NSF Convergence Accelerator Midwest Region Anchor Solicitation.pdf

U.S. National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator Regional Anchor Solicitation for the Midwest Region

1. Introduction

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) announces its intent to form Regional Convergence Accelerators led by Anchor Organizations (“Anchors”) on behalf of the Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships’ (TIP) Convergence Accelerator program. The establishment of the Anchors shall serve to further TIP’s statutory role “to advance research and development, technology development, and related solutions to address United States societal, national, and geostrategic challenges, for the benefit of all Americans” in accordance with the CHIPS and Science Act (P.L. 117- 167), which provides the authority to use Other Transactions (“OTs”) in carrying out TIP’s activities.

NSF announced in April 2024 its plan to expand the Convergence Accelerator program by creating 10 regionally focused NSF Convergence Accelerators to enhance national and regional competitiveness in research, innovation, and workforce development. The program expansion will promote convergence research and innovation by connecting stakeholders from various domains and sectors to expand the innovation ecosystem and address pressing societal and economic challenges within their regions while supporting the NSF Convergence Accelerator's vision, mission, and priorities.

Since 2019, the NSF Convergence Accelerator national program, based at the NSF Headquarters in Alexandria, VA, has built upon NSF’s investment in basic research and discovery to accelerate solutions toward societal and economic impacts. Convergence Accelerator teams – composed of diverse disciplines and expertise from academia, industry, nonprofits, government, and other communities of practice – have been using convergence research fundamentals and innovation processes to stimulate innovative idea sharing and development of new technologies and sustainable solutions.

By expanding the program through regional Convergence Accelerators, the TIP Directorate and the Convergence Accelerator program will harness the full geography of innovation to pursue the following goals:

• Stimulate innovation, discovery, and research acceleration at regional levels by building on basic research and advancing technologies and delivering solutions;

• Focus on multidisciplinary teams, partnerships (academia, industry, non-profits, government), deliverables, and national-scale societal and economic impacts;

• Enable more organizations and people to benefit by ensuring funds and resources reach each region and local communities for specific regional topics;

• Demonstrate NSF’s commitment to enabling participation by all Americans, regardless of background, organizational affiliation, geographic location, etc.; and

• Address regional and national societal and economic challenges through development of multidisciplinary teams, partners, and use-inspired solutions.

To implement the NSF Convergence Accelerator within each region, the NSF Convergence Accelerator program will support Regional Anchors, that will manage and implement the NSF Convergence https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ167/PLAW-117publ167.pdf https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ167/PLAW-117publ167.pdf https://new.nsf.gov/news/nsf-expands-nsf-convergence-accelerator-10-regions https://new.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/convergence-accelerator

Accelerator’s program model and operations within each region, which includes ideation (e.g., call for ideas, workshops, identifying regional convergence research track topics), organizing the proposal review process, making research awards, and conducting Phases 1 and 2 of the Regional Convergence Accelerator curriculum.

The Convergence Accelerator program has a well-established process of identifying convergent research topics ready to turn advances in use-inspired research into tangible, deployable solutions, by selecting multidisciplinary teams and guiding these teams through an intensive innovation curriculum to enable them to develop their proposed solutions. The NSF Convergence Accelerator’s program model processes have been standardized by the national program and will be deployed by the Regional Anchors. The Regional Anchors will have the ability to direct research funding to teams working on regional use-inspired solutions while the national Convergence Accelerator office will retain oversight capabilities.

The OT vehicle will be utilized to enable this facilitation.

This solicitation is to establish and manage the Regional Anchor business management services that will implement the Regional NSF Convergence Accelerator for the Midwest Region on behalf of the NSF Convergence Accelerator national program. The Midwest Region includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois.

NSF anticipates that this work will involve the provision of long-term and complex business management services from the Regional Anchor; however, NSF does not expect it to be possible to stipulate all requirements at the time of the Regional Anchor OT agreement in clear, specific, objective, and measurable terms. As a result, NSF is interested in forging a relationship that allows the NSF Convergence Accelerator national program and its Regional Anchor to engage in ad hoc decision making in implementing the program’s model while addressing emerging and changing requirements, shifting priorities, and unexpected circumstances.

An NSF Convergence Accelerator Regional Anchor requires a diverse set of expertise and capabilities.

Organizations with current and pending NSF Convergence Accelerator research funding are ineligible for the NSF Convergence Accelerator Regional Anchor opportunity. Organizations awarded the Regional Anchor opportunity will be responsible for notifying the NSF Convergence Accelerator national program and NSF’s Agreements Officer and mitigating conflicts of interest if seeking future NSF research funding. Desirable experience and capabilities of a Regional Anchor include:

• Familiarity with various research and development (R&D) and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and approaches.

