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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF JUNE 15, 2014 FBO #4586
SOURCES SOUGHT

B -- CSR Text Analysis of Reviewer Critiques

Notice Date

6/13/2014
 

Notice Type

Sources Sought
 

NAICS

541611 — Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Rockledge Dr. Bethesda, MD, Office of Acquisitions, 6701 Rockledge Dr RKL2/6100 MSC 7902, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892-7902
 

ZIP Code

20892-7902
 

Solicitation Number

NHLBI-CSB-RG-2014-158-JF
 

Archive Date

7/15/2014
 

Point of Contact

Jenn Frazier, Phone: 3014966092
 

E-Mail Address

jenn.frazier@nih.gov
(jenn.frazier@nih.gov)
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

Contracting Office Address Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Rockledge Dr. Bethesda, MD, Office of Acquisitions 6701 Rockledge Dr RKL2/6145 MSC 7902, Bethesda, MD, 20892-7902, UNITED STATES Introduction The NIH Center for Scientific Review is planning to issue an RFP for an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Task Order Contract to conduct an analysis of written critiques of NIH R01 grant applications to determine if patterns exist in the evaluation criteria used for reviewers based on the race and/or gender of the grant applicant. The solicitation type will be a sole source given the unique nature of the proposed work. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to provide information regarding the intent to award a sole source IDIQ contract. Small business concerns who believe they meet the requirements may provide information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under NAICS code 541611 should not submit a response to this notice. Background The Center for Scientific Review (CSR) is the portal for NIH grant applications and their review for scientific merit. They receive all research grant applications sent to NIH and handle the review of more than 70% of those by organizing peer review groups (study sections) to evaluate research grant applications. CSR has major responsibility for the quality of NIH's investments to advance science and health through research. CSR's mission is to see that NIH grant applications receive fair, independent, expert, and timely reviews - free from inappropriate influences - so NIH can fund the most promising research. Each year, CSR handles over 85,000 grant applications, employs nearly 500 staff (more than 50% PhD level scientists) and uses more than 15,000 reviewers. Recent studies (Ginther et al., 2011; 2012) have shown that African American researchers are less likely than White researchers to receive NIH R01 grant funding by at least 10 percentage points. One possible explanation for the disparity and a target for exploration is possible bias on the part of reviewers. The proposed work will involve the development of methods to analyze the written comments of reviewers as part of their evaluations of R01 grant applications. The analysis of this text will attempt to identify any biases on the part of reviewers that are associated with the race and/or gender of the applicant. Project Requirements (1) Develop a lexicon of terms from summary statements that may be associated with demographic factors in applicants, specifically race and gender. (2) Validate the ability of the lexicon to identify meaningful differences in the evaluative comments made by reviewers regarding applications submitted by Black as compared to White grant applicants as well as differences associated with the gender of the applicant. (3) Test for differences in the evaluation standards of reviewers due to the race and gender of R01 grant applicants based on a sample of unedited critiques submitted by CSR reviewers. Accomplishment of these objectives will require (a) a firm understanding of the NIH peer review processes, practices and regulations, (b) knowledge of text mining strategies and methods, (c) prior experience with the creation of a text analysis lexicon, (d) prior experience with the text analysis of NIH reviewer comments, (e) familiarity with the literature on challenges to diversity in the STEM workforce, (f) relevant data analytic skills, and (g) experience with publication of text analysis work as it relates to grant review. The proposed work would be conducted through collaboration between the contractor and NIH, whereby the contractor would contribute the lexicon of terms, modifying them to meet the needs of assessing potential bias due to both race and gender. Given the sensitivity of reviewer comments and scores and the promise of protection of confidentiality provided by CSR, the proposed work will be conducted through collaboration of NIH and the contractor's programmers to modify the necessary text analysis software. This arrangement will maximize use of existing government resources, protect applicant and reviewer confidentiality, and utilize the unique expertise of the contractor in analyzing reviewer critiques of NIH R01 grant applications. Capability Statement Small business concerns that believe they possess the capabilities necessary to undertake this work should submit complete documentation of their capabilities to the Contracting Officer. The capabilities statement must specifically address each project requirement separately. Additionally, the capability statement should include 1) the total number of employees, 2) the professional qualifications of scientists, medical experts, and technical personnel as it relates to the above outlined requirements, 3) a description of general and specific facilities and equipment available, including computer equipment and software, 4) an outline of previous research projects that are similar to the project requirements in which the organization and proposed personnel have participated, and 5) any other information considered relevant to this program. The capability statement must not exceed 10 single sided or 5 double sided pages in length and using an 11-point font size minimum. Interested small business organizations are required to identify their size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration. The government requests that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted in a response to this notice. However, responses that indicate the information therein is proprietary will be properly safeguarded for Government use only. Capability statements must include the name and telephone numbers of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Capability statements in response to this market survey that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation will be considered non-responsive. When submitting this information, please reference the solicitation notice number. All capability statements sent in response to this Sources Sought Notice must be submitted electronically (via email) to Marianne DiSomma, Contracting Officer, at disommam@nhlbi.nih.gov and Jenn Frazier, Contract Specialist, at jenn.frazier@nih.gov in either MS Word or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), within 15 calendar days of the date of this announcement. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s). The solicitation release date is pending. The Government intends to negotiate one time-and-materials type contract, for a period of one year with an approximate award date of June 30, 2014. Original Point of Contact Jenn Frazier, Contract Specialist, NHLBI Extramural Contracts Branch, Phone (301) 496-6092, Fax (301) 480-3338, Email: jenn.frazier@nih.gov Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Rockledge Dr. Bethesda, MD, Office of Acquisitions 6701 Rockledge Dr RKL2/6145 MSC 7902, Bethesda, MD, 20892-7902, UNITED STATES
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/NHLBI/NHLBI-CSB-RG-2014-158-JF/listing.html)
 

Place of Performance

Address: 6701 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, United States

Zip Code: 20892
 

Record

SN03394791-W 20140615/140613234618-bc529bd351e37d0aff067f055fc63272 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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