SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Scientific Information Analysis Support Services Requirement
- Notice Date
- 11/5/2013
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, 6707 Democracy Blvd., Suite 105, Bethesda, Maryland, 20894, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20894
- Solicitation Number
- NIH-LM-2013-905-EJB
- Archive Date
- 11/30/2013
- Point of Contact
- Em'Ria J. Briscoe, Phone: 3014354384
- E-Mail Address
-
briscoee@mail.nih.gov
(briscoee@mail.nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- Pre-Solicitation Notice This is a notice of intent, not a request for a proposal. A solicitation will be subsequently issued. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of the Director, Office of Research Information Systems (ORIS) intends to solicit proposals from capable Small Business Offerors to procure Scientific Information Analysts (SIA) and Scientific Text Analyst (STA) for the Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC) Program. The Office of Research Information Systems of the NIH was established in 2005. Its mission is: (1) to support the NIH and HHS research grants program from initiative planning and application submission through grant closeout and reporting, (2) to electronically capture and manage research related data, (3) to report these data as information to NIH and extramural communities, and (4) to enable the synthesis of that information into knowledge that can guide the management of the NIH research portfolio and improve the Nation's health. As sister programs within ORIS, RCDC relies upon Electronic Research Administration (eRA) to receive, structure and store scientific research project data upon which RCDC categorizes and reports on research supported by HHS. Each year the NIH reports to Congress and the public how much it spends on various diseases, conditions, and other research areas. This information is presented in various budget documents, as well as on the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT) Estimates for Disease Spending website and in response to ad hoc requests from within the Executive Branch, Congress, constituent groups and others. The RCDC program provides categorical project listings, including financial award data, allowing users to understand what is spent in scientific research areas. This process began in FY2008 in an effort to universally define the research areas, delivering categorization data with a degree of robustness, consistency, and transparency across all Institutes and Centers (IC). The semi-automated, text-mining-based process enables NIH to quickly replicate and access RCDC reporting data as expected by Executive Branch officials, Congress, the press, constituency groups, and the public. Objectives This contract is to provide Scientific Information Analysts and Scientific Text Analysts to the ORIS RCDC program for the purpose of developing, analyzing and maintaining standardized biomedical categories; ensure the accuracy of the categories based on NIH IC expert feedback; develop and maintain category documentation; facilitate research category sessions with IC experts; and ensure optimization of the text mining application and NIH data. Goals The goal of this procurement is four-fold: (1) to provide expertise in the areas of biomedical sciences, such as, but not limited to, biology, chemistry, physical, and health sciences; (2) to maintain the accuracy of the categories; (3) fulfill categorical reporting needs; and (4) provide support to meet the needs of the end user community and their expectations for service. Below are the characteristics of the ORIS Scientific Information Analyst and Scientific Text Analyst requirements: 1. Minimum of Bachelor's degree in diverse areas of biological, molecular, psychological, biomedical, biochemical, or allied health sciences are required. 2. Experience in facilitation of scientific meetings in a "lead" capacity for groups of various sizes and scientific expertise. 3. Working knowledge of scientific thesaurus or other structured vocabularies and text mining tools and software. **NOTE: This experience does need to be in a combination of one of these biomedical thesauri and some thesaurus based text mining tool (it is the combination that is preferred). 4. Demonstrated experience in oral and written communication. 5. Excellent customer service and ability work in a collaborative environment. 6. Organized and deadline driven. 7. Demonstrated experience in researching NLP technologies or tools for categorizing biomedical information including machine learning statistical or thesaurus based software and data visualization. 8. Experience using high-level programming languages. Proposals submitted in response to the pending solicitation will be evaluated on the following factors: Factor 1 - Technical - Personnel Solution Personnel/Staff Technical Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills, and Certifications Personnel: As part of this factor, the Government expects the Offeror to identify and propose personnel along with resumes for each. Personnel experience should have been performed under projects similar in size, scope, and technical and scientific complexity to the RCDC requirements. Greater credit will be given to personnel experience that is linked to the past experience and performance references. The Government will evaluate the experience, education, and training of each person proposed to determine the breadth, depth, and quality of relevant experience, results and effectiveness of their work in achieving goals in performance of projects of similar size and complexity to this requirement. The