Amendment W911NF-18-S-0005-0001 (CONFORMED COPY).pdf

UNITED STATES ARMY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

FOR THE BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES (ARI)

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT

FOR

BASIC, APPLIED, AND ADVANCED

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

W911NF-18-S-0005-0001

(as amended 19 December 2019)

30 April 2018 – 29 April 2023

ISSUED BY:

U.S. Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground

Research Triangle Park Division

P. O. BOX 12211

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION:

1. Agency Name……………………………………….……………………………………. 5

2. Research Opportunity Title………………………………………………………………..5

3. Announcement Type………………………………………………………………………5

4. Research Opportunity Number……………………………………………………………5

5. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number and Title…………………….5

6. Response Dates……………………………………………………………………………5

7. Basic Research Areas of Interest ……………………………………………………….5

8. Applied Research and Advanced Technology Development Areas of Interest …………..6

a. Holistic Personnel Assessments

b. Assessing and Developing Leader Competencies

c. Unit Performance and Cohesion

d. Statistical Innovations in Talent Management

e. Conference and Symposia Grants…………………………………………………19

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION:

C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION:

1. Eligible Applicants.………………………………………………………………………24

2. Cost Sharing or Matching .....………………………………………………………...24

3. Duns and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number and System for Award Management (SAM)………………………………………………………..…..24

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION:

1. Address to View Broad Agency Announcement………………………………………...25

2. Content and Form of Application Submission…………………………………………...25

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) ………………….38

4. Submission Dates and Times…………………………………………………………….39

5. Intergovernmental Review……………………………………………………………….39

6. Funding Restrictions……………………………………………………………………..39

7. Other Submission Requirements…………………………………………………………39

E. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION:

1. Criteria…………………………………………………………………………………...39

2. Review and Selection Process…………………………………………………………...41

F. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION:

1. Award Notices…………………………………………………………………………...42

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements……………………………………...42

3. Reporting………………………………………………………………………………...50

G. FEDERAL AWARD AGENCY CONTACTS:

H. OTHER INFORMATION: ……………………………………………………………….52

A. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION:

INTRODUCTION:

This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), which sets forth research areas of interest to the United States Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI), is issued under the provisions of paragraph 6.102(d)(2) and 35.016 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which provides for the acquisition of basic and applied research and that part of development not related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement through the competitive selection of proposals, and 10 U.S.C. 2358, 10 U.S.C. 2371, and 10 U.S.C. 2371b, which provide the authorities for issuing awards under this announcement for basic and applied research. Proposals submitted in response to this BAA and selected for award are considered to be the result of full and open competition and in full compliance with the provisions of Public Law 98-369, "The Competition in Contracting Act of 1984" and subsequent amendments.

The ARI is the Army’s lead agency for the conduct of research, development, and analyses for the improvement of Army readiness and performance via research advances and applications of the behavioral and social sciences that address personnel, organization, and Soldier and leader development issues. Programs funded under this BAA include basic research, applied research, and advanced technology development that can improve human performance and Army readiness.

Funding of research and development (R&D) within ARI areas of interest will be determined by funding constraints and priorities set during each budget cycle. Those contemplating submission of a proposal are encouraged to contact the ARI Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) identified in Section G of this BAA or the responsible ARI Manager noted at the end of the technical area entry (Part II Section A of this BAA) to determine whether the proposed R&D warrants further inquiry. If the proposed R&D warrants further inquiry and funding is available, submission of a white paper or proposal will be entertained. The recommended three-step sequence is (1) initial contact with the ARI TPOC or responsible ARI Manager, (2) white paper submission, (3) proposal submission.

This sequence allows earliest determination of the potential for funding and minimizes the labor and cost associated with submission of proposals that have minimal probability of being selected for funding. Costs associated with white paper or proposal submissions in response to this BAA are not considered allowable direct charges to any resulting award. These costs may be allowable expenses to normal bid and proposal indirect costs specified in FAR 31.205-18.

Applicants submitting proposals are cautioned that only a Government Contracting or Grants Officer may obligate the Government to any agreement involving expenditure of Government funds.

To be eligible for an award under this announcement, a prospective awardee must meet certain minimum standards pertaining to financial resources and responsibility, ability to comply with the performance schedule, past performance, integrity, experience, technical capabilities, operational controls, and facilities. In accordance with Federal statutes, regulations, and

Department of Defense (DoD) and Army policies, no person on grounds of race, color, age, sex, national origin, or disability shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving financial assistance from the Army.

