers to execute funded research on that topic. This BAA, Polyplexus Pilot 3, is a continuation of the Polyplexus platform pilot test.

As an inducement to participate on a platform that is not fully mature, DARPA is making research funding available (up to approximately 20 awards at an estimated $100,000 each) for ideas and concepts of scientific merit that may emerge from the online conversation. DARPA anticipates funding awards at any time throughout the period of this opportunity (See Part I:

Overview Information for due dates).

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Note that submission of abstracts and proposals is not mandatory to participate in the Polyplexus platform. Researchers who desire to participate due to curiosity; the desire to learn, teach, or explore; or any other constructive reason are encouraged to do so. Exposing researchers to information outside of their area(s) of expertise to gain the benefits of idea cross-pollenation is one of the project’s side benefits.

C. Program Description/Scope

The following bullets provide additional information on the Polyplexus platform, but the best way to understand the Polyplexus platform is to sign up on the www.polyplexus.com website and explore the capabilities.

Incubators – The central function of Polyplexus is the online incubator. Incubators are public, structured, online conversations between the broader research community and research sponsors, which are DARPA Program Managers under this BAA. The purpose of the online conversation is to start with a general area of scientific or technical interest and then refine the topic to the point that it can be used to solicit research proposals. The sponsor sides of the conversation are the initial and updated areas of technical interest.

The research community provides topic input via microPublications (Pubs) and topic-specific questions, both of which are submitted through the Polyplexus platform. The Program Manager contributes to the conversation by promoting or demoting the suggested Pubs and also by providing initial and updated guidance on the incubator area of interest. At the conclusion of the conversation the area of interest guidance is frozen.

At this point DARPA solicits interested researchers to submit abstracts and subsequently proposals in response to the frozen area of interest, but DARPA may provide alternative post-conversation instructions within the individual Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice (see “Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity” bullet below).

Evidence Collection – A piece of scientific evidence, or an Evidence Pub as it is called on Polyplexus, is derived from primary, public, published sources such as journal articles and books, but can also be created from articles in preprint archives. Participants are expected to submit at least 10 Evidence Pubs and to perform short reviews of evidence generated by others for the collective benefit of the online community. Of particular interest are Evidence Pubs from the participants’ own research papers or papers they have read. Specific instructions regarding the source, formatting, citation, and the input procedure for Evidence Pubs are presented on the platform. Each individual piece of evidence or evidence review should take only a few minutes to complete. All Evidence Pubs are public information and are available to all other participants. Evidence Pubs enable participants to efficiently share and promote interesting research results.

Conjecture Generation – A Conjecture Pub links two Evidence Pubs with an idea, a possible relationship, or a question. Specific instructions for authoring conjectures is included on the platform. All of the content generated during this analysis phase is available to all other participants. Participants are expected to submit at least 3 Conjecture Pubs and to perform short reviews of conjectures generated by others for the collective benefit of the online community. Conjecture Pubs enable participants to

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contribute a reasoned potential connection between existing Evidence Pubs and therefore create connections across disciplines.

Reviews – A fundamental part of the Polyplexus process is community review of Pubs before their release into the library. All participants are expected to regularly participate in Pub reviews, which serve two primary purposes within Polyplexus. First, they help maintain communication quality and professionalism. Second, reviews serve to broaden the scope of information and ideas to which each participant, in this case the reviewer, is exposed. The online review process is structured so that reviews may be completed in less than 1-2 minutes and reviewers need not possess deep expertise on the technical topics discussed in the Pub since the review emphasis is on the quality and professionalism of the information presentation. Reviewers are not expected to verify the technical accuracy of the Pubs, but they are free to do so if they choose and are encouraged to do so if they intend to rely upon the Pub as support for a proposal or similar activity.

Portfolio Development – All Polyplexus platform participants have access to the Evidence and Conjecture Pub library. The portfolio tool is provided so a participant, or a team of participants, can develop research ideas more fully by collecting Pubs and their own thoughts and ideas at a central location. The collection can then be exported, including supporting reference citations, for the personal use of the participant. Specific instructions about how portfolios are structured are included on the platform. Portfolios may be private or shared with a small team.

