SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Transfer Learning
- Notice Date
- 3/18/2005
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541710
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences
- Contracting Office
- Other Defense Agencies, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Contracts Management Office, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA, 22203-1714
- ZIP Code
- 22203-1714
- Solicitation Number
- BAA05-29
- Response Due
- 3/14/2006
- Archive Date
- 3/15/2006
- Description
- Description A. Overview Information I. Federal Agency Name: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Information Processing Technology Office II. Funding Opportunity Title: Transfer Learning (TL) III. Announcement Type: Initial Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) IV. Funding Opportunity Number: BAA 05-29 V. CFDA Number: 12.910 VI. Key Dates a. Initial Closing: 12:00 Noon (ET), April 29, 2005 b. Final Closing: 12:00 Noon (ET), March 14, 2006 c. All administrative correspondence and questions on this solicitation, including requests for information on how to submit a proposal to this BAA, must be received at one of the administrative addresses below by 12:00 Noon (ET) March 1, 2006 d. DARPA will be holding a Bidders? Conference for interested parties on March 30, 2005 at the Executive Conference Center, 3601 Wilson Blvd, Suite 600, Arlington VA 22203. Please see http://www.schafertmd.com/tlbc2005 for more details and to register. B. Full text of announcement I. Funding Opportunity Description 1. INTRODUCTION The DARPA Information Processing Technology Office (DARPA/IPTO) is soliciting proposals under this BAA to perform research and development to support the Transfer Learning (TL) Program. 1.1 PROGRAM OBJECTIVES The goal of the Transfer Learning Program solicited by this BAA is to develop, implement, demonstrate and evaluate theories, architectures, algorithms, methods, and techniques that enable computers to apply knowledge learned for a particular, original set of tasks to achieve superior performance on new, previously unseen tasks. This goal reflects the observation that key cognitive abilities of humans include the abilities to generalize, abstract, reuse, reorganize and apply knowledge learned in previous life experiences to novel situations. 1.2 PROGRAM SCOPE This Program consists of three one-year phases, with decision points between each phase. These decisions will be based on the amount of progress made against the project goals specified in the proposals. This BAA is for all three phases. DARPA anticipates awarding contracts for Phase 1 with two one-year options for Phases 2 and 3. The Program solicits research contributions drawn from all applicable fields, particularly artificial intelligence and cognitive science. It is anticipated that no single approach will provide the desired capability; rather, integrated approaches based on a synthesis of new and existing ideas from multiple research areas implemented as integrated systems based on a coherent theory or model are likely to be needed. This Program and solicitation has two areas: the primary area, which aims to develop integrated transfer learning capabilities, and the evaluation area, which will develop challenge problems and execute evaluations appropriate to measure to what degree the objectives have been achieved (or exceeded). Offerors may bid on the primary area; all offerors must also bid on the evaluation area. 2. TECHNICAL APPROACH An ongoing integrated transfer learning capability will require combinations of diverse approaches drawn from traditionally distinct fields of research. DARPA desires to achieve progress against the goal of an ongoing integrated transfer learning capability that is applicable to diverse tasks and domains. The areas described in this BAA are designed to promote the formation of teams across disciplinary boundaries. Key ideas that contribute to the ability to achieve the desired Transfer Learning will include modular knowledge representations, dynamically composable knowledge modules, and mapping between knowledge representations. Recognizing the applicability of existing knowledge to novel problem solving situations will be as important as the ability to reuse the existing knowledge in the novel situation. Some approaches that may be of interest include learning by analogy, incremental or cumulative learning, chunking, learning by doing, and learning by taking advice. This list is meant to be suggestive, rather than exhaustive; ideas not mentioned here are at least as desirable as those that are. Area A ? Transfer Learning Technology Development The objective of this research area is to develop ongoing integrated transfer learning capabilities. Transfer learning is defined as the ability to use knowledge or skills learned for an original set of tasks in an original domain to solve problems on a different set of tasks and/or in a different domain. Area B ? Transfer Learning Evaluation Frameworks In Area B, DARPA seeks a set of capabilities to demonstrate and evaluate the effectiveness of transfer learning. These