OER_SP_Support_PWS_draft.pdf

1 | P a g e

Performance Work Statement (PWS)

Office of Extramural Research Scientific and Program Support Services

National Institutes of Health / Office of Extramural Research

1. Introduction

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), through this acquisition, intends to award a contract to procure a wide range of program support services for the Office of Extramural Research (OER) of the NIH.

2. Background

The NIH mission is to uncover new knowledge that shall lead to better health for everyone. NIH accomplishes that mission by: conducting research in its own laboratories; supporting the research of non-Federal scientists in universities, medical schools, hospitals, and research institutions throughout the country and abroad; helping in the training of research investigators;

and fostering communication of biomedical information.

OER supports the NIH extramural research by providing policy and guidance to the 24 NIH

Institutes and Centers (IC) that award grants. OER serves as a vital interface for the biomedical research community by guiding investigators through the process of attaining grants funding and helping them understand and navigate through federal policies and procedures. OER’s mission is to provide the corporate framework for NIH research administration, ensuring scientific integrity, public accountability, and effective stewardship of the NIH extramural research portfolio.

Through interactions with major stakeholders, OER supports the research enterprise by ensuring appropriate policies, procedures and systems for oversight are in place while, at the same time, considering the impact on our research partners. Our responsibilities span a wide breadth of support systems including developing policies and procedures and providing electronic systems for extramural staff and more than 100,000 investigators worldwide. For many of these activities we provide support to other agency partners as well.

3. OER Organizational Structure and Functions:

Immediate Office of the Director (IMOD): Acts on behalf of the NIH Director to provide guidance to the research institutes on the development and management of extramural (grant, cooperative agreement, and contract) research and training programs; advises the NIH Director and staff on issues relating to extramural research activities; and oversees the protection of human subjects and the proper care and use of laboratory animals on behalf of the entire U.S. Public Health Service.

2 | P a g e

Division of Communications and Outreach (DCO): Provides a coordinated effort to disseminate OER and NIH information to external and internal customers and to reach out to those same groups to assure OER is meeting their expectations and hearing their concerns; manages major OER communication and information dissemination activities including GrantsInfo Service desk, eRA activities and OER informational websites; coordinates internal OER communications to assure that requests for information and for work product are coordinated centrally; and tracks the status of projects ongoing in OER and, when necessary, to establish temporary teams of OER and NIH employees to address efforts in specified areas that need attention.

Division of Special Programs (DSP): Provides scientific program management and oversight of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program; documents and provides guidance regarding policy development and interpretation pertaining to these programs; coordinates SBIR/STTR eligibility reviews; provides training and technical assistance for SBIR/STTR, applicants and awardees; develops and implements extramural staff training and cross training to increase staff efficiency and effectiveness; and performs science program outreach and education.

Extramural Staff Training: Provides training for extramural staff who are responsible for the administration and oversight of NIH extramural grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. The office advises on training activities for extramural staff with OER staff, NIH Institutes and Centers, and other NIH training offices and departments. In addition, the office develops learning opportunities and training programs designed to increase awareness and knowledge of NIH policies, procedures, and practices related to the administration of grants and contracts; reduce agency risk, build skills and competencies; and improve organizational effectiveness.

Division of Biomedical Research Workforce (DBRW): Provides ongoing analysis of the biomedical research workforce and evaluation of NIH policies to enable NIH to sustain and grow the biomedical research workforce at all levels to assure the most productive biomedical research endeavor and most effective use of taxpayer dollars; provides leadership and expertise on program and policy aspects of research training and research career development; oversees the implementation of and adherence to the NIH diversity policy for extramural programs.

Office of Extramural Programs (OEP): Advises the Deputy Director for Extramural Research, NIH, on matters pertaining to the development, implementation, promulgation, and management of policies and operations related to extramural research programs; provides leadership and expertise in science and special program management, including program and policy development, interpretation, coordination, oversight, evaluation, training and outreach, for the extramural research community and NIH extramural staff; conducts evaluations of programs, policies, and procedures; provides leadership and expertise on human subjects’ research issues; provides leadership in NIH Loan Repayment Program (LRP) management; implements NIH-wide service requirements and administers the National Research Service Awards (NRSA) Payback Service Center (PSC); represents the OER on numerous permanent and ad hoc NIH, Departmental, interagency, and non-governmental committees concerned with extramural program activities.

