Proposers Day Q_A.pdf

Questions and Answers collected from the chat during Proposers’ Day on 14 Dec 2020

Q1. May Canadian institutions be subcontracted or joint as coPIs (non‐lead)?

A1. All applicants must be US institutions as stated in the BAA.

Q2. Will you be sharing these slides by email?

A2. All slides will be posted to grants.gov following the meeting. They will not be distributed by email.

Q3. Thank you for the very informative talks. I think I have a better understanding of the "Predictive Design of Engineered Biological Materials", including the opportunities, challenges, and applications. I am afraid that I am still not clear about the Predictive Design of Engineered Cellular Systems focus. In particular, the presentations mentioned some of these challenges, but they were mostly in the arena of materials. A little bit of sensing also, but not much else. Can we assume that these are the two application areas that are favored?

A3. This is a basic research program, and as such, is not targeted toward specific applications. Proposers should review the basic research challenges that are outlined in the BAA as they formulate their proposals. Specific experimental systems may be selected to align with potential Army partners based on their interest areas. However, proposers must be careful not to direct their proposal toward specific application challenges identified by Army partners, but rather toward advancing the basic science challenges outlined in the BAA that would support future applied research.

Q4. Does Oak Ridge National Lab and other DOE labs count as a federal lab under this announcement?

A4. Oak Ridge National Lab and other DOE labs are considered FFRDCs under this announcement.

Q5. Thank you for the informative workshop! I assume pre‐white paper email inquiries are welcome. Is a 1‐2 page research overview appropriate?

A5. Inquiries in advance of whitepaper submission will not be considered under this announcement. All research concepts must be submitted as whitepapers per the instructions in the BAA.

Q6. You mentioned that a Cooperative Agreement is the preferred funding type. Does this mean that a proposal aimed at a Cooperative Agreement would have a higher chance for funding than a proposal with similar technical content aimed at a Grant type of funding?

A6. The award type requested is not one of the evaluation criteria for this announcement and thus will not impact assessment of a given proposal. However, note that full proposals under Funding Area One (Team) and Funding Area Two (Seedling) must include a teaming and collaboration plan among other Team and Seedling awardees as well as with researchers within DEVCOM ARL and other organizations within the Army S&T Enterprise, and that plan will be evaluated as stated in the BAA.

Q7. Can the distinction between the two thrusts be clarified further, i.e., between biological materials vs cell‐based approaches? For example, if proposals use new cell‐based screens to identify and evaluate materials or sensors, when would they go in one thrust or the other?

A7. The two Technical Thrust Areas set forth independent basic research goals. As stated in the BAA, Thrust 1 (Predictive Design of Engineered Biological Materials) aims to develop generalizable experimental and computational tools enabling the scalable synthesis, assembly and characterization of rationally designed biological materials with control over final material properties. Proposers are responsible for selecting and justifying the specific materials and properties that will be the focus of their proposed project, along with the material production system (i.e., engineered cells, cell‐free systems, etc.). As stated in the BAA, Thrust 2 (Predictive Design of Engineered Cellular Systems in

Defined Environments) aims to develop experimental and computational tools that support the predictive design of engineered cellular consortia in a defined environment. A major goal is the development of predictive tools that identify optimal synthetic biology control schemes to support robust regulated function of engineered consortia within a specific environment. As outlined in the BAA, environments of interest include, but are not limited to: geological systems (e.g., soil, rock), interfaces in the built environment, and corrosive systems. Specifically excluded are the human/animal environments. Engineered cellular functions of interest include, but are not limited to: extraction of valuable elements/materials, waste decomposition, sense and respond, and corrosion prevention.

Please refer to the BAA for more details on the specific objectives and research challenges for each thrust.

Q8. You mentioned performance enhancement and warfighter protection as areas of interest, but your focus seemed to be on nutrition and microbiome for the former, and clothing for the latter. Would you seriously consider research on injectable therapeutic or protective proteins for either performance enhancement or warfighter protection as being appropriate for this BAA?

A8. This BAA seeks basic research, which by definition, does not have a specific application in mind.