evaluation capabilities will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the technologies developed under area A. It is anticipated that at least three distinct evaluation capabilities will be developed and used in this Program and that every technology developed under area A will be evaluated in at least three distinct domains. This is to ensure that the technical approaches result in general transfer learning capabilities rather than domain-specific solutions. II. Award Information The Government reserves the right to select all, some, or none of the proposals received in response to this solicitation and to make awards without discussions with offerors; however, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if the Source Selection Authority later determines them to be necessary. Final funding determination will be based on the combination of proposed approaches which will reasonably support program success. Proposals identified for funding may result in a contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or other transaction depending upon the nature of the work proposed, the required degree of interaction between the parties, and other factors. If warranted, portions of resulting awards may be segregated into pre-priced options. III. Eligibility Information 1. Eligible Applicants All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal that shall be considered by DARPA. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals. However, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCU and MI participation due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of this research for exclusive competition among these entities. 2. Cost Sharing or Matching Cost sharing is not required for this particular program; however, cost sharing will be carefully considered where there is an applicable statutory condition relating to the selected funding instrument (e.g., for any Technology Investment Agreement under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2371). IV. Application and Submission Information 1. Address to Request Application Package This announcement and the PIP contain all information required to submit a proposal. No additional forms, kits, or other materials are needed. [Note: see paragraph 6, ?other submission requirements,? for reference to the PIP.] 2. Content and Form of Application Submission This BAA requires completion of an online Cover Sheet for each Proposal prior to submission. To do so, the offeror must go to http://www.dyncorp-is.com/BAA/index.asp?BAAid=05-29 and follow the instructions there. Offerors are responsible for printing the BAA Confirmation Sheet and attaching it to every copy. The Confirmation Sheet should be the first page of the Proposal. If an offeror intends to submit more than one Proposal, a unique UserId and password must be used in creating each Cover Sheet. Failure to comply with these submission procedures may result in the submission not being evaluated. Security classification guidance on a DD Form 254 (DoD Contract Security Classification Specification) will not be provided at this time since DARPA is soliciting ideas only. After reviewing incoming proposals, if a determination is made that contract award may result in access to classified information, a DD Form 254 will be issued upon contract award. If you choose to submit a classified proposal you must first receive the permission of the Original Classification Authority to use their information in replying to this BAA. PROPOSAL FORMAT Offerors must submit an original and 2 copies of the full proposal (3 total) and 2 electronic copies (i.e., 2 separate disks) of the full proposal (in PDF or Microsoft Word 2000 for IBM-compatible format on a 3.5-inch floppy disk or CD). Mac-formatted disks will not be accepted. Each disk must be clearly labeled with BAA 05-29, offeror organization, proposal title (short title recommended) and Copy number of 2. 3. Submission Dates and Times The full proposal (original and designated number of hard and electronic copies) must be submitted in time to reach DARPA by 12:00 NOON (ET) April 29, 2005, in order to be considered during the initial evaluation phase. However, BAA 05-29, Transfer Learning (TL) will remain open until 12:00 NOON (ET) March 14, 2006. Thus, proposals may be submitted at any time from issuance of this BAA through March 14, 2006. While the proposals submitted after the April 29, 2005, deadline will be evaluated by the Government, offerors should keep in mind that the likelihood of funding such proposals is less than for those proposals submitted in connection with the initial evaluation and award schedule. DARPA will acknowledge receipt of submissions and assign control numbers that should be used in all further correspondence regarding proposals. 