SOURCES SOUGHT
B -- Career and Research Development Program for Underrepresented Scholars Conducting Basic and/or Translational Biomedical Substance Abuse Research
- Notice Date
- 3/28/2016
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541690
— Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 3155, MSC 9593, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20892
- Solicitation Number
- HHS-NIH-NIDA-SS-2016-251
- Archive Date
- 4/28/2016
- Point of Contact
- Gwennifer Epps, Phone: 3014519242
- E-Mail Address
-
eppsg@mail.nih.gov
(eppsg@mail.nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the principal biomedical and behavioral research agency of the United States Government, Office of Diversity and Health Disparities (ODHD), is charged with the task of building a comprehensive diversity program within the NIDA's extramural research workforce. The National Institute on Drug Abuse established the Office of Diversity and Health Disparities (ODHD) Office 20 years ago. Background: The National Institute on Drug Abuse requires support for a career and research development program, which fosters the advancement and career trajectory of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows towards successful independent research careers in basic and/or translational substance abuse research. Underrepresented researchers face a number of challenges that influence their success in obtaining independent support from NIDA, the NIH, and other federal funding agencies. Some of these challenges include limited mentoring, lack of adequate knowledge of funding opportunities and processes, limited access to novel high priority research projects and design, low publication records, and limited professional networking to successfully bridge to the next career level. Collectively, these factors impact NIDA's efforts to recruit and retain underrepresented investigators conducting substance abuse research and further develop the research infrastructure within this community. As scientific mentoring is a valuable method that serves to promote interest in research as well as retain scientists already in the research pipeline, thus a dedicated mentoring program is necessary. Purpose and Objectives: The overarching purpose of the contract is to increase the number of funded underrepresented investigators conducting basic science and/or translational biomedical research in the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) research workforce. NIDA intends to accomplish this, through the development of a career and research development program. Expected benefits of such a program is: invaluable mentoring and research training will be provided to underrepresented graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in order to foster their career trajectory towards independent substance abuse research. To this end, the career and research development program will provide strong mentoring activities, novel substance abuse research opportunities, rigorous academic programs, NIH grant writing and submission assistance leading to the submission of NIH funding applications, scientific publication support, networking with the substance abuse community, and presenting at national substance abuse-related scientific conferences. Competitive programs are expected to contribute to the development of a skilled cadre of investigators in requisite scientific research areas to advance the objectives of the NIDA Strategic Plan https://www.2016-2020-nida-strategic-plan. Project requirements: The contractor shall: 1. Recruit, interview, select, train, and provide a sound research and academic experience for three graduate students scholars or two postdoctoral scholars in the area of basic and/or translational biomedical substance abuse research. 2. Provide a primary mentor as well as a minimum 4 member (including primary mentor) mentoring and career development committee for each scholar; 3. Create tailored, individualized short and long-term individual development plans (IDP) for each scholar, identifying activities to address their individual academic and professional development needs, research training experience, and career development timelines; 4. Providing support, guidance, and grantsmanship to scholars for the submission of NIH funding applications and peer review papers. 5. Provide access to skilled and experience grantees with a track record of success in obtaining NIH funding applications. Grantees do not have to be located at the contractor's performance site. 6. Assist and facilitate potential scientific collaborators; Assist in fostering collaborative relationships with the scientific community and the NIDA Program Staff, to advance the understanding of substance abuse research and mission of NIDA. 7. Provide support to scholars to attend meetings and workshops related to their research interests, career goals and professional development. 8. Ensure, develop, and document strong communication between mentors and scholars. 9. The primary performance must be a degree (Ph.D.) granting higher education institution. Anticipated period of performance: The anticipated period of performance of this contract will include a twelve month base period and three one year option periods. Other important considerations: • The scientific content area provided to the scholars as the scientific focus should be supported by the contractor at a sufficient level to provide reasonable assurance of the ability to recruit a high-quality pool of potential scholars and to ensure that a critical mass of mentors and resources (such as equipment on other infrastructure) in basic and/or translational biomedical substance abuse research are available. • A contractor may wish to partner with a collaborating institution to provide additional resources and infrastructure support for scholars. Note: The NIDA Intramural Research Program may be an effective partner in efforts to establish strong substance abuse research training and experiences. • The Program Director must be actively engaged in basic and/or translational biomedical substance abuse research in an area related to the mission of the NIDA; be a preferred NIH principal investigator currently funded or demonstrate a track record of prior funding history; have extensive experience as an educator and mentor and be able to document past success in capacity building programs; and, demonstrate the ability to manage such mentoring and capacity building programs documenting creative approaches related to training, retaining, and the career development of early stage investigators. • Researchers from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to participate as mentors, but this is not required. Mentors must have research expertise and experience relevant to the proposed capacity building program, a track record of successfully mentoring individuals at the career stage(s) proposed in the program, a track record of having NIH funding, and a record of leadership related to training and career development programs or activities. Capability statement /information sought. Interested parties who have the capability to perform the above effort should respond to this notice and identify their DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements. The information submitted must be in and outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirements and the other important considerations paragraphs stated herein. The response should also include information regarding respondents': (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information; The response is limited to ten (10) page limit. The 10-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references. However, a cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required. One (1) copy of the response is required and must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font, 8-1/2" x 11" paper size, with 1" top, bottom, left and right margins, and with single or double spacing. The response must include the respondents' technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses. Submittal of information is requested via electronic mail only to Gwennifer Epps, Contract Specialist, eppsg@mail.nih.gov, no later than April 13, 2016. All responses must be received on or before April 13, 2016, 3:30 PM, Eastern Standard Time. Facsimile responses will not be NOT accepted. Disclaimer and Important Notes: 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. Confidentiality: 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). This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain 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: 541690 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 the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/NIDA-01/HHS-NIH-NIDA-SS-2016-251/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Rockville, Maryland, 20892, United States
- Zip Code: 20892
- Zip Code: 20892
- Record
- SN04064647-W 20160330/160328234624-c8fa7f49f54a4a0a32f5eea3229fa57d (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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