Division of Loan Repayment (DLR): Advises the Director, Office of Extramural Programs on matters pertaining to the development, implementation, promulgation, and management of the NIH extramural loan repayment programs (LRPs); handles the application process, participant

3 | P a g e servicing, and IT support activities for the Intramural LRPs; manages outreach and information dissemination activities; provides centralized system for online application and applicant databases; verifies basic eligibility (non-Scientific) and application completeness; manages LRP contracts counsels participants regarding their repayment schedule and participant obligations;

reconciles CANs by IC and LRP; obligates and manages funds with the IC Budget Offices; makes quarterly payments (approximately 12,000) directly to the loan servicers for each LRP awardee;

conducts evaluations of programs, policies, and procedures; and represents the OER on numerous permanent and ad hoc NIH, Departmental, interagency, and non-governmental committees concerned with extramural program activities.

NRSA PSC: Implements NIH-wide service agreements and administers payback requirements for National Research Service Awards.

Division of Human Subjects Research (DHSR): Provides leadership, expertise, coordination, and oversight for NIH policies related to the protection of human research participants in NIH supported grants and contracts, and extramural program management; develops and provides training for extramural staff and the public on research involving human subjects; coordinates the issuances of Certificates of Confidentiality for NIH and non-federally funded research; leads and coordinates the review of NIH grant appeals.

Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration (OPERA): Assures effective grants administration policies and procedures for the NIH extramural programs and stewardship of Federal funds; maximizes research productivity, increases public accountability, enhances administrative integrity, and monitors fiscal stewardship in research administration systems; ensures proper management of extramural resources at both the portfolio level (allocation issues), program level (strategic planning), and project level (cost analysis); promotes the proper selection and effective use of assistance mechanisms by both NIH staff and the extramural community; initiates new procedures for research administration; provides assistance to NIH extramural staff and grantee organizations regarding policies and procedures pertinent to the administration of NIH grants; as well as providing central coordination and support for grants closeout and public access reporting compliance receives and maintains all documentation relating to extramural inventions made with assistance of research grants or research and development contracts from NIH; establishes and maintains communication between NIH and awardee and applicant institutions and investigators with respect to extramural policies and procedures; conducts studies, develops plans and manages projects that extend, improve and/or maintain system capabilities to satisfy the information requirements associated with NIH extramural research; reviews for OMB clearance all application forms, proposed surveys, and questionnaires for information gathering activities conducted under research contracts to meet the requirements of the Federal Paperwork Reduction Act; and participates in Departmental and Federal-wide efforts involving grant administration policies and procedures; coordinates NIH implementation;

provides extensive policy support to eRA to automate all grants management and policy processes across the NIH enterprise.

Division of Grants Policy (DGP): Initiates new and modifies existing NIH grants administration policies and procedures; provides assistance to NIH extramural staff and grantee organizations regarding policies and procedures pertinent to the administration of NIH grants to ensure stewardship of Federal funds; provides guidance to and articulates grants management policy for NIH extramural staff on the effective utilization of extramural assistance mechanisms (grants

4 | P a g e and cooperative agreements); reviews for OMB clearance all application forms, proposed surveys, and questionnaires for information gathering activities conducted under research contracts to meet the requirements of the Federal Paperwork Reduction Act; and develops the business process and functionality for pertinent Electronic Research Administration components.

Division of Extramural Inventions and Technology Resources (DEITR): Ensures proper and complete compliance with mandated patent policies and procedures; informs grantees, contractors, and NIH staff of their responsibilities through various policy and administration manual issuances, and instructions and commentary in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts;

receives and maintains all documentation relating to extramural inventions made with the assistance of research grants or research and development contracts from NIH; promotes the proper utilization of patents and inventions in extramural programs through guidance or referral on licensing agreements and distribution of shared resources; and develops the business process and functionality for progress reporting, abstracting, research resources and other pertinent Electronic Research Administration components.

Division of Grants Compliance and Oversight (DGCO): Advises the NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research and the Director, OPERA, on the direction and management of extramural research compliance activities; develops and implements the NIH extramural research oversight program to promote grantee compliance with legislative and policy requirements; develops initiatives to encourage grantees to strengthen their stewardship of Federal funds and enhance local compliance oversight; manages internal control program to ensure that NIH grant awards are issued in compliance with applicable regulations and policies; develops, implements, and participates in educational, instructional, and outreach programs on grants compliance for grantees and NIH extramural staff; works closely with grantee institutions to address compliance issues and ensure that appropriate corrective actions are implemented; and provides guidance and consultation to grantees on and NIH extramural staff on a wide range of compliance issues.

