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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF AUGUST 02, 2014 FBO #4634
SOLICITATION NOTICE

A -- Student Contractor - Chapel Hill, NC,

Notice Date

7/31/2014
 

Notice Type

Presolicitation
 

NAICS

541720 — Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities
 

Contracting Office

SRRPODUS Environmental Protection AgencyWilliam Jefferson Clinton Building1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W.Mail Code: 3805RWashingtonDC20460USA
 

ZIP Code

00000
 

Solicitation Number

RFQ-DC-14-00203
 

Response Due

8/14/2014
 

Archive Date

9/13/2014
 

Point of Contact

Louise Easton
 

E-Mail Address

easton.louise@epa.gov
(Easton.Louise@epa.gov)
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

REQUEST FOR QUOTE # RFQ-DC-14-00203 COMBINED ANNOUNCEMENT AND SOW FOR STUDENT SERVICES CONTRACTS U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory SECTION I ANNOUNCEMENT DETAILS OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT LocationChapel Hill, NC Required Level of Education B.S. or B.A. The Environmental Public Health Division (EPHD) of the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL), Office of Research and Development (ORD) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking individuals, at least 18 years of age who have completed a B.S. or B.A degree in with coursework in biological sciences (e.g. genetics, cell biology, molecular biology), chemistry (e.g. organic chemistry, biochemistry), toxicology, or a related fields of study to provide services under a contractual agreement to assist in a project which deals with understanding the response of cultured lung cells to organic air pollutants. Students or recent graduates, who are EPA ORD employees, or the spouse or child of an EPA ORD employee, are not eligible to participate. This contract is expected to begin approximately August, 2013. The hourly rate is commensurate with the minimum required level of education and experience, as follows: $21.84 per hour for a student who has completed a B.S. or equivalent degree. The student contractor must be currently enrolled in a degree program at an accredited University/College or a recent graduate within the last 24 months. The student contractor will be paid the basic hourly rate only for the number of hours worked and will not receive overtime pay for any hours worked beyond the 40-hour work week. The student contractor does not accrue leave or holiday benefits and are not paid for any non-work days, regardless of the reason. The student contractor is considered an independent contractor; therefore, Federal, State, Local, Social Security, and Medicare taxes will not be withheld. The student contractor is responsible for reporting income to authorities and paying all taxes. The student contractor is responsible for all costs of transportation to and from the principal duty station location. EPA does not provide housing, meals or other living expenses while working at the principal duty station. Non-U.S. citizens may be eligible to participate, depending on their immigration status and the applicable regulations of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). All non-US citizens must submit, as part of their proposal package, evidence of their immigration status that allows them to work in the United States. Students should possess a current US Visa and be able to obtain US work authorization in a timely manner if offered a contract. Students without a US Visa are not eligible. Academic degrees fulfilled outside of the United States must be judged to be equivalent to that achieved in accredited U.S. education programs in order to be acceptable for this contract. More information about the evaluation of foreign education can be found at the U.S. Department of Education's web site at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html If applicable, applicants shall submit all necessary documents to a recognized private U.S. organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials, usually named a credential evaluation service. To be suitable, the foreign credential evaluation must include and describe (i) type of education received by the applicant (i.e., conventional, by mail, or online), (ii) degree of education relative to the U.S. education system, and testify that its comparability recommendations follow the general guidelines of the U.S. National Council for the Evaluation of Foreign Educational Credentials, (iii) the content of the applicant's educational program earned abroad and the standard obtained, (iv) the ranking of the awarding foreign schools? credit and authenticity in its own country's education system, (v) what the evaluation service did to obtain this information, (vi) the qualifications of the evaluator, and (vii) any indications as to other concerns such as falsification. Foreign credential evaluations that do not include all the above information or indicate there is not enough information on which to make a sound evaluation will not be accepted. INTERESTED PARTIES MUST COMPLETE ATTACHMENT 2, ?STUDENT PROPOSAL FORM FOR RFQ-DC-14-00203?. Please provide a one or two page resume or statement of qualifications, this proposal form and attach a copy of all your college/university transcripts (unofficial copies are acceptable, if it is apparent from the transcript copy that is a copy of an official document and that the school is identified), and submit to Louise Easton, Contract Specialist, via email at easton.louise@epa.gov. The submission deadline will be listed at the website shown below. Prior to applying for this position, you should visit the EPA solicitation web page at http://www.epa.gov/oam/rtp_cmd to learn the full