1. Agency Name:

U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI)

Issuing Acquisition Office:

U.S. Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground, Research Triangle Park Division

2. Research Opportunity Title:

U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences Broad Agency Announcement for Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research (Fiscal Years 2018-2023)

3. Announcement Type:

Initial Announcement

4. Research Opportunity Number:

W911NF-18-S-0005

5. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number and Title:

12.630 – Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering

6. Response Dates (Submissions):

This BAA is a continuously open five-year announcement valid throughout the period beginning 30 April 2018 and ending 29 April 2023. New start awards are normally obligated early within each fiscal year. Amendments to this BAA will be posted to https://www.fbo.gov (FedBizOpps) and http://www.grants.gov when they occur. Interested parties are encouraged to periodically check these websites for updates and amendments.

7. Basic Research Areas of Interest

Basic Research is defined as systematic study directed toward greater knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena and of observable facts without specific application of processes or products in mind. ARI’s Basic Research Program maintains close contact with ARI's applied scientists and other relevant agencies within the

Army to ensure cutting edge research is executed in support of the Army through establishing relationships and transitions with ARI’s Applied Research Program.

Topic areas of basic research interest include the following:

Understanding Team Dynamics: Military organizations reflect a complex structure based on both formal hierarchy and informal social structures. Topics of interest in this area include understanding and predicting large and small group behavioral processes within and between teams, new measures and metrics for dynamic group constructs, and understanding cultural differences, norms, and cultural change.

Improving Leadership and Leader Development: Effective Army performance relies on high quality leaders, which necessitates an understanding of how to identify, develop, and retain quality leaders over time. Topics of interest in this area include training and retention of quality leaders, development of leader identity, leader adaptability and flexibility, leadership teams, and leader assessment and feedback.

Identifying, Assessing, and Assigning Quality Personnel: Maintaining readiness requires that the Army possess high quality personnel throughout the force. Topics of interest in this area include identifying and measuring the aptitudes and skills of the Future Force, understanding metrics for Soldier success, improving test theory, and the factors that influence recruitment, retention, and performance.

Enhancing Lifelong Learning: The Army not only develops Soldiers for specific jobs, tasks, and roles, the Army develops Soldiers over the duration of a career. Thus, it is important to understand how to maximize opportunities for learning throughout a Soldier’s career. Topics of interest in this area include longitudinal learning theory and measurement, innovative learning methods, and assessment of learning processes and learner performance.

The ARI Manager is Dr. Greg Ruark, (703) 545-2441, gregory.a.ruark.civ@mail.mil

8. Applied Research and Advanced Technology Development Areas of Interest

ARI seeks Applied Research proposals that provide a systematic expansion and application of knowledge to design and develop useful strategies, techniques, methods, tests, or measures that provide the means to meet a recognized and specific Army need. Applied Research precedes specific technology investigations or development and should have high potential to transition into advanced technology.

The ARI Advanced Technology Development program includes the development of technologies, components, or prototypes that can be tested in field experiments and/or simulated environments. Projects in this category have a direct relevance to identified military needs. These projects should demonstrate the general military utility or cost reduction potential of technology in the areas of personnel selection, assignment, and retention; advanced data analytics and models applied to talent management; development of higher-order competencies for Soldiers and Leaders; holistic assessment of unit readiness;

and team and unit mission effectiveness. These projects should be focused on a more direct operational benefit and, if successful, the technology should be available for transition.

Topic areas of the applied research and advanced technology development include the following:

a. Holistic Personnel Assessments

The ARI personnel assessment program includes tools to attract, select, assign, promote, and retain enlisted and officer personnel, both Active and Reserve, whose abilities and interests will fit the Army’s current and future organizational and job requirements. In order to best manage Soldier talent, Soldiers must be properly matched with the jobs and assignments that best fit their capabilities and interests, both at initial entry and as they progress in their careers. Advances in the development of new tools for personnel management must be coordinated with ongoing changes in Army policies, missions, and organization. Our understanding of enlisted and officer job performance reflects a “whole person” approach, incorporating both the ability to perform and the motivation to perform. Our selection and classification system must incorporate both elements in a holistic fashion.

a.1 Expanded Tools for Enlisted and Officer Selection

In recent years, the demands confronting enlisted Soldiers and officers have been changing. They must confront a more challenging, ambiguous, and uncertain environment. They must take on additional, more diverse responsibilities. These changes raise a number of challenges for our future research and development.

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

Comprehensive assessment of Army enlisted and officer candidates to improve the identification and initial selection of individuals who will perform well in the Army, are less likely to wish to continue serving in the Army, and have strong potential for career advancement. Assessments may include the development and validation of new cognitive, situational judgement, knowledge, temperament, attitude/interest and social skill measures; and the development of new scoring methodologies for currently used assessments.