The following bullets provide additional information on how the DARPA research solicitation and award process is linked to activities on the Polyplexus platform.

Participant Eligibility and Registration – Pilot participation is open to all eligible participants who want to engage in this online platform. Interested participants should register at www.polyplexus.com. Registration information will not be made public without the consent of the individual participant subject to U.S. law. DARPA has no intention of using the registration list for any purpose other than access to the Polyplexus platform. Users will be required to agree to the terms of the Polyplexus User Agreement in order to log into the Polyplexus website and participate in Polyplexus platform activities.

Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity: Abstracts and Proposals for research opportunities can be submitted against a Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice. Each Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice will be posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) portal (https://www.fbo.gov) and will (1) identify specific details regarding the research topic of interest and (2) provide proposal content and submission instructions in addition to those outlined in this BAA, including the due date for abstract and proposal submissions. Abstracts and proposals must only be submitted in response to an active Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice. Abstracts or proposals submitted in response to this BAA without an active, corresponding Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice will be considered non-conforming and will not be evaluated.

http://www.polyplexus.com/

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Abstract Submission – If the participant wants to compete for research funding in response to a final Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice description in an incubator, then an abstract may be submitted to DARPA for review. See Section IV for instructions on abstract preparation and an explanation of the abstract review process. DARPA will provide a response that encourages or discourages the submission of a full proposal based upon the information in the abstract. Abstracts must only be submitted in response to an active Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice posted on FBO.

Proposal Submission – In order to receive research funding, a participant must submit a formal proposal. See Section IV for instructions on proposal preparation and submission.

A participant may submit a proposal regardless of the feedback from the abstract phase and regardless of whether or not they submitted an abstract. Proposals must only be submitted in response to an active Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice posted on

FBO.

Fundamental Research Award – The overall goal of this process is to generate new ideas that are worthy of a DARPA award for fundamental research.

The level of funding for individual awards made under this solicitation has not been predetermined and will depend on the scope and quality of the proposals received, as well as the availability of funds. However, DARPA anticipates that the estimated award value will be approximately at the $100,000 level. See Section II for further information.

This process may be modified to suit the goals and objectives of a particular Polyplexus Incubator. Process variations, including but not limited to award size, award instrument, and proposal preparation and documentation requirements, will be described in the particular Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice posted on FBO.

DARPA may elect to use the Polyplexus platform for other purposes, such as general information requests or online workshops. These uses will also be announced through a Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice.

D. Program Structure Unless otherwise specified in the Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice, research proposals submitted against a Polyplexus Pilot Opportunity Notice should be single phase, and no more than 12 months in duration. Abstracts and proposals must be submitted only to an active Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity. (See Part I.C for additional details)

E. Technical Area Descriptions The technical scope of this BAA is limited to fundamental research. See “Fundamental Research” paragraph below. The purpose of this exercise is to efficiently find new opportunities for the generation of new scientific knowledge and then to pursue some of those opportunities.

For the purposes of this BAA, the definition of fundamental research is taken to be systematic

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study directed toward greater knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena and of observable facts. Linking the knowledge and understanding to specific applications, processes, or products is not required, but may help move the conversation forward.

Additional information on the technical areas of interest will be provided within the Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notices and the corresponding Polyplexus incubators. The general topic of each incubator will be announced via Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice. More specific definition of the area of interest will be developed within each individual incubator.

F. Schedule/Milestones The task structure must be consistent across the proposed schedule, Statement of Work, and cost volume. For budget planning purposes proposers should assume a target start date of the first first day of the month occurring six full months from the proposal due date.

Regular teleconference meetings will be scheduled with the Government team for progress reporting as well as problems identification and mitigation. Proposers should also anticipate at least one site visit per phase by the DARPA Program Manager during which they will have the opportunity to demonstrate progress towards agreed-upon milestones.