4. Intergovernmental Review ? N/A 5. Funding Restrictions Authorization of precontract costs will be considered in situations of genuine urgency where programmatic benefits will accrue from their use. 6. Other Submission Requirements Offerors must obtain the BAA 05-29 Offeror Information Pamphlet (PIP), which provides further information on the areas of interest, submission, evaluation, funding processes, and proposal formats. This pamphlet will be posted directly to FedBizOpps.gov and may also be obtained at URL address http://www.darpa.mil/ipto/Solicitations/solicitations.htm. Proposals not meeting the format described in the pamphlet may not be reviewed. This notice, in conjunction with the BAA 05-29 PIP and all references, constitutes the total BAA. No additional information is available, nor will a formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. Requests for same will be disregarded. V. Application Review Information 1. Criteria (listed in descending order of relative importance): (1) Capabilities to be Achieved (2) Technical Innovation and Feasibility (3) Potential Contribution and Relevance to DARPA/IPTO Mission (4) Offeror's Capabilities and Related Experience (5) Potential to Accomplish Technology Transition (6) Cost Realism 2. Review and Selection Process It is the policy of DARPA to ensure impartial, equitable, comprehensive evaluation of all proposals and to select the source (or sources) whose offer meets the Government?s technical and policy goals. Evaluation of proposals will be accomplished through a scientific review of each proposal, using the above criteria which are detailed further in the PIP. Proposals will not be evaluated against each other, since they are not submitted in accordance with a common work statement. DARPA's intent is to review proposals as soon as possible after they arrive; however, proposals may be reviewed periodically for administrative reasons. Restrictive notices notwithstanding, proposals may be handled for administrative purposes by support contractors. These support contractors are prohibited from competition in DARPA technical research and are bound by appropriate non-disclosure requirements. Input on technical aspects of the proposals may be solicited by DARPA from non-Government consultants /experts who are also bound by appropriate non-disclosure requirements. However, non-Government technical consultants/experts will not have access to proposals that are labeled by their offerors as ?Government Only?. Use of non-government personnel is covered in FAR 37.203(d). VI. Award Information Administration 1. Award Notices Principal Investigators will receive a letter informing them of the disposition of their proposal via U.S. mail. 2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements Offerors may visit DARPA?s Contracts Management Office (CMO) website (http://www.darpa.mil/cmo/pages/modelgrantagreement.htm) for model grant and cooperative agreement terms and conditions. For Research Involving Human Subjects: Proposals selected for funding are required to comply with provisions of the Common Rule (32 CFR 219) on the protection of human subjects in research (http://www.dtic.mil/biosys/downloads/32cfr219.pdf) and the Department of Defense Directive 3216.2 (http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/html2/d32162x.htm). All proposals that involve the use of human subjects are required to include documentation of their ability to follow Federal guidelines for the protection of human subjects. This includes, but is not limited to, protocol approval mechanisms, approved Institutional Review Boards, and Federal Wide Assurances. These requirements are based on expected human use issues sometime during the entire length of the proposed effort. For proposals involving ?greater than minimal risk? to human subjects within the first year of the project, performers must provide evidence of protocol submission to a federally approved IRB at the time of final proposal submission to DARPA. For proposals that are forecasted to involve ?greater than minimal risk? after the first year, a discussion on how and when the offeror will comply with submission to a federally approved IRB needs to be provided in the submission. More information on applicable federal regulations can be found at the Department of Health and Human Services ? Office of Human Research Protections website (http://www.dhhs.gov/ohrp/). 3. Reporting The Award Document for each proposal selected and funded will contain a mandatory requirement for submission of Quarterly Status Reports and an Annual Project Summary Report. These reports will be submitted electronically via the DARPA/IPTO Technical-Financial Information Management System (T-FIMS), utilizing the government-furnished Uniform Resource Locator (URL) on the World Wide Web (WWW). Further details may be found in the Offeror Information Pamphlet (PIP). The DARPA/CMO website referenced above also provides general information about reports required specifically for grants and cooperative agreements. VII. Agency Contacts Fax: (703) 741-7804 Addressed to: DARPA/IPTO, BAA 05-29 Electronic Mail: BAA05-29@darpa.mil Electronic File Retrieval: http://www.darpa.mil/ipto/Solicitations/solicitations.htm Mail to: DARPA/IPTO ATTN: BAA 05-29 3701 N. Fairfax Drive Arlington, VA 22203-1714
- Record
- SN00771958-W 20050320/050318212638 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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