2027 & 2029 NCSES Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities Sources Sought

The National Science Foundation Division of Acquisition and Cooperative Support is preparing to procure task-order support for conducting biennial Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities for fiscal years 2027 and 2029, with a sources-sought response deadline of July 15, 2026. No set-aside is anticipated. The procurement NAICS code is 541611 (Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services) with a $24.5 million size standard.

Data collection cycles begin October 27, 2027 and October 24, 2029. The contractor must conduct census-methodology surveys of research-performing colleges and universities with separately accounted science and engineering R&D spending exceeding $1 million, targeting at least 95 percent response rates through web-based collection supplemented by telephone follow-up. Core deliverables include database development and maintenance, detailed table generation, data files for NCSES repositories and the Data Table Builder, methodological research and reports, public-use file creation, imputation procedures, and monthly project management.

Contractor personnel must comply with Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) requirements, Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) compliance, execute data use agreements, complete annual confidentiality training, and accept unannounced security inspections. All survey instruments, software, and developed materials become non-proprietary U.S. Government property transferable to successors. All deliverables must meet Section 508 accessibility standards.

NSF explicitly encourages responses from large businesses, small businesses, joint ventures, and small businesses in all socioeconomic categories including 8(a), Small Disadvantage Business, Historically Underutilized Business Zone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, and Women-Owned Small Business concerns. Capability demonstrations must address experience with national-level establishment surveys at 95 percent response rates, federal government data dissemination, methodological studies, OMB approval processes, higher-education R&D accounting and space surveys, and state-of-the-art database development with confidentiality and security expertise. Cost or price information must not be included; relevant references are required. Submit responses limited to five pages in 12-point Times Roman font to Derek Bowks at dbowks@nsf.gov.