Office of Research Information Systems (ORIS): Provides strategic, tactical oversight direction to OER, NIH, HHS and OMB; monitors all ORIS programs for cost, schedule and performance and demonstrates Earned Value Analysis; oversees ORIS internal and external communications and the coordination of internal websites; designs, develops, and maintains NIH-wide databases and enterprise applications to facilitate the reporting and analysis of information on NIH extramural programs for both internal NIH use by staff and public use; aggregates administrative records from NIH enterprise systems, integrates this information with data from other sources; provides the reporting and analysis tools to facilitate program management, portfolio analysis, decision-making, policy development, program evaluation, and public communication; automates the development of summary reports and provides search tools to facilitate access to information on NIH programs; develops, supports, and maintains scientifically defensible trans-NIH definitions; produces annual categorical spending data required by the National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006; prepares ad hoc reports that define NIH-funded projects within requested areas of science; ensures NIH transparency and accountability through data and reports to audiences within and beyond the NIH; provides data, analyses and reports to diverse stakeholder groups on NIH-supported research projects and scientific workforce to demonstrate NIH's great contributions to improving human health, and supporting a world-class, national biomedical research workforce;

ensures the quality and accuracy of NIH extramural data; and provides expert advice on minimizing data errors in IT systems.

5 | P a g e

Division of Data Quality (DDQ): Performs data monitoring and data updating to ensure that data collected on NIH activities are accurate and reliable; executes software testing and monitoring services to ensure that the systems accessing NIH project data are operating as designed; supports grant-related activities and decision making within the NIH and other federal agencies; provides accountability and transparency of NIH and other federal agencies’ data to the public.

Division of Scientific Categorization and Analysis (DSCA): Develops, supports, and maintains scientifically defensible trans-NIH definitions; produces annual categorical spending data required by the National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006; prepares ad hoc reports that define NIH-funded projects within requested areas of science; ensures consistency and transparency of scientific NIH reporting.

Division of Statistical Analysis and Reporting (DSAR): Ensures NIH transparency and accountability through data and reports to audiences within and beyond the NIH; provides data, analyses and reports to diverse stakeholder groups on NIH-supported research projects and scientific workforce to demonstrate NIH's great contributions to improving human health, and supporting a world-class, national biomedical research workforce.

Division of Data Systems (DDS): Designs, develops, and maintains NIH-wide databases and enterprise applications to facilitate the reporting and analysis of information on NIH extramural programs for both internal NIH use by staff and public use; aggregates administrative records from NIH enterprise systems, integrates this information with data from other sources. and provide the reporting and analysis tools to facilitate program management, portfolio analysis, decision-making, policy development, program evaluation, and public communication; automates the development of summary reports and provides search tools to facilitate access to information on NIH programs; and

(4) coordinates with other federal agencies and non-federal funders of biomedical research to develop trans-agency and international reporting and analysis systems.

Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW): Develops and monitors, as well as exercises compliance oversight relative to PHS policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals involved in research conducted or supported by any component of the Public Health Service; coordinates appropriate PHS regulations, policies, and procedures both within PHS and in coordination with other Departments and Agencies in the Federal Government; and establishes criteria for and negotiation of Assurances of Compliance with institutions engaged in PHS-conducted or supported research using animals; conducts programs of clarification and guidance for both the Federal and non-Federal sectors with respect to the use of animals in research; and directs the development and implementation of educational and instructional programs and generating educational resource materials; evaluates the effectiveness of PHS policies and programs for the humane care and use of laboratory animals; and serves as liaison to Presidential, Departmental, Congressional, interagency, and non-governmental Commissions and Boards established to examine issues pertaining to laboratory animal welfare in research and exercises leadership in identifying and addressing such issues.

Division of Assurances: Negotiates animal welfare Assurances of Compliance with research entities;

provides liaison, guidance, and PHS policy interpretation to research entities, investigators, Federal officials and the public; maintains existing animal welfare assurance mechanisms; and develops and implements new procedures to ensure that the PHS policy is appropriately and effectively implemented to meet the changing needs of the biomedical research community.

6 | P a g e

Division of Compliance Oversight: Conducts inquiries and investigations into alleged noncompliance with PHS animal welfare policy; prepares inquiry and investigative reports;

recommends remedial or corrective actions necessary to agency or PHS officials as appropriate; and conducts a program of oversight of awardee institution implementation of PHS animal welfare policy.