minimum educational requirement is an Undergraduate Degree in areas of biological, molecular, psychological, biomedical, or allied health sciences. Resumes must document required scientific education and scientific/technical experience in the following areas: • Facilitation of scientific meetings in a "Lead" capacity • Demonstrated knowledge and experience in the area of Data Analysis • Working knowledge of scientific text mining systems • Demonstrated experience in researching Natural Language Processing technologies including matching learning statistical- or thesaurus-based software • Demonstrated experience using high-level programming languages Other Personnel: The Offeror shall be evaluated on their ability to provide personnel with a balanced level of skills and experience necessary to perform the work as described in the Statement of Work (SOW). The team's depth and breadth of knowledge of the Federal grants policy and experience with the grants management process will also be evaluated. Technical Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills, and Certifications The Offeror shall be evaluated on its ability to provide personnel with the skills necessary to perform the work as described in 3.2 of the performance work statement. Factor 2 - Management The Offeror shall be evaluated on its approach to perform the requirements outlined in the performance work statement Section 3.1 and 3.2. The Offeror shall be evaluated on how well the Offeror provides a tailored approach to perform RCDC management for this effort. This includes such items as; planning the activities of its team(s), scheduling, organizing, and effective utilization of resources, managing the Governments requirement for overtime work, controlling the execution of the task, monitoring progress, status reporting, resolving critical issues, mitigating risks, and planning for subsequent phases of work, effective and efficient use of performance indicators and measures (as cited in the Performance Metrics to be made a part of any resulting order), and proposed methods to contain costs. The Government shall evaluate the contractor on their ability to contain costs. This includes the effective use of different labor categories and skill sets to accomplish tasks, minimizing overhead costs, minimizing management costs, and minimizing staff turnover which reduces the cost of training personnel on eRA specific work. The Government shall also evaluate the Offeror's approach and demonstrated ability to retain quality resources in order to deliver premium support services for long term projects comparable to RCDC in size, scope and complexity. Factor 3 - Past Experience and Performance The Offeror must have demonstrated experience as the prime contractor in providing support similar in size, scope, and technical and scientific complexity to the RCDC requirements, and will indicate the likelihood of the Offeror's ability to staff and manage RCDC support activities. Greater credit will be given to the past experience and performance references that are linked to personnel experience. This factor will be evaluated on the basis of: Past Performance and Experience: The relevant past performance and experience of the Offeror and any proposed teaming partners will be evaluated to assess the Offeror's approach to recruiting, hiring, training, and retaining a fully qualified workforce, while minimizing turnover. The evaluation of this factor will include an evaluation of the quality of the Offeror's past products and services, its timeliness of performance, success in controlling costs, and the experience of its personnel. The Government prefers an Offeror who shows a trend of successful past performance and experience in recruiting, hiring, training and retaining staff. The evaluation shall include an assessment of the Offeror's ability to successfully manage complex, time sensitive operations. Customer Satisfaction: A determination of customer satisfaction based upon information received from the Offeror's past or current customers. Factor 4 - Transition Plan As part of this factor, the Government shall provide a two-fold evaluation to the Offeror's plan for 1.) The successful and orderly transition for departing staff and 2.) A successful and orderly transition from the current contract. The evaluation of this factor shall include an evaluation of the Offeror's transition plan methodology, the schedule of transition, and definitions of roles and responsibilities to ensure uninterrupted service under both transition scenarios. A Request for Proposals (RFP) will be available electronically on www.fedbizopps.gov or about November 15, 2013. Responses to the RFP will be due 20 days after the release of the RFP. ORIS anticipates the award of a single contract for one base year with five additional one year options. ORIS may award a cost reimbursement and/or fixed price contract. This pre-solicitation notice is not a request for a proposal. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for any information provided in response. This notice will close on November 15, 2013. Questions may be submitted to Em'Ria J. Briscoe via e-mail at briscoee@mail.nih.gov. NO TELEPHONE REQUESTS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/OAM/NIH-LM-2013-905-EJB /listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: 6705 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, Maryland, 20817, United States
- Zip Code: 20817
- Zip Code: 20817
- Record
- SN03228673-W 20131107/131106001936-6974633fe8c2033ba2c9efcd62bf94d2 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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