G. Deliverables Performers, i.e. recipients of awards issued as the result of a research proposal submitted in response to a Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice unless otherwise specified in the Opportunity Notice, will be expected to provide, at a minimum, the following deliverables:

Comprehensive quarterly technical reports due within ten days of the end of the given quarter, describing progress made on the specific milestones as laid out in the Statement of Work (SOW) (only applicable for non-grant awards).

Other negotiated deliverables specific to the objectives of the individual efforts. These may include registered reports, experimental protocols, publications, intermediate and final versions of software libraries, code, and APIs (application programming interface), including documentation and user manuals, and/or a comprehensive assemblage of design documents, models, modeling data and results, and model validation data.

Reporting as outlined in Section VI.C.

H. Government-furnished Property/Equipment/Information No Government-furnished property, equipment, or information will be provided other than access to the Polyplexus platform.

I. Other Program Objectives and Considerations

1. Collaboration

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The Polyplexus platform is inherently collaborative. All Evidence and Conjecture Pubs are shared among all participants for mutual benefit.

2. Intellectual Property A patent or other public document which contains intellectual property is an acceptable basis and citation for an Evidence Pub. See Section VI.B.4 for information related to protection of proprietary intellectual property.

II. Award Information A. General Award Information

DARPA anticipates multiple awards.

The level of funding for individual awards made under each Polyplexus Pilot 3 Topic Opportunity Notice posted under this BAA will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. Awards will be made to proposers1 whose proposals are determined to be the most advantageous to the Government, all evaluation factors considered. See Section V for further information.

The Government reserves the right to:

select for negotiation all, some, one, or none of the proposals received in response to a solicitation;

make awards without discussions with proposers;

conduct discussions with proposers if it is later determined to be necessary;

segregate portions of resulting awards into pre-priced options;

accept proposals in their entirety or to select only portions of proposals for award;

fund awards in increments with options for continued work at the end of one or more phases;

request additional documentation once the award instrument has been determined (e.g., representations and certifications); and remove proposers from award consideration should the parties fail to reach agreement on award terms within a reasonable time or the proposer fails to provide requested additional information in a timely manner.

Proposals identified for negotiation may result in a procurement contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or other transaction (OT), depending upon the nature of the work proposed, the required degree of interaction between parties, and other factors. Alternative procurement approaches, such as purchase orders, may be utilized if appropriate to the proposed effort. If

1 As used throughout this BAA, “proposer” refers to the lead organization on a submission to this BAA. The proposer is responsible for ensuring that all information required by a BAA--from all team members--is submitted in accordance with the BAA. “Awardee” refers to anyone who might receive a prime award from the Government, including recipients of procurement contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or Other Transactions. “Subawardee” refers to anyone who might receive a subaward from a prime awardee (e.g., subawardee, consultant, etc.).

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available, the availability of alternative procurement approaches will be announced in the specific Polyplexus Pilot Opportunity Notice.

Proposers looking for innovative, commercial-like contractual arrangements are encouraged to consider requesting Other Transactions. To understand the flexibility and options associated with Other Transactions, consult http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/contract-management#OtherTransactions.

In accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 2371b(f), the Government may award a follow-on production contract or Other Transaction (OT) for any OT awarded under this BAA if: (1) that participant in the OT, or a recognized successor in interest to the OT, successfully completed the entire prototype project provided for in the OT, as modified; and (2) the OT provides for the award of a follow-on production contract or OT to the participant, or a recognized successor in interest to the OT.

In all cases, the Government contracting officer shall have sole discretion to select award instrument type, regardless of instrument type proposed, and to negotiate all instrument terms and conditions with selectees. DARPA will apply publication or other restrictions, as necessary, if it determines that the research resulting from the proposed effort will present a high likelihood of disclosing performance characteristics of military systems or manufacturing technologies that are unique and critical to defense. Any award resulting from such a determination will include a requirement for DARPA permission before publishing any information or results on the program. For more information on publication restrictions, see the section below on Fundamental Research.