Division of Policy and Education: Develops policy clarification and guidance, coordinates development of such clarification and guidance with other agencies based on MOUs, and disseminates this information to the research community; produces and coordinates conferences focusing on animal welfare issues in PHS-funded research; promotes cooperative education and development efforts with external groups to increase training opportunities for IACUCs, research administrators, investigators, veterinarians, and other involved in research with animals; develops and implements training programs for NIH grants managements, review and program staff develops, maintains, updates and distributes educational resources; and provides assistance and guidance to institutions engaged in PHS-supported activities involving animals.

Office of Administrative Operations (OAO): Directs, coordinates, and conducts administrative management activities of the OER by providing assistance in the areas of financial management, procurement, quality assurance, and management and program analysis; advises the Deputy Director for Extramural Research on developments in administrative management and their implications and effects on program management; develops policies on administrative management and prepares and issues procedures and guidelines for implementation of administrative policies, delegations, and requirements; formulates and executes action plans in response to business and management problems or initiatives, directives, regulations, legislation or anything else that might require administrative action or have administrative implications.

Division of Administrative Services (DAS): Plans and directs administrative management functions of the Office of Administrative Operations including general administrative support, procurement, property management, office services, travel, facility management, and data calls relating to the Offices' administrative activities; advises the Deputy Director for Extramural Research and senior staff on the administrative management of OER and its offices; and develops and promulgates policies, guidelines, and procedures on matters relating to the administrative management of OER.

Division of Financial Analysis and Oversight (DFAO): Performs financial management in accordance with NIH and OD guidance and any applicable rules and regulations; formulates cost projections for all funding sources and aspects of the budget including contracts; develops detailed financial analyses and reports for OER senior management and OD; and provides administrative oversight of OER contracts.

Division of Workforce Management (DWM): Acts as liaison between OER offices and the Office of Human Resources and OD for all issues, concerns, and data calls related to OER employees and recruitment; conducts workforce analysis and succession planning; coordinates performance plans and awards and ensures compliance with rules and regulations; develops and coordinates position description development and organizational changes; and supports the Extramural Title 42(f) Committee led by the Principal Deputy Director and Deputy Director of Extramural Research by handling all communications and requests from ICs, advising on policy, and managing the data repository.

7 | P a g e

Office of electronic Research Administration (OeRA) - Provides strategic, tactical and oversight direction for the NIH extramural systems ensuring alignment to OER, NIH, HHS and OMB; provides solutions to manage the receipt, processing, review, award reporting and monitoring of funding for research and non-research grants awarded annually by NIH and other grantor agencies in support of the collective mission of improving human health; designs, develops, maintains, updates, and supports NIH's customized enterprise-wide grants management system used by the grantee community and federal staff to apply for, evaluate, award, manage and track, and close out grants for NIH as well as for other federal partners; serves as HHS Grants Management Center of Excellence providing services for multiple HHS Operational Divisions (OpDivs) and other federal agencies;

ensures strong system and data security; provides a dependable, scalable and responsive system using sound management and secure controls; promotes effective and efficient end-to-end grants management while reducing the administrative burden on the user community as well as agency staff; oversees eRA internal and external communications and the coordination of internal websites; provides technical and analytic leadership for reengineering the end-to-end activities of NIH extramural grants programs; provides support and training to staff who use central information systems to transact extramural business.

Division of Information Technology (DIT): Interprets policies, defines objectives and sets customer-driven performance standards for system implementations; provides technical oversight of day-to-day operations and coordination of activities with other areas; plans, designs, develops, and maintains overall software architecture for NIH's eRA system initiatives, specifically IMPAC II and the Commons; analyzes the compatibility of the eRA architectures with other architectures in NIH and coordinates with technical staff in other technical groups to work toward assuring NIH hardware, network, and software infrastructures are synchronized; defines major software issues and provides direction and oversight in those areas; and develops strategies for implementation of high priority initiatives designed to improve program performance; and provides technical expertise and guidance in the investigation, testing and adoption of new technologies to enhance system performance and the user experience.

Division of Customer Support Services (DCSS): Directs the development of technology strategies for communication with customers and their requirements; distributes proactive notification to customers and prepares business cases and feasibility studies to foster a commitment to a team approach to work; applies state-of-the-art technologies to generate new ideas and solve problems;

serves as the principal point of contact with stakeholders to provide technical program support for projects; develops business process modeling and maintains the business architecture layer of the eRA Enterprise; and manages functional requirements using customer-focused prioritization and identifies inconsistencies, redundant and duplicate requirements.

