Peer Review and Merit Services

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is for planning purposes and shall not be constructed as an obligation on the part of the Government. This is NOT a Request for Quotations or Proposals. No solicitation document exists, and the Government may or may not issue a formal solicitation as a result of responses received to this RFI. Furthermore, those who respond to this RFI should not anticipate feedback with regards to their submissions; other than acknowledgment of receipt, provided a firm request such an acknowledgement.

The Government will not pay for any response provided as result of this RFI. All cost incurred responding to this RFI will be solely at the expense of the interest sources. Failure to respond to this RFI will not preclude participation in any future solicitation, should there be one. Any information received will become the property of the Government and will not be returned.

Interested sources are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or sensitive information. Government technical experts drawn from staff within DHS and other Federal Agencies may review responses. The Government may use selected support Contractor personnel to assist in the review of RFI response. These support Contractors will be bound by appropriate non- disclosure agreements to protect proprietary information.

I. PURPOSE

The purpose of the RFI is to:

a. identify qualified and interested sources with the capability to provide academic Peer and Merit Review services required by any office or component of DHS on behalf of Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate, Office of University Programs (OUP) (see draft attached Scope of Work).

A Peer and Merit Review is a thorough, consistent, and objective examination of research proposals and applications based on pre-established criteria by persons who are independent of those individuals submitting the applications, and who are knowledgeable in the field of endeavor for which support is requested.

II. QUESTIONS FOR INDUSTRY

a) Describe your firm’s knowledge of and experience using secure web-based interaction tools to perform and manage peer and merit reviews, including ad-hoc reviews, focus groups, workshops, large meetings, and study groups of subject matter experts (SMEs) and professional practitioners of similar size, scope, and complexity to meet DHS or other federal agency requirements in the past three (3) years.

b) Describe your firm’s existing database of relevant SMEs from a variety of scientific and engineering disciplines applicable to homeland security-related research. Include information on how quickly SMEs could be utilized to conduct reviews, how they are vetted, how their review progress is tracked, how they are paid, and how you select the right SME for a particular peer and merit review.

c) Describe your firm’s experience planning, scheduling, facilitating, and documenting the results from workshops and meetings for scientific members and experts of the federal, academic, and non-profit and industry communities in the past three (3) years.

d) Describe your firm’s experience in providing organization and facilitation of multi- day, multi-session annual reviews of university research and education programs with federal, state, local, international, and private sector stakeholders participating.

e) Describe your firm’s experience operating and conducting training for DHS approved web-based portal and software programs for electronic (virtual) reviews, quantitative and qualitative data collection, reviewer ratings, written justifications, and the tabulation and scoring of input from multiple reviewers in the past three (3) years.

1. RESPONE SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Responses shall be a maximum of eight (8) pages and include the following information:

1. Firm’s Legal Business Name and Physical Address
2. Firm’s Point of Contact (POC) (Name, Phone Number, Email Address, and Website URL)
3. Firm’s Unique Entity ID (UEI) Number and CAGE Code
4. Firm’s Business Size/Socio-Economic Category under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541611, Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services Size Standard $24.5M.
5. Identify if your firm would be interested in competing for this requirement as a prime contractor or subcontractor, if solicited. If subcontracting, identify any joint ventures or teaming arrangement that would be pursued.

Submission shall be made using Microsoft Office application. Font shall not be smaller than 12-point Times New Roman. Please provide your response to this RFI no later than NOON PM Eastern Daylight Time on June 03, 2024 to LeShanna Calahan at LeShanna.Calahan@hq.dhs.gov.

NOTE: The Government reserves the right to hold one-on-one meetings as result of responses received from this RFI as part of its market research efforts. Meetings may be held with companies who provide comprehensive and relevant responses to the topic and questions in this notice.