Assessments that improve the efficiency and construct domain coverage beyond current military accessions testing (e.g., Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, Scholastic Aptitude Test) while minimizing adverse impact.

Development of tests which more accurately measure their intended constructs, both in research and in high-stakes operational conditions (e.g., resistant to deliberate faking).

Identification and innovative use of compensatory methods of combining assessments to allow for more precise prediction of performance.

The ARI Manager is Dr. Tonia Heffner, (703) 545-4408, tonia.s.heffner.civ@mail.mil a.2 Enhancing Job Classification and Assignment

New missions, equipment, and doctrine will impact the types of jobs and Soldiers needed for the Army of today and tomorrow. Current tools for classifying Soldiers into jobs will need to be refined to meet the changing needs of the Army. These tools need to reflect the multiple requirements of current and future jobs, the realignment of the current job structure, and a broader view of Soldier and officer performance which incorporates motivational, physical, and proficiency components.

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

Development of improved job analysis methods which better support job clustering and generalization of validity findings across jobs.

Development and validation of person-job match models that incorporate individual preferences, motivation, aptitudes, and other individual attributes.

Development and validation of assessment tests for identifying the optimal initial job for Soldiers entering the Army; and the development and/or application of statistical/mathematical methods for achieving these objectives.

Development and validation of assessment tests for selecting Soldiers for special in-service assignments and careers (e.g., Strategist, Special Forces, Cyber, Recruiter).

The ARI Manager is Dr. Tonia Heffner, (703) 545-4408, tonia.s.heffner.civ@mail.mil a.3 Improved Performance Measurement

A more comprehensive individual Soldier assessment and assignment process will necessitate a more rigorous measurement of performance in training, on the job, and over the course of a Soldier’s career, for both officers and enlisted personnel. Further, it is critical to develop a better understanding of the relationship between individual and team (or unit or organization) performance outcomes in the Army to better assess the utility of personnel assessments.

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

Development of more realistic, practical and cost-effective measures of enlisted and officer individual job performance, propensity to stay in the Army, and promotion potential across the range of Army occupations and career paths.

Exploration of the use of individual assessments (e.g., knowledge, skills, non-cognitive measures, physical capabilities, interest inventories) to determine optimal job assignment.

Exploration of how individual Soldier performance relates to team (or unit or organization) performance, and the development of more realistic and cost-effective measures of team (or unit or organization) performance to support such analyses.

New analytical techniques for identifying the relationships among and between indices of individual and team (or unit or organization) performance in the Army.

The ARI Manager is Dr. Tonia Heffner, (703) 545-4408, tonia.s.heffner.civ@mail.mil a.4 New Strategies for Achieving Army Personnel Objectives

The Army must fully leverage the capabilities of an increasingly diverse population in the United States to meet its worldwide missions. Therefore it is critical for the Army to develop, collect, and analyze objective and verifiable indicators of the impact of new and proposed Army personnel practices on individual Soldier performance and advancement, team performance, unit morale and cohesion, and the propensity to stay in the Army across occupations and ranks.

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

Development and/or identification of interdisciplinary measures, methodologies and analytical techniques to longitudinally evaluate individual differences (e.g., aptitudes, non-cognitive measures, physical capabilities, interest inventories) and early experiences on Army performance, morale, continuance, and other outcomes.

Development and validation of early/midcareer selection and assessment tools (e.g., leadership, strategy, decision making) to evaluate career progression and other outcomes.

Development and investigation of new measures for assessing the impact of new

Army personnel practices, and new methods for collecting such data and conducting analyses in an efficient, cost-effective manner.

The ARI Manager is Dr. Tonia Heffner, (703) 545-4408, tonia.s.heffner.civ@mail.mil

b. Assessing and Developing Leader Competencies

The Army must be prepared to execute the potential range of future military operations.

Thus, the Army must develop a bench of officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) who possess the competencies to perform well across a variety of contexts. Developing such competencies requires time and experience over a career, innate ability, and deliberate leader development and training interventions. Leaders at all levels in the

Army—including junior and senior NCOs, cadets, and junior and senior officers—must develop the critical cognitive skills that underlie tactical and technical expertise. Leaders also must possess refined interpersonal and communication skills to mentor subordinates, build teams comprised of diverse individuals, effectively cooperate with interagency and coalition partners, and appropriately influence a variety of individuals and groups (e.g., the media, local populations). Innovations in leader development and training require understanding the competencies required for effective performance in future operational contexts, as well as an understanding of how ability and experience help or hinder competency progression. This area of research addresses methods and techniques to identify, train, develop, and assess higher-order competencies and requisite skills for successful leader performance within the Army.

b.1 Strategic Leadership

The Army develops leaders over their careers, and invests significant time and effort to do so. One area of interest is how to better develop, identify, and assess individuals with the capacity for strategic leadership and higher-order cognitive competencies (e.g., systems thinking, innovative thinking). Research is required to identify competencies required for effective performance at the strategic level of leadership. Additionally, research is needed to identify how those competencies develop over time and across a career. Research also is needed to develop methods to improve, assess, and accelerate the acquisition of those competencies.