details of the proposed contract. Please follow the link to under the solicitation ?Student Services RFQ-DC-14-00203? and read all of the attached documents. This website should be visited periodically to check the status of this procurement and to see whether or not any amendments (changes to the requirement of the posted position) have been issued. The Government will make contract award based on all evaluation factors (student's knowledge and skills, course work, work or volunteer experience, research laboratory experience, research publications and grade point average as it relates to the services described in this Announcement and the Statement of Work). Evaluation factors will be listed in the website mentioned above, please check the evaluation factors document on the website given above. Personal or telephone interviews may be conducted with the most promising candidates. The Government may elect to award contracts to multiple students under this Announcement. Questions regarding this student contract should be directed to the contract specialist Louise Easton at easton.louise@epa.gov. Questions regarding the technical aspects of the contracted duties and responsibilities should be directed to Robert Devlin, the EPA technical mentor for the contracted activities, at devlin.robert@epa.gov or (919)966-6255. SECTION II STATEMENT OF WORK 1. Project Description: The National health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) is responsible for conducting studies to characterize adverse health effects associated with exposure to environmental pollutants. The EPHD is the Agency?s focal point for scientific research on the effects of air pollutants on humans and cultured human cells. The work to be performed is in the Clinical Research Branch (CRB) of the EPHD. The student contractor shall assist investigators and technicians in performing studies that characterize biological changes in humans or cultured human cells exposed to air pollutants such as ozone, particulate matter, engineered nanoparticles, etc. 2. Description of Student Services: The student contractor shall culture cell lines or primary cells (under the guidance of an experience technician) and expose these cells to a variety of air pollutants. At various times after exposure, cells and cell supernatants will be collected and assayed for general cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, inflammation and other end points as appropriate. Typical assays include Western Blots, ELISAs and RT-PCR. The student contractor shall enter the data from these experiments into notebooks following EPA QA procedures, and copy appropriate data to Microsoft Excel for further analysis (e.g. statistical tests). The student contactor will graph data using Microsoft Powerpoint. In addition, the student contractor shall assist investigators in assaying cells and biological fluids obtained from the lungs of volunteers exposed to air pollutants in the Human Studies Facility. In some cases, the student contractor may be asked to attend and participate in scientific conferences t o present data generated in support of this statement of work. 3. Required Expertise, Skills, Education and/or Experience: The student contractor needs to have Bachelor?s degree in biology, toxicology, chemistry or a related field. To perform the required duties the student contractor should: 1) have knowledge of basic laboratory skills such as weighing materials, pipeting substances, preparing solutions, etc; 2) have experience in working with cultured cells, experience in sterile techniques, visualization of cells under a microscope, etc; 3) experience in inputting data into Microsoft Excel and facility with Microsoft Word and Powerpoint; 4) have good written and verbal skills; 5) ability to follow complex instructions and pay close attention to details. The preferred candidate will have prior laboratory experience growing cultured cells and performing basic cellular or biochemical assays on such cells. 4. Required Background Investigation and Suitability Determination: Student contractors award a contract will have to undergo a background investigation, a check of FBI fingerprint files, and a suitability determination by the EPA. Using the HPSD-12 ?Contract People Template? found at http://epa.gov/oam/, the student contractor will electronically submit information to the Contracting Officer?s Representative named at award within ten (10) days of contract award. Refer to Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HPSD-12) for more information. If a background check reveals information to indicate the student contractor represents a risk to the interests of the EPA and the national security, the contract may be terminated. Students or recent graduates, who are EPA ORD employees, or the spouse or child of an EPA ORD employee, are not eligible to participate. 5. Description of Working Conditions: The primary duty location is the EPA Human Studies Facility on the campus of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC, and the work will be performed in a laboratory. The student contractor may enter the building only during business hours or when a mentor is present. The student contractor will be required to wear safety apparel and to strictly obey all safety requirements.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/EPA/OAM/HQ/RFQ-DC-14-00203/listing.html)
 

Place of Performance

Address: EPA/EPHDNHEERL109 TW Alexander DriveResearch Triangle ParkNC27711USA

Zip Code: 27711
 

Record

SN03445116-W 20140802/140731235713-580d02116f492f8da1a7264c58305a16 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

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

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