• Strong grasp of the transition to practice and innovation processes.

• Understanding of emerging technology trends.

• Integration with the regional R&D and innovation ecosystem to include a broad set of stakeholders (e.g., industry, nonprofit, researchers and innovators, federal, state, and local government, accelerators, incubators, angel and venture capital funders, communities of practice and economic and industry development organizations).

• Engagement with the region’s technology, economic, and societal interests.

• Aptitude in fostering research collaboration and advancing the regional innovation network.

• Readiness to adapt and grow organizational competencies to drive impactful regional change.

https://new.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/convergence-accelerator/program-model https://new.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/convergence-accelerator/portfolio https://new.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/convergence-accelerator/portfolio

2. Instrument and Approach

This announcement contemplates the formation of an Other Transactions (OT) contract pursuant to NSF’s statutory authority at 42 U.S.C. § 19116(1). Other Transactions is not a FAR-based procurement contract nor a financial assistance transaction but another contracting mechanism available to NSF by statute.

This solicitation contemplates a competitive, two-step OT contract formation process for Regional Anchor services. The first step will assess the qualifications of the prospective Regional Anchor organization, as described below. Based on the submitted qualifications, NSF will create a listing, in order of preference, of the prospective Regional Anchor organizations most qualified to perform the work. In the second step, NSF will solicit an offer from the most preferred Regional Anchor organization (i.e., the highest ranked organization on the list). NSF expects to conduct in-depth negotiations with the most preferred Regional Anchor organization. If a mutually satisfactory Regional Anchor OT contract cannot be negotiated and formed with the most preferred Regional Anchor organization, then the Agreements Officer will notify that organization and initiate negotiations with the next most favored prospective Regional Anchor organization. That process will continue until the OT is negotiated and finalized.

3. Objectives

A. NSF Convergence Accelerator Regional Anchors will be responsible for implementing the NSF Convergence Accelerator’s program model at the regional level and ensuring the overall experience is consistent with the national program. The objectives for a Regional Anchor organization are:

• Solve big problems Play a pivotal role in addressing complex societal challenges through cross-disciplinary collaboration, driving tangible solutions that benefit both the region and the nation.

• Create meaningful impact Make a real difference in the community and region, leaving a lasting legacy of progress and prosperity and ultimately assisting the advancement of U.S. competitiveness.

• Nurture the regional network Foster relationships among the region’s academic, industry, government, non-profit and other communities of practice to scale innovative capabilities, as well as grow the regional Convergence Accelerator consortia. Each regional consortia will be made up of regional researchers, innovators, practitioners and stakeholders with diverse areas of expertise interested in addressing regional societal and economic challenges through the development of use-inspired solutions.

• Shape the future of science and technology Fuel regional economic development and advance R&D and innovation, shaping the trajectory of technology and STEM sectors into the future.

The Regional Anchor for the Midwest Region MUST reside within the Midwest Region. It is expected that the Anchor be either a for-profit or non-profit organization. The Regional Anchor is not anticipated to be an Institution of Higher Education (IHE) because IHEs are likely to seek to apply to funding opportunities subsequently published by the Regional Anchor. However, university affiliated organizations that are separate from the IHE may be able to apply if potential conflicts of interests can be managed.

The Regional Anchor will have the network and the capability to stimulate innovation, discovery, and use-inspired research acceleration through sub-awards. Three-quarters (75%) of research funding for successful Phase 1 and Phase 2 proposals submitted to the Regional Anchor must be spent within the Midwest Region.

https://new.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/convergence-accelerator/program-model

The Regional Anchor organization will need to have the capability to fulfill the following functions based on standard operating guidance provided by the NSF Convergence Accelerator national program:

• Conduct an efficient and equitable research proposal review and award process.

• Organize communications and outreach activities for the region.

• Manage and grow the Regional Convergence Accelerator’s consortia, including encouraging membership signup, communication and coordination of consortia offerings.

• Deliver the program’s innovation curriculum to awarded Phase 1 and Phase 2 teams, including providing hands-on engagement activities and tracking team deliverables/assignments.

• Select and monitor coaches to provide mentorship to the awarded teams to assist them with navigating the curriculum, pitching and solution development.

• Provide support staff and services, such as information technology, people management, legal and contracting expertise, knowledge management, financial services, and operational and program management support.

• Be responsive to regular NSF Convergence Accelerator national program oversight and engagement.

• Capture and provide data as requested by the TIP Directorate and NSF Convergence Accelerator national program, while implementing required data protection and security. Examples include capturing award information, multidisciplinary team information (e.g., organizations, member names, expertise or discipline, sector, location and more; and consortia growth, high-level communication and outreach metrics as well as individual communication campaign and engagement activities).