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

Identification of the competencies, knowledge, skills, and abilities that must be developed over a career to build officers’ capacity for strategic thinking and leadership.

Methods to assess, develop, and accelerate acquisition of cognitive competencies at different phases in an officer’s career. Cognitive competencies of interest include, but are not limited to, strategic thinking, systems thinking, decision-making, creativity and innovation, visualization, and related complex cognitive skills.

On-the-job approaches to building cognitive competencies and expertise. Examples include examining the value of broadening opportunities to develop strategic leadership skills and methods to improve how leaders use mentoring to build strategic thinking in others.

Methods to develop the competencies, knowledge, and skills to improve a leader’s ability to perform well in a variety of operational and mission contexts (e.g., visualizing the operational environment).

The ARI Manager is Dr. Angela Karrasch, (913) 684-9758, angela.i.karrasch.civ@mail.mil b.2 Leading Others

Deterring adversaries and winning the Nations’ wars are accomplished through the coordinated actions of cohesive and effective teams working toward the same purpose.

The leader’s role in shaping and directing these teams is significant. Moreover, as leaders advance in their careers, the types of teams and organizations they lead grow in complexity. Army leaders advance from the direct level of leadership to leading organizations to leading the Army enterprise. At each stage, leaders are expected to continue learning and developing themselves, as well as developing the subordinates and organizations they lead. To be effective across different performance environments and across a career, leaders must therefore develop and improve a wide range of knowledge, skills, and abilities— both within themselves and within others. Research is needed to identify how leaders grow over time, as well as how leaders develop and mentor their subordinates. Research also is needed to identify how leaders influence the development and performance of teams, their organizations, and individuals outside their chain of command (e.g., in joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational contexts

[JIIM]).

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

Development of innovative measures and models of leadership performance; leader competencies, knowledge, skills, abilities, and other attributes; and leader growth.

This includes developing and validating methods to assess competency baselines and progression throughout Professional Military Education.

Methods to develop leadership skills and competencies for the operational environment. These include, but are not limited to, methods to measure and improve leader performance in the following areas: leading teams, ethical leadership, mission command, and working in JIIM contexts.

Developmental methods for training cross-cultural negotiation, communication, and collaboration skills outside formal education and training venues.

Measures and methods to improve leader capability to develop his or her subordinates. This includes leader development interventions to improve knowledge and skills related to mentorship, methods to aid leaders in identifying subordinates’ developmental needs, and methods to improve performance counselling and feedback.

Methods to enable leaders to influence and improve the organizations they lead.

This includes methods to develop leader skills and competencies related to promoting organizational effectiveness, as well as techniques or job aids to help leaders promote organizational performance (e.g., methods to support the diffusion of innovation, methods to set conditions for a learning environment).

The ARI Manager is Dr. Angela Karrasch, (913) 684-9758, angela.i.karrasch.civ@mail.mil b.3 Assessing and Improving Leader Skills

The Army must produce trained and ready Soldiers and leaders for a wide spectrum of operations and missions. To ensure technical and tactical proficiency, research must examine how to accelerate learning while maintaining effectiveness, exploit new learning and simulation technologies, identify and integrate relevant lessons from operational and training units, and methods to produce more efficient and cost effective training. In conjunction with new approaches to improve leader technical and tactical performance, new methods to assess leader effectiveness and efficiency are required.

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

Development of methods to address emerging human performance challenges and difficult to train skills and behaviors.

Methods and measures to develop and maintain Soldiers’ tactical and technical readiness to employ emerging technologies, particularly complex, integrated warfighting systems and information technologies.

Development of innovative methods that assess, track, and provide feedback on critical cognitive, social, physical, and other attributes to optimize Soldier and leader performance across their careers.

Scientifically-based skill-development strategies and tools for assessing and enhancing Soldiers’ perceptual and cognitive performance on individual and collaborative tasks executed in complex multi-domain environments.