Division of Technical and Strategic Coordination (DTSC): Develops the eRA Strategic Plan; sets business management policies; conducts complex management studies and reviews of the fiscal controls of IT services; develops IT management plans for projects, including milestones and standards for performance measurement; directs and is responsible for risk management assessments and directs improvements in the software development life cycle including enterprise quality assurance; provides strategic program planning for projects while ensuring appropriate focus on IT management practices; responsible for overall quality of eRA systems and services, and maintains metrics on eRA system and program performance; serves as the principal point of contact with stakeholders to provide technical support for use of the systems.

8 | P a g e

4. Scope and Objective

OER continuously seeks to analyze the effectiveness of NIH extramural grant and research and development (R&D) contract activities by measuring the performance of the NIH ICs’ stewardship, grants and R&D contract policies and processes ensuring scientific integrity and public accountability.

The Contractor shall assist the OER by providing experienced staff with extensive pertinent experience in serving the NIH mission, and may provide direct support towards that mission. The purpose of the resultant contract is to provide a variety of program support specialists and experts to assist OER in successfully completing its mission.

5. Goal

The goal of this procurement is to establish contractual scientific and program support services for OER to utilize in achieving its functions and objectives. The services to be provided may assist the organization in performing functional tasks and meeting requirements and demands of the organization. These services may be relied upon on an on-going and as needed basis by providing a wide range of program support services at various levels.

6. Definitions

Quality Assurance (QA): Those actions taken by the Government to assure services meet the requirements of the PWS.

Quality Control (QC): Those actions taken by the Contractor to control the performance of services so that they meet the requirements of this contract.

Contracting Officer (CO): The person authorized to act on behalf of the Government to negotiate and award contracts and modifications thereto, and to administer contracts through completion or termination. Except for certain limited authority delegated by the CO to a technical representative, the CO is the only individual with the authority to direct the work of the Contractor.

Contracting Officer Representative (COR): The authorized Government representative(s) acting within the limits of written delegated authority for management of specific projects or functional activities. Copies of COR delegations shall be provided to the Contractor.

Technical Monitor (TM): The authorized Government representative(s) who shall examine the Contractor’s services and determine whether they are accomplishing program objectives; prepare and present correspondence and/or reports on Contractor performance to the COR; make recommendations to the COR as needed.

7. Descriptions of Support Services

Scientific and Program Support: The Contractor shall independently provide scientific and program support services in the form of professional, scientific, analytical, consultative, and subject matter expertise to assist OER in carrying out its various functions outlined in this PWS.

9 | P a g e

The Contractor shall directly communicate with all personnel (Government and other contractors) involved in a team environment. The Contractor shall ensure that proper procedures are being applied in accordance with Federal, HHS, and NIH policies. The Contractor shall act and perform in accordance with the HHS Efficient Spending Policy. The Contractor shall not incur any expenses or perform any activities subject to the Efficient Spending policy without prior approval from the Contracting Officer.

Scientific and program support services may include, but are not limited to, scientific information analysis, scientific text analysis, scientific data analysis, program operations, executive administration, and financial analysis and reporting.

Scientific and Program support services further defined, but not limited to:

• Scientific Information Analysis Support: The Contractor shall provide support for analysis of technical, scientific, and health-related information using natural language processing (NLP), data visualization, machine learning, and thesaurus editing tools. The Contractor shall be responsible for maintaining the accuracy of existing research category definitions, and work with experts in the field to present and develop new biomedical categories utilizing the indexing of research grant text. The Contractor shall work with NIH grant applications, use thesaurus-based natural language processing tools, provide documentation and data management, as well as collaborate with the team members and scientific experts at NIH’s scientific institutes and centers. The Contractor shall provide technical presentations and demonstrations of data analyses and conclusions as well as facilitate scientific meetings for groups of various sizes. The Contractor shall develop and present reports on funding by research category and respond to special data requests. The Contractor shall also make suggestions to improve text mining performance and processes using critical thinking and evidence-based research. The Contractor shall have a working knowledge of scientific thesauri and other structured vocabularies and text mining tools and software.

Scientific Information Analysis support services include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Develop, analyze, and present new biomedical categories to IC experts as well as ad hoc scientific categories.