B. Fundamental Research

It is DoD policy that the publication of products of fundamental research will remain unrestricted to the maximum extent possible. National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 189 defines fundamental research as follows:

‘Fundamental research’ means basic and applied research in science and engineering, the results of which ordinarily are published and shared broadly within the scientific community, as distinguished from proprietary research and from industrial development, design, production, and product utilization, the results of which ordinarily are restricted for proprietary or national security reasons.

As of the date of publication of this BAA, the Government expects that program goals as described herein may be met by proposers intending to perform fundamental research and does not anticipate applying publication restrictions of any kind to individual awards for fundamental research that may result from this BAA. Notwithstanding this statement of expectation, the Government is not prohibited from considering and selecting research proposals that, while perhaps not qualifying as fundamental research under the foregoing definition, still meet the BAA criteria for submissions. If proposals are selected for award that offer other than a fundamental research solution, the Government will either work with the proposer to modify the proposed statement of work to bring the research back into line with fundamental research or else the proposer will agree to restrictions in order to receive an award.

http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/contract-management#OtherTransactions http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/contract-management#OtherTransactions

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Proposers should indicate in their proposal whether they believe the scope of the research included in their proposal is fundamental or not. While proposers should clearly explain the intended results of their research, the Government shall have sole discretion to determine whether the proposed research shall be considered fundamental and to select the award instrument type. Appropriate language will be included in resultant awards for non-fundamental research to prescribe publication requirements and other restrictions, as appropriate. This language can be found at http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/additional-baa.

For certain research projects, it may be possible that although the research to be performed by a potential awardee is non-fundamental research, its proposed subawardee’s effort may be fundamental research. It is also possible that the research performed by a potential awardee is fundamental research while its proposed subawardee’s effort may be non-fundamental research.

In all cases, it is the potential awardee’s responsibility to explain in its proposal which proposed efforts are fundamental research and why the proposed efforts should be considered fundamental research.

III. Eligibility Information A. Eligible Applicants

All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal DARPA’s consideration.

1. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and Government Entities

a. FFRDCs

FFRDCs are subject to applicable direct competition limitations and cannot propose to this BAA in any capacity unless they meet the following conditions. (1) FFRDCs must clearly demonstrate that the proposed work is not otherwise available from the private sector. (2) FFRDCs must provide a letter, on official letterhead from their sponsoring organization, that (a) cites the specific authority establishing their eligibility to propose to Government solicitations and compete with industry, and (b) certifies the FFRDC’s compliance with the associated FFRDC sponsor agreement’s terms and conditions. These conditions are a requirement for FFRDCs proposing to be awardees or subawardees.

b. Government Entities

Government Entities (e.g., Government/National laboratories, military educational institutions, etc.) are subject to applicable direct competition limitations. Government entities must clearly demonstrate that the work is not otherwise available from the private sector and provide written documentation citing the specific statutory authority and contractual authority, if relevant, establishing their ability to propose to Government solicitations and compete with industry. This information is required for Government Entities proposing to be awardees or subawardees.

http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/additional-baa

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c. Authority and Eligibility

At the present time, DARPA does not consider 15 U.S.C. § 3710a to be sufficient legal authority to show eligibility. While 10 U.S.C.§ 2539b may be the appropriate statutory starting point for some entities, specific supporting regulatory guidance, together with evidence of agency approval, will still be required to fully establish eligibility. DARPA will consider FFRDC and Government Entity eligibility submissions on a case-by-case basis; however, the burden to prove eligibility for all team members rests solely with the proposer.

2. Foreign Participation Non-U.S. organizations and/or individuals may participate to the extent that such participants comply with any necessary nondisclosure agreements, security regulations, export control laws, and other governing statutes applicable under the circumstances. For classified submissions, this includes mitigating any Foreign Ownership Control and Influence (FOCI) issues prior to transmitting the submission to DARPA. Additional information on these subjects can be found at http://www.dss.mil/isp/foci/foci_faqs.html.