• Develop a plan to measure the impact of Regional Convergence Accelerator project awards within 5 years, and within 10 years; as well as measure growth and impact to the region’s innovation ecosystem and the Regional Convergence Accelerator consortia.

The roles and responsibilities involve overseeing the day-to-day management and implementation of the NSF Convergence Accelerator program model in accordance with NSF guidelines and the National Convergence Accelerator national program. Related activities will involve:

• Manage daily operations.

• Lead ideation (e.g., call for ideas, fund workshops, identify convergence research topics for future research funding opportunities, develop and release research funding opportunities).

• Run proposal and pitch review.

• Issue research Phase 1 and Phase 2 awards.

• Administer contract and financial transactions.

• Monitor milestones and deliverables.

• Serve as a strategic representative and mission partner of the NSF Convergence Accelerator national program at the regional level.

B. The objectives of the business management services contemplated by this solicitation include:

• Identify challenges of regional importance to incorporate convergence research into practical applications.

• Accelerate use-inspired research into sustainable, tangible solutions such as tools, techniques, approaches, and products that have a lasting societal or economic impact to specific end-users or the American people.

• Growing the geography of innovation, specifically within the region’s innovation ecosystem.

https://new.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/convergence-accelerator/program-model#:%7E:text=The%20curriculum%20includes%3A,low%2Dfidelity%20prototype%20for%20testing.

• Manage conflicts of interest and address concerns surrounding intellectual property.

• Foster partnerships for the NSF Convergence Accelerator regional program and funded teams to aid in advancing all objectives noted above.

4. Instructions to Interested Prospective Anchor organizations

4.1 Technical Proposal

The submission must be organized as follows:

A. Cover Page (maximum 1 page). The cover page shall include the organization’s name, Unique Entity ID (UEI), point of contact for negotiations, and the phone number and email address of that point of contact.

B. Regional Anchor Outline (maximum of 7 pages). The offeror shall submit an outline of its capabilities and plans to act as a Regional Anchor. These should include:

1) A short introduction of the organization’s purpose and history (not repeating examples to be given under 4.3. below).

2) An introduction and background of the organization’s key personnel and capabilities. A discussion of how the organization will be able to fill any missing key personnel positions required for a Regional Anchor. (See NSF CA structure and envisioned relationship to Regional Anchor diagram below.)

C. Example Projects (maximum of 3 pages). The offeror shall submit up to three projects that demonstrate the organization’s capability to meet the objectives described in “Section 3: Objectives” above and that facilitate NSF’s evaluation under the Evaluation Factor below. Each project submission may not exceed one page in length and must contain, at least, the following information:

o Project number.

o Title and location of the project.

o Period of performance of the project.

o Project owner, such as a government agency, corporation, or individual.

o Size of the project in dollars and fee structure.

https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration o Identifying number of the project, e.g., a contract number or transaction number.

o Description of the project and its relevance to this Other Transaction contract and the NSF

Convergence Accelerator’s mission, goals and program model.

o The role the organization played in the project.

D. Ideation examples (maximum of 3 pages). The offeror must include and explain what they see as the (at least three) top challenges in the region (not more than one page each) that appear ready for a regional Convergence Accelerator track and, in their opinion, are likely to be submitted during the regional ideation process.

E. Consortium connections (maximum of 7 pages, one page per state). The offeror must identify at least 3 potential consortium members/institutions from each state in the region and define the extent of the contacts and relationship. Those examples must include more than just Institutions of Higher Education. The offeror must include the Name and Location of the institutions. They have to also list the title/position of the main contact they have interacted with at the organization and describe the extent of the contacts and potential future collaborations as well as plans to grow the consortium if the offeror becomes the Regional Anchor.

4.2 Cost Proposal

Example Cost Proposal (maximum of 3 pages). Given the capabilities required of the organization to meet the Regional Anchor objectives, provide and justify an example cost proposal to administer the Regional Anchor for the first year and an estimate of how that would change given the ramp-up activities in years 2-5. (See a diagram of the envisioned ramp-up plan, subject to availability of funding, below; which refers to these costs as variable.) Subcontractors, if any, for Anchor operations must be located in the region.

Cost in $

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Labor/Staffing

Outreach Activities

Operating Expenses

Travel

Other

Please provide a narrative explanation of how the estimated costs in the table above were determined.

This explanation shall include how increases were determined over time and the types of supplies/services included in each category.

4.3 Administrative Requirements

A. Letter of Intent. This OT requires a letter of intent to be submitted via the NSF Convergence Accelerator Regional Anchor Application submission system prior to the submission of the full proposal. Follow the instructions in the submission system regarding required steps. Letters of intent must be submitted at or before the submission of proposals.

B. Attestation. An authorized representative of the organization must sign and date the submission attesting that the information provided is current and factual to the best of the organization’s information and belief. Provide the name and title of the authorized representative who signed the form.