• Refine and finalize categories based on IC expert feedback

• Maintain existing Research Condition and Disease Categorization (RCDC) categories for scientific content and accuracy according to IC expert feedback

• Analyze technical, scientific, and health-related information using NIH text mining, indexing, visualization, machine learning, and thesaurus editing tools to develop research category definitions

• Develop and maintain required documentation for each category in the RCDC SharePoint wiki pages, RCDC Dashboard, a category refinement matrix and shared folders

• Facilitate research category sessions with IC biomedical category experts

• Perform annual review and identify unambiguous errors (UE)

• Conduct annual analysis of category funding through a Projections process.

• Conduct training sessions on text mining and reporting systems, RCDC policies, processes and tools for the NIH community

• Analyze and report system deficiencies and defects

10 | P a g e

• Provide suggestions to improve text mining performance and processes using critical thinking and evidence-based research. Examples include suggestions for improvements to the thesaurus, concept normalization or natural language processing (NLP)

• Manually extract or correct text from grant or other project applications into the IMPACII database

• Provide technical presentations and demonstrations of data analyses and conclusions

• Scientific Text Analysis Support: The Contractor shall provide support for analysis of large datasets by applying machine-learning algorithms, text-mining, topic discovery, and semantic analysis to large quantities of unstructured text. The Contractor shall work in a team environment as well as independently to design experiments regarding computational manipulation and analysis of documents using statistical models and experimenting with large corpora for developing and testing advanced algorithms. The Contractor shall provide analysts with knowledge of programming languages (e.g. Java, R, SQL, Stata, SAS, MATLAB, GAUSS, Mathematica) and practical experience in quantitative analysis is necessary in order to make recommendations for solutions for NLP.

Scientific Text Analysis support services include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Manually extract or correct text from grant or other project applications into the IMPACII database

• Perform analysis of NIH data to understand RCDC categorization needs using NLP tools, medical thesauri/terminologies, clustering or statistical machine learning tools

• Apply computational linguistics approaches and algorithms to solve complex client problems

• Perform systems and programming analysis to maintain and control the use of computer systems software

• Contribute to the design, interpretation, and execution of analytical procedures in the framework of a specific system requirement, including NLP and machine learning tools

• Research, analyze and support NLP text mining software or algorithms against NIH, HHS Agency data, as well as other OpDivs data

• Evaluate and compare software applications to assess the quality of information retrieval and results

• Test novel algorithms in areas of text analytics, natural language processing and machine learning

• Advise eRA system development team on requirements to revise, repair, or enhance existing RCDC tools and impacts on programs to increase efficiency or optimize results

• Evaluate NIH research project text, e.g. title, abstract, and specific aims

• Perform quality assurance to determine that project extraction protocol is performing properly

• Perform analysis to determine trends in specific NIH activity codes to ensure that system is uniformly processing data

• Review and analyze extracted project text to determine where there is insufficient, inconsistent or erroneous data

• Apply knowledge and experience in relevant linguistic theories, informatics, clustering, computational linguistics, taxonomy, ontology, machine translation, machine learning to NIH data and RCDC categorization

11 | P a g e

• Analyze NIH data using several NLP subdomains including but not limited to: named entity recognition, semantic and grammatical disambiguation, negation and uncertainty identification, relationship extraction, information extraction, and spelling error identification

• Provide technical presentations and demonstrations of design, prototypes and operational software, and data analyses and conclusions

• Work with and assist programmers and analysts to define and resolve problems in RCDC tools

• Consult with management, vendors, and technical personnel to clarify system intent, identify problems, offer solutions and suggest changes

• Provide suggestions to improve text mining performance and processes using critical thinking and evidence-based research, such as improvements to the thesaurus, concept normalization or NLP

• Scientific Data Analysis Support: The Contractor shall be responsible for conducting a variety of scientific data analytical activities including collecting, gathering, validating, cleaning, analyzing, interpreting, processing and reporting against a wide range of data sets. The Contractor shall provide data analysis support to develop and implement data quality rules to coordinate the monitoring and verification of the quality of data. The Contractor shall provide data analysts with strong database design and analytical skills, background and experience in data analysis with expertise and experience linking and analyzing large diverse databases, identifying new data that needs to be collected, cleaning data and inputting missing data. The Contractor shall provide data analysts with strong skills in the application of Structured Query Language (SQL), writing, executing and troubleshooting PL/SQL procedures and functions, experience in the application of statistical methods and statistical computing packages such as R, SAS, SAS DataFlux data integrity software, SPSS or STATA. The Contractor shall provide data analysts with familiarity with multivariate regression analysis, data visualization tools, social network analysis, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), policy analysis, evaluation methods, MANOVA, ANOVA, prior components, factor analysis, and simple correlation. The Contractor shall provide data analysts who are able to understand and apply knowledge of ORACLE relational databases and have experience working with databases such as MySQL, ORACLE, SQL Server; and graphics and presentation software, such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Visio.