B. Organizational Conflicts of Interest

FAR 9.5 Requirements In accordance with FAR 9.5, proposers are required to identify and disclose all facts relevant to potential OCIs involving the proposer’s organization and any proposed team member (subawardee, consultant). Under this Section, the proposer is responsible for providing this disclosure with each proposal submitted to the BAA. The disclosure must include the proposer’s, and as applicable, proposed team member’s OCI mitigation plan. The OCI mitigation plan must include a description of the actions the proposer has taken, or intends to take, to prevent the existence of conflicting roles that might bias the proposer’s judgment and to prevent the proposer from having unfair competitive advantage. The OCI mitigation plan will specifically discuss the disclosed OCI in the context of each of the OCI limitations outlined in FAR 9.505-1 through

FAR 9.505-4.

Agency Supplemental OCI Policy In addition, DARPA has a supplemental OCI policy that prohibits contractors/performers from concurrently providing Scientific Engineering Technical Assistance (SETA), Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) or similar support services and being a technical performer.

Therefore, as part of the FAR 9.5 disclosure requirement above, a proposer must affirm whether the proposer or any proposed team member (subawardee, consultant) is providing SETA, A&AS, or similar support to any DARPA office(s) under: (a) a current award or subaward; or (b) a past award or subaward that ended within one calendar year prior to the proposal’s submission date.

If SETA, A&AS, or similar support is being or was provided to any DARPA office(s), the proposal must include:

The name of the DARPA office receiving the support;

The prime contract number;

http://www.dss.mil/isp/foci/foci_faqs.html

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Identification of proposed team member (subawardee, consultant) providing the support; and An OCI mitigation plan in accordance with FAR 9.5.

Government Procedures In accordance with FAR 9.503, 9.504 and 9.506, the Government will evaluate OCI mitigation plans to avoid, neutralize or mitigate potential OCI issues before award and to determine whether it is in the Government’s interest to grant a waiver. The Government will only evaluate OCI mitigation plans for proposals that are determined selectable under the BAA evaluation criteria and funding availability.

The Government may require proposers to provide additional information to assist the Government in evaluating the proposer’s OCI mitigation plan.

If the Government determines that a proposer failed to fully disclose an OCI; or failed to provide the affirmation of DARPA support as described above; or failed to reasonably provide additional information requested by the Government to assist in evaluating the proposer’s OCI mitigation plan, the Government may reject the proposal and withdraw it from consideration for award.

Include any OCIs affirmations and disclosures in Attachment G Proposal Template Vol. 3- Admin and National Policy Requirements.

C. Cost Sharing/Matching Cost sharing is not required; however, it will be carefully considered where there is an applicable statutory condition relating to the selected funding instrument (e.g., OTs under the authority of 10 U.S.C. § 2371). Cost sharing is encouraged where there is a reasonable probability of a potential commercial application related to the proposed research and development effort.

For more information on potential cost sharing requirements for Other Transactions for Prototype, see http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/contract-management#OtherTransactions.

IV. Application and Submission Information Prior to submitting a full proposal, proposers are strongly encouraged to first submit an abstract as described below. This process allows a proposer to ascertain whether the proposed concept is: (1) applicable to the Polyplexus Pilot 3 BAA and (2) currently of interest. For the purposes of this BAA, applicability is defined as follows:

The proposed concept is applicable to the final technical description presented in the incubator.

The proposed concept investigates an innovative approach that enables revolutionary advances, i.e., will not primarily result in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.

The proposed work has not already been completed (i.e., the research element is complete but manufacturing/fabrication funds are required).

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The proposer has not already received funding or a positive funding decision for the proposed concept (whether from DARPA or another Government agency).

Abstracts and full proposals that are not found to be applicable to the Polyplexus Pilot 3 BAA as defined above may be deemed non-conforming2 and removed from consideration. All abstracts and full proposals must provide sufficient information to assess the validity/feasibility of their claims as well as comply with the requirements outlined herein for submission formatting, content and transmission to DARPA. Abstracts and full proposals that fail to do so may be deemed non-conforming and removed from consideration. Proposers will be notified of non-conforming determinations via letter.