The ARI Manager is Dr. Jennifer Tucker, (706) 545-2362, jennifer.s.tucker.civ@us.army.mil b.4 Developing Noncommissioned Officers for the Future Force

Noncommissioned officers (NCOs) have always been responsible for leading, training, and taking care of Soldiers and equipment while enforcing standards. Thus, NCOs at every level play a critical role in ensuring the readiness and success of the Army. Junior NCOs play a particularly important role in preparing junior enlisted Soldiers to become the Army’s future leaders. NCOs train their Soldiers in MOS skills and unit missions so that they will be prepared for what is expected to be an increasingly complex and uncertain future. Thus, it is important to develop junior NCO skills in leading, training, and taking care of Soldiers. Additionally, because the Army grows its NCOs over the course of a career, it is important to understand how junior NCOs develop into effective senior NCOs. Research is needed to identify, assess, and develop key NCO competencies across the career lifecycle. This research will develop science-based training, training resources, and job aids to enable NCOs at every echelon to lead, train, and take care of Soldiers and to prepare those Soldiers to become the future NCO Corps. This research also will provide exemplar training and non-training interventions to promote positive behavior and positive attitudes among Soldiers.

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

Identification of emerging challenges that Squad Leaders and Team Leaders will face when leading, training, and taking care of their Soldiers over the next decade, and identification of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other attributes they will need to meet those challenges.

Development of new models of Squads and Teams that capture insights from fields such as Evolutionary, Developmental, and Social Psychology that more accurately capture the unique characteristics of a small warfighting unit than current models do.

Scientifically-based and empirically validated methods for developing Squad

Leaders and Team Leaders to succeed in a variety of performance contexts.

Identification and development of the best methods that Squad Leaders and Team

Leaders can use to develop Soldiers on non-tactical behavior and cognitive skills.

Development of new methods to improve Squad and Team Leader capability to address negative behaviors and attitudes occurring within their units.

Methods and models that identify and describe how NCO competencies, knowledge, skills, and abilities change over the course of a career—from junior enlisted to senior NCO. Research also might include developing measures to assess and methods to develop NCOs competencies, knowledge, skills, and abilities across a career.

The ARI Manager is Dr. Brian Crabb (254) 288-3833, brian.t.crabb.civ@mail.mil

c. Unit Performance and Cohesion

Performance in the current and future operational environments hinges not only on the performance of individuals, but on the performance of collectives. Soldiers and leaders operate within a variety of collective performance contexts: within their units, within new types of teams (e.g., military advisor teams or special working groups), and within teams of teams (e.g., within Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental, and Multinational contexts).

Collective performance and effective teamwork are important now and likely to become even more prominent in the future. The future teams of the Army must be prepared for a wide variety of performance contexts. For instance, future teams may operate as self-contained entities-- disaggregated, highly mobile, technologically savvy, and working in a multidimensional battlespace. Future teams must also be prepared for missions that involve working closely with foreign partners and in-and-around indigenous populations.

Research is required to define and measure many variations of collective performance, as well as develop methods to promote performance across a spectrum of collective contexts.

c.1 Collective Resilience, Readiness, and Performance

Traditionally, resilience programs and scientific research focus on resilience as an individual-level construct. However, this single-level focus fails to consider the interdependencies between the individual and collective levels of resilience. Additionally, little is known about how collective concepts, such as unit resilience, command climate, and collective performance impact unit readiness and other unit-level outcomes of interest. This research examines the relationships between multilevel constructs, such as unit resilience, climate, readiness, collective performance, and other unit-level outcomes.

This research will provide holistic measures to better assess unit readiness and related collective constructs.

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

Development and validation of innovative measures and models of collective constructs, such as performance, readiness, resilience, cohesion, and command climate.

Theories and models that articulate relationships among resilience at different levels of analysis and other multilevel constructs of interest, such as collective performance, leadership, Soldier behaviors, social connections/connectedness, unit climate, and unit values/shared vision.

New analytic techniques to assess and aggregate resilience at multiple levels of analysis.

Identification and measurement of contextual factors that impact unit resilience, collective readiness, and collective performance.

Methods to improve unit/collective resilience, collective performance and other collective constructs (e.g., cohesion, command climate).

The ARI Manager is Dr. Colanda Cato, (703) 545-2345, colanda.r.cato@us.army.mil c.2 Multi-Layered Hierarchical Units

Multi-Domain Battle (MDB) is a quickly maturing concept for how Army could fight and operate with adversaries in the future. MDB requires a dynamic mix of U.S. Army forward presence and expeditionary forces and partner forces to deter and defeat the enemy. Future Army units are projected to operate as disaggregated, highly mobile, self-contained forces that will operate for extended periods in complex environments without fixed basing. Small units drawing from diverse personnel across of variety of units will be required to rapidly and organically aggregate to achieve particular missions, and then easily disaggregate back into their previous state post-mission. Operational headquarters staff will need appropriate tools and techniques to optimally staff and assign personnel to these small units in order to achieve maximum effectiveness across the entire force or address specific needs for specific missions. These teaming arrangements are an adaptive response to the complexity of the problems encountered in the current global environment. Research efforts are needed to determine how to optimally staff and compose multiple teams simultaneously, develop tools and techniques for teams to be able to organically aggregate and disaggregate as the mission and operational environment demand, and understand how myriad individual characteristics combine to create highly effective teams.