Scientific Data Analysis support services include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Collect, aggregate, synthesize, analyze for quality, and report on data from multiple sources and formats

• Collect, code or recode, and/or clean data and information for subsequent analyses of NIH research, investment, and expenditure activity

• Create new datasets from multiple sources and large databases, involving selecting and joining appropriate tables and variables

• Apply existing and developing new quantitative and qualitative statistical methods and models to describe, analyze, synthesize and interpret the NIH data

• Produce mandatory and statutorily-required reports to support NIH policy initiatives and management decisions and respond to NIH internal and external stakeholder requests

• Work directly with senior program leadership in analyzing resulting reports to inform the ongoing management (tactical and strategic) of the business unit/operation

12 | P a g e

• Respond to requests from staff within NIH who use the IMPAC II database for grants and related data. Requests could be for data corrections or for information regarding the data itself

• Identify data anomalies in the IMPAC II database and determine the correct course of action to take

• Take necessary actions to correct invalid data in response to Service Desk requests from users throughout the federal and grantee communities

• Identify and analyze possible duplicate data and merge the information into one entity when appropriate

• Provide subject matter expertise to staff throughout NIH regarding grants data and the relational database structure

• Suggest proactive methods of improving efficiency in data updates and standardization, including automating time-intensive manual work wherever possible

• Ability to interpret policy and stay current with changing business processes

• Develop timely ad hoc reports for unanticipated data calls from GAO, OMB, HHS, NIH, for example

• Program Operations Support: The Contractor shall provide program operations support services to assist with the general day to day operations and functions of OER. The Contractor shall assist OER in implementation of strategic visions, directions, and coordination of activities and business practices necessary to carry out the organizational mission and functions as defined by senior leadership and presented in this PWS.

Program Operations support services include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Assist with the performance of OER functions including its operations, activities, policies, processes, and procedures

• Assist with knowledge transfer of OER functions including its operations, activities, policies, processes, and procedures to Government and/or contract staff

• Assist with organizing the knowledge base related to training materials

• Provide project and training planning support to ensure that projects are run in compliance with requirements

• Provide guidance to project teams, maintain and integrate project plans, track and report overall progress, monitor resource utilization and establish and maintain a project documentation library

• Provide online registration support, coordinate logistics for training sessions

• Provide support to OER information centers to coordinate, manage and facilitate receipt of and responses to inquiries

• Provide support to develop, implement, maintain and coordinate policy of OER programs

• Participate in meetings with program management and stakeholders and respond to NIH internal and external stakeholders’ requests

• Assist with the coordination and implementation of policy decisions

• Provide programmatic support to assist OER with the process, analysis of requirements and compliance in association with any Federal, Departmental or Agency wide mandates or initiatives

13 | P a g e

• Implementing and monitoring business practices designed to maintain regulatory requirements

• Executive Administrative Support: The Contractor shall provide executive administrative support for OER that includes scheduling meetings, responding to inquiries, preparing reports, preparing correspondence and technical forms, developing presentations and travel planning and documentation. The Contractor shall possess a general working knowledge of the areas supported and operate under all applicable policies and procedures. The Contractor shall provide staff with strong computer skills, excellent interpersonal skills, project coordination experience, and the ability to work well with all levels of internal management and staff. The Contractor shall perform a variety of activities related to planning, hosting, and executing meetings. The Contractor shall provide agendas and document action plans for meetings, retreats and reviews.

The Contractor shall provide general administrative support functions to include receiving visitors, screening calls, file maintenance, property administration, data entry and other general office support as assigned.

• Financial Analysis and Reporting Support: The Contractor shall provide financial analysis and reporting support to OER relating to the execution of the financial requirements of OER programs. The Contractor shall provide staff that are detail-oriented with knowledge of accounting procedures and financial reporting practices. Contractor staff should have a solid working knowledge of software and database systems used in financial reporting, strong skills and proficiency with spreadsheet programs such as Excel. The Contractor staff shall possess excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to summarize and present complex financial data in an organized, concise manner and have the ability to work independently and interact well with coworkers and management.

