N3943018S2067_AppendixA_ProposalSubEvalGuide.pdf

Living

Marine Resources

Program

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

AND EVALUATION GUIDE

July 2018

Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (SOST) Need Topic

Proposal Submission and Evaluation Guide

1 Introduction

The Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (SOST), which is a partnership between the Office of Naval Research, Chief of Naval Operations N45, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Marine Mammal Commission, is interested in funding research pertaining to the development of audiograms for mysticetes. The Living Marine Resources (LMR) program, at the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, is leading the solicitation process and is requesting pre-proposals for this topic. If invited, offerors will be asked to submit a full proposal. Pre-proposals and full proposals will be shared with SOST representatives from each of the Federal agencies/entities listed above, in order for them to provide input to the LMR program on funding selections. Additionally, pre-proposals and full proposals evaluated through this BAA may be used to execute contracts directly with the other Federal agencies/entities, separate from the LMR program.

2 Pre-Proposals

What Is a Pre-proposal?

The official Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) solicitation is posted on Navy Electronic Commerce Online (https://www.neco.navy.mil) and on Federal Business Opportunities (http://www.fbo.gov) and provides details on the specific need topic.

All qualified applicants interested in responding to the BAA solicitation are required to submit a pre-proposal. Pre-proposals allow for the quick evaluation of the technical merit, appropriateness, feasibility, and overall budget of the proposed project. After the evaluation of the pre-proposals, each author will be notified via email of the results. If the LMR Program is interested in a pre-proposal, we will request a full proposal including a detailed plan and budget.

How Do I Submit My Pre-proposal?

There is no specific format required for the pre-proposal, however, the pre-proposal should be consolidated into one single file and should not exceed 10 pages in length. The required information that should be contained in the pre-proposal submission is specified below. All pre-proposals should be submitted via email to exwc_lmr_program@navy.mil. The LMR program is accepting pre-proposals for this topic until 31 August 2018. All pre-proposal submissions must be received before the deadline.

What Information Is Required In a Pre-proposal?

1. Your Contact Information Name, Phone, and Email

2. Organization Information Organization Type, Name, and Address

3. Project Title Provide the title of your proposed project.

4. Cost Estimate (by Calendar Year) Provide total costs estimated to execute the project to completion broken out by calendar year

(January-December).

In addition to any other relevant travel required for the project, please include a trip (3 days) for the

PI to attend the In-Progress Review (IPR) meeting each year (fall) in Port Hueneme, CA to present on the progress of the project.

Assume that effort will begin in September 2019 due to the time it takes to get a contract in place.

For Year 1 (September-December 2019) of the project your cost estimate should only include labor/travel costs associated with the LMR In-Progress Review. The actual project effort would begin in Year 2 and beyond.

5. Technical Approach Describe the proposed project and any relevant supporting background information.

Clearly state how the proposed project addresses the BAA need topic.

If applicable, discuss the demonstration and validation phase of the research effort.

Provide supporting information that the approach or technology is mature enough for applied research funding (include any references). If the proposed project includes basic research elements, clearly break out the basic vs. applied aspects of the project.

Describe performance criteria to measure success of the research effort.

Discuss any aspects of the project that include leveraged funding from other programs.

Describe the potential limitations or technical risks that may pose a challenge to the success of the project.

6. Offeror’s Related Experience Provide evidence/examples the offeror has experience related to the solution being proposed.

7. Principal Investigator's and Key Team Member's Related Experience Provide in a table, the names, highest degree, organization/affiliations, location, and years of experience for each Principal Investigator (PI) and key team member.

8. Project Benefits Describe the expected benefits of the proposed project to the SOST partners and the key issues it addresses in the BAA need topic.

Describe the potential application of the results from the project.

Discuss the advantages of the proposed project over current approaches (technology, methods, costs, etc.).

9. Product Implementation

a) Products and Deliverables:

Describe the intended product(s) and all associated deliverables.

b) Implementation Requirements:

Identify the intended end user of the product (i.e. environmental compliance community [MMPA, ESA, NEPA, etc.], general scientific community, etc.).

Describe the planned method by which the product will be transitioned to end users (i.e publication, technology, method, etc.).

Specify how implementation methods may differ to reach appropriate audiences (i.e. federal entities, regulators, scientific community, etc.) and any restrictions that may apply (i.e. permits, patents, proprietary technology or data, existing agreements, etc.).

Describe any proposed guidance documentation that will assist in future implementation.

c) Technical Risks:

Describe the potential technical risks that may pose a challenge to successful implementation of the product(s).

What Happens After I Submit My Pre-proposal?

Once your pre-proposal is submitted, the following actions occur:

1. You will receive a confirmation email.

2. After the pre-proposal submission deadline, the LMR program manager notifies representatives of the

SOST, and any applicable Technical Review Committee (TRC) members, to evaluate your pre-proposal. SOST representatives and any assigned TRC members submit their evaluations. The evaluation criteria used is standardized and is described in detail below.

3. The LMR program manager schedules a final evaluation meeting with all SOST representatives. This meeting leverages all evaluations submitted on your pre-proposal to arrive at a final evaluation.