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

Tools and techniques to support the rapid, organic aggregation and disaggregation of small units into multi-team systems in response to task and environmental demands.

Statistical and measurement methods to understand team and multi-team process and performance dynamics in field settings.

Understanding of attributes and emergent states of teams related to robustness and a team’s ability to continue to perform well under duress for extended time periods.

Understanding the role of trust, cohesion, and other emergent states influence performance and effectiveness in multi-team systems; including the establishment and dynamics of these states in multi-team systems.

Application or revision of concepts such as commander's intent, command intent, and unity of effort to train and support collaboration and decision-making by collocated and distributed teams.

The ARI Manager is Dr. Richard Hoffman, (703) 545-2417, richard.r.hoffman.civ@mail.mil c.3 Team Staffing and Composition

As the Army shifts to the Multi-Domain Battle (MDB) operational paradigm, there will be an increased emphasis on ensuring effectiveness by Soldiers and small units. In order to maintain maximal effectiveness of the force in this paradigm, the Army will need to efficiently assign and utilize personnel throughout the formation. This concept is often articulated as “Right Soldier, Right Job, Right Time.” To achieve this vision, the Army requires the capability to shift to a team-based assignment paradigm from an individual-job based assignment model. The Army currently lacks the tools, methods, and algorithms for optimally assigning individuals to teams and small units to ensure the operational effectiveness of these units in future conflicts. Moreover, the current assessment systems used by the Army may not collect sufficiently deep or appropriate information on the individual attributes and capabilities of Soldiers to support a team-based assignment paradigm. Research in this topic area will address both the methods and statistical tools, as well as the attributes and capabilities to be assessed in order to support team-based assignment in the future.

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

Identifying characteristics that predict individuals’ capacity of working effectively in the team environments.

Statistical optimization algorithms and models for ensuring team effectiveness across a large number of teams and team assignment decisions.

Understanding of team composition and compilation models for predicting team performance.

Computational tools that embody scientific knowledge of team composition and compilation, team tasks and environmental conditions related to performance, and optimization algorithms for personnel officers to use to assign members to teams.

c.4 Measuring Unit Performance and Readiness

Future operations will span multiple domains and require resilient and adaptable teams capable of conducting semi-independent operations. Thus, resilience and adaptability are essential for successful team performance and it is imperative to develop innovative means of measuring unit performance and unit readiness in training and operational contexts. The goal is for a holistic assessment of unit performance to shape training, leader skills, and team composition. In addition to innovative qualitative and quantitative measures of unit performance and readiness, innovative measures of unit climate and unit culture are also vital because of their strong link to building adaptable teams.

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

Innovative methods of assessing unit performance at the company, squad, and platoon level, unit climate, culture, and unit readiness at appropriate time intervals to observe key dynamics in these phenomena.

Understanding of how climate, culture and other aspects of readiness interact across different echelons and team compositions.

Tools and techniques to better understand the development and maintenance of unit climate and culture.

Tools, techniques, and assessment methods to better understand the relationship among, climate, culture, and unit performance and readiness.

c.5 Improving Unit Performance and Cohesion in Complex Environments

In future operations, units will conduct missions in a multi-dimensional battlespace that includes traditional operational concerns, as well as urban terrain, distinct and nuanced cybersecurity challenges, and subterranean obstacles. A principal notion is that decentralized operations will be the norm rather than the exception. Preparation for such missions is challenging, and effectively measuring acquisition, performance and retention of critical skills is paramount. The goal of this research area is to develop novel methods and tools for enhancing skill acquisition, performance and retention by using an interdisciplinary approach from multiple areas of psychological science. This research will provide Soldier-driven, science-based measures, methods, and strategies to rapidly build, train, and sustain cohesion and performance in teams and units. The research will encompass performance in both traditional operational contexts and potential future operational contexts (e.g., multi-domain battle).

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

Identify new individual and collective knowledge, skills, abilities, and other attributes to operate successfully in dynamic and complex environments with changing mission sets.

Develop measurement and feedback tools for evaluating the acquisition, performance and retention of individual and collective skills.