Proposers should review the basic research challenges that are outlined in the BAA as they formulate their proposals. Specific experimental systems may be selected to align with potential Army partners based on their interest areas. However, proposers must be careful not to direct their proposal toward specific application challenges identified by Army partners, but rather toward advancing the basic science challenges outlined in the BAA that would support future applied research. Please note under Technical Thrust Area 2 that human/animal environments are specifically excluded.

Q9. You mentioned "libraries" as an area of interest, but it was not clear what types of libraries. Would you seriously consider research on a novel, broadly applicable platform library designed to generate improved antibodies (for example increased affinity and/or increased specificity for a target antigen) as being appropriate for this BAA?

A9. This BAA seeks basic research, which by definition, does not have a specific application in mind.

Proposers should review the basic research challenges that are outlined in the BAA as they formulate their proposals. Specific experimental systems may be selected to align with potential Army partners based on their interest areas. However, proposers must be careful not to direct their proposal toward specific application challenges identified by Army partners, but rather toward advancing the basic science challenges outlined in the BAA that would support future applied research. Please note under Technical Thrust Area 2 that human/animal environments are specifically excluded.

Q10. Could you also comment on the relative interest in broader platforms and enabling technologies on one side, and applications on the other? Does a broader platform with multiple different applications sound competitive, or do you generally envision one more in‐depth application?

A10. This BAA seeks basic research, which by definition, does not have a specific application in mind.

This BAA also does not seek technology or platform development. Proposers should review the basic research challenges that are outlined in the BAA as they formulate their proposals. Specific experimental systems may be selected to align with potential Army partners based on their interest areas. However, proposers must be careful not to direct their proposal toward specific application challenges identified by Army partners, but rather toward advancing the basic science challenges outlined in the BAA that would support future applied research.

Q11. For Seedlings, should the white paper/proposal include project description for the option period, or the base period only?

A11. Whitepapers should describe the entire project proposed, including any option periods that are proposed.

Q12. For Seedlings, will funding decisions be made for both periods together, or should the PI(s) submit another proposal for the option period in 2022 and 2023?

A12. The whitepaper/proposal should include a description for the entire project, including any proposed option periods. Funding for option periods will be at the Government's discretion and subject to availability of funds.

Q13. For Seedling whitepapers [Scientific (3p)/Impact (0.5p)/Programmatic (0.5p)]: Should each have separate heading or should it be fine if the combined page is 4?

A13. Proposers may format their whitepaper as they see fit, but must abide by the maximum page limits set forth for each section (3 pages maximum for Scientific, 0.5 page maximum for Impact, 0.5 page maximum for Programmatic).

Q14. For Seedling white papers, will collaboration plans be evaluated?

A14. For Seedling whitepapers, any collaboration plans provided will be evaluated as part of the overall proposed project (see Evaluation and Disposition of whitepapers, BAA page 14). However, please note that collaboration plans are not a required element of the Seedling whitepaper (see whitepaper technical content, BAA page 14), but are a required element of the Seedling proposals (see BAA page 23).

Q15. For Seedling full proposals, will collaboration plans be evaluated?

A15. For Seedling proposals, collaboration plans will be evaluated as part of the overall proposed project. Unlike the Team proposals, Seedling proposals will not be scored against a specific criterion regarding the teaming and collaboration plan (see Evaluation Criteria, BAA page 31), however Seedling proposals must include a teaming and collaboration plan (see page 23 of the BAA).

Q16. What are the reporting requirements if a cooperative agreement is granted? Monthly slides?

Written reports? Is that similar for seedlings vs full grants?

A16. Per the BAA, the number and type of reports will be specified in the award document. At a minimum, for both award types (Team and Seedling), monthly financial status reports and annual technical progress reports will be required (please review Section 3 of the BAA; page 43), along with a formal presentation during each annual review for the Center.

Q17. Will you send out the list of all who attended the proposer's day, like DARPA often does? That can facilitate forming teams of interested parties.

A17. All registered participants will be asked if they would like to share their contact information with other participants. For those that opt to share their contact information, this will be distributed to all registered participants.