A. Address to Request Application Package This document contains all information required to submit a response to this solicitation. No additional forms, kits, or other materials are needed except as referenced herein. No request for proposal or additional solicitation regarding this opportunity will be issued, nor is additional information available except as provided at the Federal Business Opportunities website (http://www.fbo.gov), the Grants.gov website (http://www.grants.gov/), or referenced herein.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

1. Abstract Information

As stated above, proposers are strongly encouraged to submit an abstract in advance of a full proposal to minimize effort and reduce the potential expense of preparing an out of scope proposal. The abstract provides a synopsis of the proposed project by briefly answering the following questions:

What is the proposed work attempting to accomplish or do?

How is it done today, and what are the limitations?

Who will care and what will the impact be if the work is successful?

How much will it cost, and how long will it take?

DARPA will respond to abstracts with a statement as to whether DARPA is interested in the idea. If DARPA does not recommend the proposer submit a full proposal, DARPA will provide feedback to the proposer regarding the rationale for this decision. Regardless of DARPA’s response to an abstract, proposers may submit a full proposal. DARPA will review all conforming full proposals using the published evaluation criteria and without regard to any comments resulting from the review of an abstract.

Proposers should note that a favorable response to an abstract is not a guarantee that a proposal based on the abstract will ultimately be selected for award negotiation.

While it is DARPA policy to attempt to reply to abstracts within thirty calendar days, proposers

2 “Conforming” is defined as having been submitted in accordance with the requirements outlined herein.

http://www.fbo.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/

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to this solicitation may anticipate a response within approximately three weeks. These official notifications will be sent via email to the Technical POC and/or Administrative POC identified on the abstract coversheet.

Abstract Format All proposers are required to use Attachment A: Abstract Summary Slide Template and Attachment B: Abstract Template provided to this solicitation on http://www.fbo.gov and http://www.grants.gov. Attachment A Abstract Summary Slide Template described herein must be in .ppt or .pptx format and should be attached as a separate file to this document.

2. Full Proposal Information Proposals consist of Volume 1: Technical and Management Volume, Volume 2: Cost Volume, and Volume 3: Administrative and National Policy Requirements Volume).

To assist in proposal development, various attachments have been provided along with the BAA posted on http://www.fbo.gov (Attachment C: Proposal Summary Slide Template, Attachment D: Proposal Template Volume 1 Technical & Management Volume, Attachment E: Proposal Template Volume 2 Cost Volume, Attachment F: Cost Proposal Template, and Attachment G:

Proposal Template Volume 3 Administrative & National Policy Requirements Volume).

Full proposals requesting a procurement contract or other transaction (OT) must use the following attachments:

Attachment C Attachment D Attachment E Attachment F Attachment G

Full proposals requesting a grant or cooperative agreement must use the following attachments in addition to the Grants.gov application package:

Attachment C Attachment D Attachment F Attachment G *Note – Budget Justification should be provided as Section L of the SF 424 Research & Related Budget form provided via Grants.gov. The Budget Justification should include the following information for the recipient and all subawardees: (1) Direct Labor: Detail the total number of persons and their level of commitment for each position listed (in sections A and B), as well as which specific tasks (as described in the SOW) they will support.(2) Equipment (section C) Provide an explanation for listed requested equipment exceeding $5,000, properly justifying their need to meet the objectives of the program. (3) Travel (section D) Provide the purpose of the trip, number of trips, number of days per trip, departure and arrival destinations, number of people, etc. (4) Other Direct Costs (section F). Provide a justification for the items http://www.fbo.gov/

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requested and an explanation of how the estimates were obtained.

Proposals not meeting the format prescribed herein may not be reviewed.

Full Proposal Format

All proposers are required to use the templates provided as attachments to this solicitation on http://www.fbo.gov and http://www.grants.gov. Formatting instructions are provided therein.

3. Proprietary Information Proposers are responsible for clearly identifying proprietary information. Submissions containing proprietary information must have the cover page and each page containing such information clearly marked with a label such as “Proprietary” or “Company Proprietary.” NOTE:

“Confidential” is a classification marking used to control the dissemination of U.S. Government National Security Information as dictated in Executive Order 13526 and should not be used to identify proprietary business information. See Section V.B.1 for additional information.

