Lichen Study

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering Research and Development Center-Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) has a requirement for services to extract, sequence, assemble, and functionally annotate genomic sequences for lichen samples cultured at CERL.  ERDC-CERL intends to award a purchase order on a sole source basis to the University of Illinois in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(1).

It has been determined that the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, specifically the team at the University’s Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center (aka the Keck Center), is the only source for fulfilling the government’s requirement.  This determination is because of the unique combination of experiences and capabilities that they possess:

1. Local to CERL site (15–20-minute driving distance), thus does not require shipping sensitive and irreplaceable samples,
2. Owns/operates high-quality scientific-grade laboratory equipment capable of performing genomic sequences for lichen samples,
3. Capabilities to provide data interpretation and preparing a report of the analysis performed

The locality requirements stem from the sensitive nature of these lichen samples.  They are highly sensitive to contamination and degradation, and therefore local sequencing of hand-delivered samples is desired compared to shipping the samples which could lead to their loss/ruin

Because of these reasons the University of Illinois is the sole source for this procurement.

This is not a request for proposal and in no way obligates the Government to award any contract.

This is not a small business set aside. Any interested party that believes they can fulfill this requirement should submit a capability statement to be reviewed. All submissions will be considered, however there is no guarantee that submissions in response to this notice will in any way alter the Government’s acquisition strategy.

Please provide responses to this notice, no later than the date and time listed at the top of this posting, to:

CERL-CT-QUOTES@usace.army.mil

Telephone responses will not be accepted.

Responses to this notice will not be considered as a response to any solicitation, a request to be added to a prospective offerors list, or to receive a copy of any solicitation. A determination by the Government not to compete the contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.