Develop collective skill-development methodologies that are best suited for unit performance on multidimensional battlefields.

Develop methods to determine the impact of training and training enablers on individual and collective readiness and performance.

Research to determine how to assess, develop, and sustain unit cohesion in hierarchical, multi-layered units, to identify and understand key threats to unit cohesion at the small unit level, and to develop mitigation strategies for sustaining unit cohesion during periods and environments of significant duress.

Understand the factors related to the development or changes in unit cohesion across the unit lifecycle to include both home station and deployment environments.

Tools and techniques for the development of collaborative capabilities for enhancing inter-organizational collaboration in coalition operations.

Tools and techniques for the assessment and development of individual capabilities related to working in diverse, cross-organizational teams.

The ARI Manager is Dr. Brian Crabb (254) 288-3833, brian.t.crabb.civ@mail.mil

d. Statistical Innovations in Talent Management

Existing and potential data sources relevant to human performance, readiness, and resilience are often stove-piped and underutilized. Maximizing Soldier and unit performance requires the ability to integrate data from many sources, investigate new sources and types of data, and extract useful information from data. To this end, continuing advances in statistics, computer science, machine learning, and other data sciences hold a great deal of promise for improving talent management in the Army.

These advances can lead to new methods of Soldier testing and assessment, understanding and predicting leader development, and methods to maximize effectiveness over the course of a Soldier’s career. However, such methods also present conceptual, technical, and operational challenges.

d.1 Improving Talent Management through Data Science

“Big Data” can be characterized by large sample sizes and high dimensionality, sparsity, noisy and irregular measurements, complex interdependencies (including social and temporal), and heterogeneity (e.g., of data types and structures). Legal or ethical considerations also may place restrictions on how data and models should be used (e.g., creating new forms of assessment that result in adverse impact). Finally, the utility of data and models for making decisions depends on getting the right kind of information to the right people. Leaders and Soldiers need information that is understandable, reliable, valid, and timely. Given these challenges, research is necessary to develop new ways of generating, analyzing, and using data for the purpose of talent management.

Topic areas of research interest include the following:

New metrics and models for group and individual effectiveness in organizations.

Examples include network effects associated with individual training and performance, as well as metrics to more accurately integrate the value, costs, and likelihood of relevant performance behaviors across contexts and careers.

Novel or non-traditional data sources for behavioral/social science research in military contexts. Examples include archival, physiological, relational, sensor, and qualitative data -- especially data related to Soldier performance, staffing and personnel decisions, leadership development, attitude assessment, and group/organizational behavior.

New statistical and computational methods for assessing individuals and groups.

Examples include new methods for augmenting assessments with non-traditional data; new approaches to generate, deploy, and score assessments; statistical innovations in addressing faking and response distortion; predictive models to improve talent management; and methods to reduce survey response burden.

New methods to support timely, valid, and efficient data-based personnel management and leader decision-making. Examples include innovations in job analysis/competency modeling and statistical/computational methods to optimally assign individuals to specialties and units.

Other applications of Big Data analytics, predictive modeling, or new computational methods to address talent management and personnel management. Examples include testing and assessment, counter-productive work behaviors, recruitment, retention, career development, promotions, improving person-job fit, enhancing readiness and resilience, and decision-support systems for leaders.

The ARI Manager is Dr. Andrew Slaughter, (703) 545-2353, andrew.j.slaughter.civ@mail.mil

e. Conference and Symposia Grants

A. Introduction. Through the award of a grant, the Army supports conferences and symposia (as defined in the DoD Travel Regulations) in areas of science that bring experts together to discuss recent research or educational findings or to expose other researchers or advanced graduate students to new research and educational techniques.

The Army encourages the convening in the United States of major international conferences, symposia, and assemblies of international alliances.

B. Eligibility. Notwithstanding the Army's authority to provide grant support for such events, only non-commercial scientific, technical, or professional organizations that qualify for tax exemption may receive a conference grant/symposia grant. Those who meet this requirement should also be aware that the DoD does not permit "co-sponsorship" (as defined in DoD 5500.07-R) absent additional high level staffing and approval. In other words, the conference grant support identified in this BAA is NOT DoD sponsorship or co-sponsorship since ARI is neither an organizer, nor provider, of any substantial logistical support for the conferences addressed in this section. The Applicant for a conference or symposia grant under this Broad Agency Announcement shall agree to offer no cost attendance by one or more Army representatives for grant monitoring purposes. The Applicant must state in their proposal the number of Army attendees that will be allowed to attend the conference or symposium.