Financial Analysis and Reporting support services include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Perform financial analysis in establishing and maintaining LRP portfolios

• Assist with the formation and execution of budgets

• Prepare reports, charts, diagrams and/or other visual aids related to the presentation of historical or projected financial transactions and/or data

8. Requirements

Nonpersonal Services and Inherently Governmental Functions:

a. Pursuant to FAR 37.1, no personal services shall be performed under this contract. A personal services contract is defined as a contract that makes the Contractor personnel appear to be, in effect, government employees. Government agencies may not award personal services contracts unless authorized by statute to do so. No Contractor employee will be directly supervised by the Government. All individual Contractor employee assignments, and daily work direction, shall be given by the applicable Contractor employee supervisor. If the Contractor believes any Government action or communication has been given that would create a personal services relationship between the Government and any Contractor employee, the Contractor shall promptly notify the Contracting Officer of this communication or action.

14 | P a g e

b. Pursuant to FAR 7.5, the Contractor shall not perform any inherently Governmental actions under this contract. No Contractor employee shall hold him or herself out to be a Government employee, agent, or representative. No Contractor employee shall state orally or in writing at any time that he or she is acting on behalf of the Government. In all communications with third parties in connection with this task order, Contractor employees shall identify themselves as Contractor employees and specify the name of the company for which they work. In all communications with other Government Contractors in connection with this contract, the Contractor employee shall state that they have no authority to in any way change the contract and that if the Contractor believes this communication to be a direction to change their contract/task order, they should notify the Contracting Officer for that contract/task order and not carry out the direction until a clarification has been issued by the Contracting Officer.

c. The Contractor shall ensure that all of its employees working on this task order are informed of the substance of this article. Nothing in this article shall limit the Government's rights in any way under the other provisions of the contract, including those related to the Government's right to inspect and accept the services to be performed under this contract. The substance of this article shall be included in all subcontracts at any tier.

Personnel: Contractor shall provide a mix of personnel experienced and qualified to perform tasks under the direction of the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and Technical Monitor(s) (TM) related to accomplishing this PWS. Contractor personnel shall be capable of providing services as outlined in this PWS. Contractor personnel shall possess the experience, knowledge, and skills to successfully perform each function that is identified.

The Contractor shall be responsible for providing trained, experienced staff for performing the work ordered under this contract, and for continuously monitoring, managing and controlling the work.

The Contractor shall make its best efforts to retain staff members who have gained experience on this contract, and to minimize staff turnover.

The Contractor shall train its own staff so as to ensure that all personnel are able to perform their duties under each task order satisfactorily. This may require staff training in the specific technology area. The Contractor will furnish the COR with formal documentation of the training provided to each labor category under the contract as requested by the COR, including testing tools for determining if individual employees have achieved competence in their labor categories. Except where specifically approved by the COR, training of Contractor staff is not separately billable.

Specialized training requested by the COR beyond that which would normally be required to perform under the contract may be billable with advance approval by the COR.

In addition to job-specific or professional training, the Contractor shall ensure its employees on this contract are trained on "contract-specific" issues such as HHS ethics, standards of conduct, individual conflicts of interest, confidentiality requirements, HHS security requirements, the function of reporting, and the importance of quality control and quality assurance. In addition, Contractor managers shall be educated regarding the terms and conditions of the contract.

The Government reserves the right to verify resumes of staff proposed to support the contract to verify they have the skills, experience, and knowledge required for their proposed labor category.

15 | P a g e

All Contractor staff that have access to and use of NIH electronic mail (e-mail) must identify themselves as contractors on all outgoing e-mail messages, including those that are sent in reply or are forwarded to another user. To best comply with this requirement, the Contractor staff shall set up an e-mail signature (“AutoSignature”) or an electronic business card (“V-card”) on each contractor employee’s computer system and/or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) that will automatically display “Contractor” in the signature area of all e-mails sent.

Program Management: The Contractor shall provide program management, project control, and contract administration necessary to manage the contract process so that cost, schedule and quality requirements are tracked, communicated to the COR and TM. The TMs are government staff assigned to specific program areas. The Contractor shall establish and maintain program management practices throughout the period of performance. The Government will have visibility into the Contractor’s organization and techniques used in managing the program.

Key Personnel: Key Personnel must be an employee of the prime Contractor. Subcontractor employees shall not be proposed as Key Personnel. Key personnel shall not be substituted by the Contractor during the execution of this contract without prior permission from the COR. The Government reserves the right to interview staff proposed for Key personnel positions.

The Government reserves the right to require the Contractor to remove or reassign from this Contract any “Key Personnel” Contractor employee(s) who is/are deemed incompetent, careless, unsuitable, or whose continued employment under the contract is deemed contrary to the best interests of the Government.