4. Security Information DARPA anticipates that submissions received under this BAA will be unclassified. However, should a proposer wish to submit classified information, an unclassified email must be sent to the BAA mailbox requesting submission instructions from the DARPA/DSO Program Security Officer (PSO).

Security classification guidance and direction via a Security Classification Guard (SCG) and/or DD Form 254, “DoD Contract Security Classification Specification,” will not be provided at this time, since DARPA is soliciting ideas only. If a determination is made that the award instrument may result in access to classified information, a SCG and/or DD Form 254 will be issued by DARPA and attached as part of the award.

C. Submission Dates and Times Proposers are warned that submission deadlines as outlined herein are in Eastern Time and will be strictly enforced. When planning a response to a solicitation, proposers should take into account that some parts of the submission process may take from one business day to one month to complete (e.g., registering for a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number or Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)).

DARPA will acknowledge receipt of complete submissions via email and assign identifying numbers that should be used in all further correspondence regarding those submissions. If no confirmation is received within two business days, please contact the BAA Administrator at PolyplexusPilot@darpa.mil to verify receipt.

1. Abstracts Abstracts must be submitted per the instructions outlined herein and received by DARPA no later than the due date and time listed in Part I: Overview Information. Abstracts received after this time and date may not be reviewed.

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2. Full Proposals Full proposal packages--full proposal (Volume 1: Technical and Management Volume, Volume 2: Cost Volume, and Volume 3: Administrative and National Policy Requirements Volume) and, as applicable, proprietary subawardee cost proposals, classified appendices to unclassified proposals-- must be submitted per the instructions outlined herein and received by DARPA no later than the due date and time listed in Part I: Overview Information. Proposals received after this time and date may not be reviewed.

D. Funding Restrictions Not applicable.

E. Other Submission Requirements Unclassified Submission Instructions Proposers must submit all parts of their submission package using the same method; submissions cannot be sent in part by one method and in part by another method nor should duplicate submissions be sent by multiple methods. Email submissions will not be accepted. Failure to comply with the submission procedures outlined herein may result in the submission being deemed non-conforming and withdrawn from consideration.

a. Abstracts DARPA/DSO will employ an electronic upload submission system (https://baa.darpa.mil/) for all UNCLASSIFIED abstracts sent in response to a Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice.

Abstracts must not be submitted via Grants.gov.

First time users of the DARPA BAA Submission website must complete a two-step account creation process. The first step consists of registering for an extranet account by going to the URL listed above and selecting the “Account Request” link. Upon completion of the online form, proposers will receive two separate emails; one will contain a user name and the second will provide a temporary password. Once both emails have been received, the second step requires proposers to go back to the submission website and log in using that user name and password. After accessing the extranet, proposers may then create a user account for the DARPA BAA Submission website by selecting the “Register your Organization” link at the top of the page. Once the user account is created, proposers will be able to see a list of solicitations open for submissions, view submission instructions, and upload/finalize their abstract.

Proposers who already have an account on the DARPA BAA Submission website may simply log in at https://baa.darpa.mil/, select this solicitation from the list of open DARPA solicitations and proceed with their abstract submission. Note: proposers who have created a DARPA BAA Submission website account to submit to another DARPA Technical Office’s solicitations do not need to create a new account to submit to this solicitation.

All abstracts submitted electronically through the DARPA BAA Submission website must meet the following requirements: (1) uploaded as a zip file (.zip or .zipx extension); (2) only contain https://baa.darpa.mil/

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the document(s) requested herein; (3) only contain unclassified information; and (4) must not exceed 100 MB in size. Only one zip file will be accepted per abstract and abstracts not uploaded as zip files will be rejected by DARPA.

Technical support for the DARPA BAA Submission website is available during regular business hours, Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Requests for technical support must be emailed to BAAT_Support@darpa.mil with a copy to PolyplexusPilot@darpa.mil. Questions regarding submission contents, format, deadlines, etc. should be emailed to PolyplexusPilot@darpa.mil.