C. Submission formatting. All papers must be presented on pages not exceeding 8 ½ by 11 inches with the type size for text no smaller than 11 point. Margins must not be less than one inch on each side.

All pages must be numbered. Text may be single or double-spaced. Any diagrams, graphs, or charts may not contain text smaller than 11 point.

D. Submission deadline. Submissions shall be submitted via the NSF Convergence Accelerator Regional Anchor Application submission system at https://nsfgov.my.site.com/ot/s no later than 4 p.m. Eastern on August 29, 2024.

E. Oral Presentation Preparation (invite only). Oral presentations are currently estimated to occur between the dates of October 8, 2024 and October 15, 2024. Oral presentations will be virtual. NSF will provide instructions on how to prepare for the oral presentation. However, it is anticipated that the offeror will develop and present a 30 minute presentation, based on Section 3, Objectives, followed by 20 minute Q&A. All presentation materials will be shared with NSF.

5. Evaluation

This solicitation occurs in two phases, 1) evaluation of written proposals, and 2) evaluation of oral presentations. Based on the evaluation of written proposals, NSF will perform a down selection. NSF will invite the organization or organizations determined to be the most highly qualified to participate in oral presentations (a 30 minute presentation, followed by a 20 minute Q&A) to the technical evaluation team.

That invitation will provide details about the required oral presentation content. After the award of the https://nsfgov.my.site.com/ot/s

OT, NSF will inform all unsuccessful organizations, which had been invited for an oral presentation, that they will not receive an award.

NSF will evaluate the experience of the organization demonstrating the capabilities required of a Regional Anchor as outlined in detail above. This includes the desirable experience and capabilities of a Regional Anchor listed in Section 2 above as well as the requirements noted in Section 3 above.

NSF will also evaluate each organization’s prior organizational, specialized experience forming and growing membership/consortia and partnerships, and administering consortia, including but not limited to experience: (1) coalescing a range of entities, such as academic, for-profit, non-profit, philanthropic, non-traditional, and/or other kinds of entities; (2) coalescing consortia quickly, across different communities, and adapting the consortia over time as needs and requirements change; (3) overcoming challenges forming and administering consortia, including appropriate use charter documents, such as by-laws, membership requirements, and membership processes; and (4) handling sensitive information with appropriate privacy and confidentiality protections, including coordinating such safeguards throughout the consortium’s membership.

“Experience” means historical instances of performance of tasks similar in nature to those that will likely be performed under the prospective OT contract, through which the organization or the members of a newly formed organization had the opportunity to learn about the nature of the work; successful methods, processes, and procedures; and problems and effective solutions.

The evaluation will also consider the technical understanding and regional competence exhibited by the offeror in the ideation example section above. Similarly, the offeror will be evaluated on the depth and relevance of the consortium listing.

In ranking organizations, NSF will consider how relevant, how deep, and how broad is each organization’s experience.

6. Additional Information

A. Regional Anchor Limitations: The Regional Anchor organization selected to manage the Regional Convergence Accelerator will serve as an independent agent of NSF and will not be eligible to compete for projects awarded through the Anchor. Subcontractor awards issued by the Regional Anchor are subject to the customary NSF conflict-of-interest rules.

B. Organizational Conflicts of Interest. All facts relevant to the existence or potential existence of organizational conflicts of interest must be disclosed as early as possible (i.e., prospective Regional Anchors must disclose those situations in which, because of other activities or relationships with other persons, a person or organization is unable or potentially unable to render impartial assistance or advice to the Government, or the person or organization’s objectivity in performing the agreement work is or might be otherwise impaired, or a person or organization has an unfair competitive advantage). The disclosure shall include a description of the potential conflict as well as the action the organization has taken or proposes to take to avoid, neutralize, or mitigate such conflict.

Organizations that fail to fully disclose potential conflicts of interest and/or do not have plans to mitigate this conflict may be rejected without evaluation and withdrawn from further consideration https://www.nsf.gov/policies/conflicts.jsp for award. The Regional Anchor will be required to monitor potential conflicts of interest throughout the consortium, during proposal reviews and throughout awarded projects.

C. Expenses Incurred Regarding this Opportunity. This is a competitive business opportunity for prospective business management organizations. As a result, prospective business management organizations will not be entitled to recoup from NSF any expenses incurred in anticipation of receiving an OT award under any circumstances whatsoever, even if NSF decides to cancel this opportunity after a lengthy negotiation process. NSF does not agree to reimburse any such expenses.

D. Questions regarding this OT solicitation must be submitted to Ben Patterson at bpatters@nsf.gov no later than 4 p.m. Eastern on August 12, 2024.

mailto:bpatters@nsf.gov