Cross-Border Research Translation and Mentorship Initiative.pdf

MARKET INTELLIGENCE: REQUIREMENTS

Project: Cross-Border Research Translation and Mentorship Initiative

1.0 Introduction:

NSF has advanced the full spectrum of fundamental research and education in all fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, for more than 70 years – from foundational, curiosity-driven research that has led to new knowledge about our world, to use-inspired, solution-oriented research that has directly impacted people's everyday lives. At every stage, investments across this spectrum have been deeply intertwined.

Over the past two years, NSF’s newest directorate, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP), has worked alongside the rest of NSF to foster innovation ecosystems, accelerate technology translation and development and grow the STEM workforce. TIP builds on the agency's commitment to support use-inspired research and the translation of research results to the market and society. In doing so, TIP strengthens the intense interplay between foundational and use-inspired work, enhancing the full cycle of discovery and innovation.

NSF seeks the support of a contractor with expertise in technology markets and research translation to develop, execute and oversee activities to translate research for societal and economic benefit and help international teams of researchers and innovators progress at speed and scale through lab-to-market pathways. The contractor will also serve as a point of contact for domestic or international teams and for NSF program staff and will be expected to leverage its robust research translation experience and technology market expertise within the U.S., European Union, and the United Kingdom (UK) in furtherance of program goals.

The contractor will help NSF identify opportunities for research translation; formulate recommendations to support international teams; directly manage and fund research translation activities for the U.S.-based research groups; and support international teams through training, mentorship, etc. See Section 5.0 Performance Objectives for more detailed information.

2.0 Period and Place of Performance:

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3.0 Instrument and Approach

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4.0 Eligibility

Any responsible source (excluding foreign entities) may submit proposals for consideration. All offerors must be registered in the Federal Government’s System for Award Management (SAM) prior to submitting a proposal (www.sam.gov). A proposal can involve multiple organizations, but the proposal must be submitted by a lead organization with subcontracts to other participating organizations.

Separately submitted collaborative proposals are not permitted. An eligible organization can submit a maximum of one proposal as a lead.

Characteristics of a Strong Organization(s) NSF seeks contractors with:

• Expertise in identifying emerging technologies with the highest potential for commercial success.

• Expertise in technology markets and research translation within the areas of cybersecurity, nanoscale science and engineering, sensors and sensor networks, telecommunications, and energy and sustainability.

• Experience working with U.S. federally-funded researchers, their labs, and their institutions’ http://www.sam.gov/ technology transfer offices, and with scientific funding agencies such as NSF.

• Experience working with universities in the European Union and the UK and linkages to expert networks in the European Union and the UK.

• Experience assisting researchers to develop technology translation milestone plans and customized translation roadmaps.

• Experience coaching, mentoring and supporting researchers to achieve critical milestones to accelerate the translation of their research to commercial markets.

• Demonstrated success supporting the development of early-stage, high-tech start-ups.

• Demonstrated organizational capability to perform the work outlined.

• Demonstrated ability to employ qualified and knowledgeable staff/consultants capable of fulfilling the general requirements, including meeting all deliverables and support activities.

• The capacity to be responsive to changes and adapt as needed.

5.0 Performance Objectives

NSF requires support for research teams across three major objectives:

- Objective 1: Proactively identify research previously funded by NSF with translation potential.

- Objective 2: Provide translation milestone plans, customized translation roadmaps and expert mentorship to teams to help accelerate the translation of research for commercial and/or societal impacts.

- Objective 3: Evaluate characteristics of the initiative and teams that contributed to the observed outcomes and summarize lessons learned.

Illustrative examples of contractor activities in support of these objectives are provided below. NSF welcomes other creative ideas for achieving this program’s objectives, even if they are very different from the activity examples laid out below. NSF is particularly interested in ideas that appropriately balance bespoke solutions with efficiency and effectively deliver solutions for translating research for impact at speed and scale.

From a tactical perspective, NSF seeks a contractor that can develop and run the operational infrastructure, manage the day-to-day activities, serve as the main point of contact for the participating teams and coalesce the key constituents and networks needed to support them. However, NSF does not expect it to be possible to specify all requirements at the time of the award in clear, specific, objective and measurable terms.

Consequently, NSF also seeks a thought partner who will work closely with the NSF program team to develop, implement and oversee the overall program of activities. NSF is interested in forging a relationship that allows NSF and its selected contractor to engage in ad hoc decision making in response to emerging and changing requirements, shifting priorities and unexpected outcomes.