Questions/requests for support sent to any other email address may result in delayed/no response.

Since proposers may encounter heavy traffic on the web server, DARPA discourages waiting until the day abstracts are due to request an account and/or upload the submission.

Note: Proposers submitting an abstract via the DARPA BAA Submission site MUST (1) click the “Finalize” button in order for the submission to upload AND (2) do so with sufficient time for the upload to complete prior to the deadline. Failure to do so will result in a late submission.

b. Proposals Requesting a Procurement Contract or Other Transaction

Proposers requesting procurement contracts or other transactions may submit full proposals through ONE of the following methods: (1) electronic upload (DARPA-preferred); or (2) direct mail/hand-carry.

i. Electronic Upload

DARPA/DSO encourages proposers to submit UNCLASSIFIED proposals via the DARPA BAA Submission website at https://baa.darpa.mil/.

First time users of the DARPA BAA Submission website must complete a two-step account creation process. The first step consists of registering for an extranet account by going to the URL listed above and selecting the “Account Request” link. Upon completion of the online form, proposers will receive two separate emails; one will contain a user name and the second will provide a temporary password. Once both emails have been received, the second step requires proposers to go back to the submission website and log in using that user name and password. After accessing the extranet, proposers may then create a user account for the DARPA BAA Submission website by selecting the “Register your Organization” link at the top of the page. Once the user account is created, proposers will be able to see a list of solicitations open for submissions, view submission instructions, and upload/finalize their proposal.

Proposers who already have an account on the DARPA BAA Submission website may simply log in at https://baa.darpa.mil/, select this solicitation from the list of open DARPA solicitations and proceed with their proposal submission. Note: proposers who have created a DARPA BAA Submission website account to submit to another DARPA Technical Office’s solicitations do not need to create a new account to submit to this solicitation.

All full proposals submitted electronically through the DARPA BAA Submission website must meet the following requirements: (1) uploaded as a zip file (.zip or .zipx extension); (2) only contain the document(s) requested herein; (3) only contain unclassified information; and (4) must not exceed 100 MB in size. Only one zip file will be accepted per full proposal and full proposals mailto:BAAT_Support@darpa.mil

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not uploaded as zip files will be rejected by DARPA.

Technical support for the DARPA BAA Submission website is available during regular business hours, Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Requests for technical support must be emailed to BAAT_Support@darpa.mil with a copy to PolyplexusPilot@darpa.mil. Questions regarding submission contents, format, deadlines, etc. should be emailed to PolyplexusPilot@darpa.mil.

Questions/requests for support sent to any other email address may result in delayed/no response.

Since proposers may encounter heavy traffic on the web server, DARPA discourages waiting until the day proposals are due to request an account and/or upload the submission. Note:

Proposers submitting a proposal via the DARPA BAA Submission site MUST (1) click the “Finalize” button in order for the submission to upload AND (2) do so with sufficient time for the upload to complete prior to the deadline. Failure to do so will result in a late submission.

ii. Direct Mail/Hand-carry Proposers electing to submit procurement contract or other transaction proposals via direct mail or hand-carried must provide one paper copy and one electronic copy on CD or DVD of the full proposal package. All parts of the proposal package must be mailed or hand-carried in a single delivery to the address noted in Section VII below.

c. Proposals Requesting a Grant or Cooperative Agreement Proposers requesting grants or cooperative agreements may only submit proposals through ONE of the following methods: (1) electronic upload at Grants.gov (DARPA-preferred); or (2) direct mail/hand-carry to DARPA.

To evaluate compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 {20 U.S.C. A§ 1681 Et. Seq.), the Department of Defense is collecting certain demographic and career information to be able to assess the success rates of women who are proposed for key roles in applications in STEM disciplines. To enable this assessment, each application must include the two following forms completed as instructed: the Research and Related Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) form and the Research and Related Personal Data form. Both forms are provided with the application package in Grants.gov.

Proposers requesting grants or cooperative agreements may only submit proposals through ONE of the following methods: (1) electronic…