4. Final pre-proposal evaluations are typically completed within 2 months and you will be notified of the results via e-mail.

5. Authors of successful pre-proposals are then invited to submit full proposals which provide more detailed information. The full proposal process is described in detail in Section 3.

How is my Pre-proposal Evaluated?

The LMR program uses the following five criteria for each SOST representative (and any applicable TRC member) to evaluate a pre-proposal:

1. Does the proposal adequately address the BAA need topic?

2. Do the qualifications, capabilities, and experience of the offeror, principal investigator, and key team members meet the requirements for achieving the proposal’s objectives?

3. Are the costs relative to the proposal’s approach reasonable?

4. What is the anticipated benefit of the project to the SOST?

5. How feasible is it to implement the products/results of the project?

Each SOST representative is asked to provide a description of the strengths and weaknesses pertaining to these five criteria. Then the following overall disposition is given:

Provide a Disposition:

-Request a Full Proposal -Do NOT Request a Full Proposal

Once all evaluations are complete, the SOST representative discuss the results and rank the pre-proposals that were given a disposition of “Request a Full Proposal” in order of preference based on strengths and weaknesses. The SOST then determines the number of full proposals that should be requested based on the available budget and associated costs estimated in the top pre-proposals.

Authors of successful pre-proposals are then invited to submit full proposals.

3 Full Proposals

What Is a Full Proposal?

A full proposal is a more detailed version of the pre-proposal, including additional items such as project tasks, milestones, and a detailed budget. In addition, the full proposal gives the offeror the opportunity to address comments received from the SOST representatives on their pre-proposal.

How Do I Submit My Full Proposal?

Successful pre-proposal offerors will receive an email with additional instructions on how to submit a full proposal. Once invited, the offeror has a specified number of days to submit a full proposal via email. All full-proposal submissions must be received before the deadline specified.

What Additional Information Is Required In a Full Proposal?

All word limits have been removed for the full proposal submission process, so necessary information can be added if necessary. The full proposal form contains all of the same information as the pre-proposal form, along with some additional requirements. However, because it is a separate form, all information from the pre-proposal form will need to be cut and pasted into the full proposal form. Below is a description of each section and what changes may be applicable or required:

1. Your Contact Information

Update as needed.

2. Organization Information

3. Project Title

4. Cost Estimate This section includes additional required information.

If applicable, revise your pre-proposal cost estimate based on any changes to the proposed project or feedback/questions from the SOST representatives on the pre-proposal.

Provide a breakdown of the project costs by quarter for each applicable year. If your effort is assumed to be constant, then just evenly distribute the costs amongst the quarters. However, if your project includes field tests or other spikes in effort at particular points in the project, please do your best to estimate which quarters that will occur in.

Submit (as an email attachment) a spreadsheet with details regarding the financials of the project.

It is not a requirement to use the financial template provided, but you do have to provide all of the information requested in the template.

Provide contact information for your financial POC.

5. Technical Approach

If applicable, revise information based on any changes to the proposed project or feedback/questions from the SOST representatives on the pre-proposal.

6. Offeror’s Related Experience If applicable, revise information based on any changes to the proposed project or feedback/questions from the SOST representatives on the pre-proposal.

7. EMR/DART

This section includes additional required information m.

For private (non-government) offerors, provide your Experience Modification Rate (EMR) and

Days Away, Restricted and Transferred (DART) rate. If a private offeror does not have an EMR/DART rating, explain why. This field does not apply to government offerors.

8. Principal Investigator’s and Key Team Member’s Related Experience

If applicable, revise information based on any changes to the proposed project or feedback/questions from the SOST representatives on the pre-proposal.

Submit (as an email attachment) the Curriculum Vitaes (CVs) or a short biography for each team member listed.

9. Project Benefits

10. Schedule/Milestones

Provide the overall proposed project start and completion date.

Provide a detailed task/milestone (e.g. significant stage of development/progress, field tests/studies, deliverables, and publications) breakdown for the entire project with proposed dates.

11. Product Implementation

12. Supporting Files

Submit (as an email attachment) any additional supporting files (e.g. figures, tables) as appropriate. Please note that the size of the entire email should be limited to a total of 15 MB or less.

How is my Full Proposal Evaluated?

The LMR program uses the same five criteria outlined for a pre-proposal to evaluate a full proposal. The only exception is that the following additional criterion is used for non-government submissions:

Did the Offeror provide acceptable EMR/DART ratings or a valid reason why they were not provided (non-government submissions only)?

-Yes -No

Each SOST representative is asked to provide a description of the strengths and weaknesses pertaining to these six criteria. Then the following overall disposition is given:

Provide a Disposition:

-Recommend Funding the Effort -Do NOT Recommend Funding the Effort -On Hold

Once all evaluations are complete, the SOST representatives discuss the results and rank the full proposals that were given a disposition of “Recommend Funding the Effort” in order of preference based on strengths and weaknesses. The SOST then determine the number of full proposals that should be funded based on the available budget and associated costs estimated in the top full proposals. Authors of successful full proposals are notified via email.