C. Conference Support. Conference support proposals should be submitted a minimum of six (6) months prior to the date of the conference. It is anticipated that support for conferences and symposia may take multiple forms including financial support for the meeting, travel support for speakers, or travel support to allow attendance and participation by advanced graduate students and junior faculty.

D. Technical Proposal Preparation. The technical portion of a proposal for support of conference or symposium should include:

(1) A one page or less summary indicating the objectives of the project,

(2) The topics to be covered,

(3) The location and probable date(s) and why the conference is considered appropriate at the time specified,

(4) An explanation of how the conference and requested support will relate to the research interests of the Army as identified in Section A of this BAA and how it will contribute to the enhancement and improvement of scientific, engineering, and/or educational in general and activities as outlined earlier in the research areas of this BAA,

(5) The name of chairperson(s)/(PI)(s) and his/her biographical information,

(6) If applicable, a list of proposed participants,

(7) The methods of announcement or invitation,

(8) A summary of how the results of the meeting will be disseminated, and

(9) A signed cover page.

E. Cost Proposal Preparation. The cost portion of the proposal should show:

(1) Total project conference costs by major cost elements.

(2) Anticipated sources of conference income and amount from each.

(3) Anticipated use of funds requested.

(4) A signed budget.

F. Support for Federal Employee Attendance. Funds provided cannot be used for payment to any federal government employee for support, subsistence, or services in connection with the proposed conference or symposium.

G. Cognizant POC. It is highly recommended that potential applicants contact the appropriate POC identified earlier in the research areas of this BAA for advice and assistance before preparation of a conference/symposia proposal.

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION:

The Army Contracting Command- Aberdeen Proving Ground, RTP Division has the authority to award a variety of instruments on behalf of ARI. Anticipated awards may be made in the form of procurement contracts, grants, cooperative agreements and technology investment agreements (TIAs), or other transactions for prototypes (OTAs). The ACC (APG) RTP Division reserves the right to use the type of instrument most appropriate for the effort proposed. Applicants should familiarize themselves with these instrument types and the applicable regulations before submitting a white paper or proposal. The following are brief descriptions of the possible award instruments:

1. Procurement Contract: A legal instrument, which consistent with 31 U.S.C. 6303, reflects a relationship between the Federal Government and a State, a local government, or other recipient when the principal purpose of the instrument is to acquire property or services for the direct benefit or use of the Federal Government.

This instrument is appropriate for awards of the acquisition of basic, applied, or advanced research and that part of development not related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement when the principal purpose is to acquire property or services for the direct benefit or use of the Federal Government.

Procurement contracts awarded by the ACC (APG) RTP Division will contain, where appropriate, detailed special provisions concerning patent, rights in technical data and computer software, reporting requirements, equal employment opportunity, etc. Contracts are primarily governed by the following regulations:

a. Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR)

b. Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations (DFAR)

c. Army Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement

No fee or profit will be allowed on travel and equipment.

2. Grant: A legal instrument, that consistent with 31 U.S.C. 6304, is used to enter into a relationship in which:

a. The principal purpose is to transfer a thing of value to the recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law or the United States, rather than to acquire property or services for the Department of Defense’s direct benefit or use.

b. Substantial involvement is not expected between the Department of Defense and the recipient when carrying out the activity contemplated by the grant.

c. No fee or profit is allowed.

d. This instrument is appropriate for basic research awards when the principal purpose is to transfer a thing of value to the recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law or the United States, rather than to acquire property or services for the Department of Defense’s direct benefit or use. No substantial involvement is expected between the Department of Defense and the award recipient when carrying out the grant activity.

3. Cooperative Agreement: A legal instrument which, consistent with 31 U.S.C. 6305, is used to enter into the same kind of relationship as a grant (see definition "grant"), except that substantial involvement is expected between the Department of Defense and the recipient when carrying out the activity contemplated by the cooperative agreement. The term does not include "cooperative research and development agreements" as defined in 15 U.S.C.

3710a. No fee or profit is allowed.

This instrument is appropriate for basic, applied, or advanced research awards when the principal purpose is to transfer a thing of value to the recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law or the United States, rather than to acquire property or services for the Department of Defense’s direct benefit or use. Substantial involvement is expected between the Department of Defense and the award recipient when carrying out the cooperative agreement activity.

Grants and cooperative agreements are currently governed by the guidance in 2 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, “Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards,” as modified and supplemented by the Department of Defense’s (DoD) interim implementation found at 2 CFR Part 1103, “Interim Grants and Cooperative Agreements Implementation of Guidance in 2 CFR Part 200”.

4. Technology Investment Agreement (TIA) Assistance Transaction other than a Grant or

Cooperative Agreement: A legal instrument, consistent…