To meet Objective 1:

• The contractor will lead the review process for potential translation projects.

• Each project will be reviewed by a minimum of two external experts with technical and entrepreneurship/translation expertise.

• Experts will adhere to NSF’s conflict of interest policies for reviewers: OGC - Panelist Conflict of

Interest Training | NSF - National Science Foundation.

• The contractor will assess projects based on criteria which could include:

• Robust team with complementary expertise and enthusiasm to learn;

• Potential for economic impact;

• Potential for societal impact;

• Potential for sustained impact beyond this funding opportunity; and

• Technology readiness.

https://www.nsf.gov/od/ogc/panelist_coi.jsp https://www.nsf.gov/od/ogc/panelist_coi.jsp

• The contractor will share project selection recommendations with NSF and other funding agencies for approval.

To meet Objective 2:

The contractor will produce for each team a specific translation milestone plan and will assign translation and market-specific experts to work closely with selected teams to provide individualized mentorship and customized roadmaps to help them advance along the translation pathway. The contractor will coach, mentor and support the selected teams and work with their institutions’ leadership and/or technology transfer offices to achieve the translation milestones contained in their plans. While this engagement will vary according to team stage, technology and other considerations, the roadmaps may include specific actions related to intellectual property, customer discovery, expert entrepreneurial engagement, product definition, competitive landscape and market research. Experts with knowledge of local markets and needs will be identified through the contractor’s networks as well as through funding agencies.

The contractor will provide selected U.S.-based research groups with funding to support 30 months of research translation activities. Teams will be considered successful when they enhance their skills related to translating their research to the market and measurably advance their technology towards translation or fail fast and pivot. This will vary depending on the starting point of the team, the focal technology and other factors, but could include greater understanding of markets, value propositions and available supports;

development of go-to-market strategies and fundraising plans; improved intellectual property protections or positions; advancements in product development; and new licensing agreements or start-up formations.

Successful research translation for each team need not follow a linear path and may require the flexibility to fail fast and/or pivot.

Furthermore, it is also anticipated that this training could help prepare teams for next-stage training programs, such as the NSF Innovation Corps (NSF I-CorpsTM) Program or relevant European Union or UK programs.

The contractor will assist NSF and funding agency partners to co-convene at least two interactive workshops that will bring together ~60 representatives including:

• Translation training program teams;

• Researchers and students;

• Translation experts and entrepreneurs;

• Industry representatives;

• Investors; and

• Government agencies.

Workshops are expected to:

• Enable applicants to design and get feedback on their translation proposals, ask questions, and learn more about the program and how it can benefit them.

• Catalyze new industry collaborations and commercialization opportunities.

• Enable discussion of potential solutions to shared challenges related to the translation of research.

• Facilitate sharing of opportunities for continued support along the translation path.

The contractor will play a key role in setting the agenda, identifying and inviting experts and moderating sessions for both workshops.

To meet Objective 3:

• The contractor will summarize progress through quarterly or bi-annual meetings and annual reports.

• The contractor will identify project or team characteristics that facilitated advancement (or fast failure) along the translation pathway.

• The contractor will summarize lessons learned with an eye towards scalability, including on balancing bespoke solutions with common approaches to deliver solutions for mentoring teams and translating research for impact efficiently, sustainably and on a reduced budget. This summary may connect to or recommend leveraging other NSF programs or investments.

• Further, the contractor will assess how the international aspect of the initiative impacted the process and outcomes in positive and negative ways, including how those may be approached or revised going forward.

6.0 Project Deliverables

• Review and recommend selected projects.

• Provide a translation milestone plan, expert translation mentorship and a customized translation roadmap for each selected project.

• Issue and manage the subcontracts/subawards that fund the translation activities of the U.S.-based research groups.

• Collaborate with NSF to review and refine program offerings based on learnings from continual data collection and regular conversations with teams.

• Participate in two or more workshops/convenings located in the European Union, the UK, and/or the U.S.

• Provide quarterly updates and a comprehensive written final report to NSF (format to be provided).

• Provide a broad, strategic lessons learned document that includes ideas for how aspects of this activity could be efficiently and cost-effectively scaled up or connected to other NSF programs and/or investments in the future.

7.0 Agency Contacts

Ben Patterson Contracting Officer bpatters@nsf.gov mailto:bpatters@nsf.gov