Office of Naval Research, 800 North Quincy Street, Arlington, VA 22217-5660

A -- NATIONAL OCEAN PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM SOL N00014- POC Mr. Brian D. Glance, Contract Specialist, ONR Code 252, (703)696-2596, fax: (703)696-0993. BAA 97-005. Office of Naval Research, in anticipation of the implementation of the interagency National Oceanographic Partnership Program, solicits pre-proposals addressing a variety of Partnership Programs as outlined in Title II, subtitle E, of Public Law 104-201 of September 23, 1996, the National Oceanographic Partnership Program. Up to $11.5M may be available for this announcement which is subject to final approval by the National Ocean Research Leadership Council, once established. Pre-proposals are due January 13, 1997. Team efforts among academia, industry, and government participants: cost sharing and proposals augmenting ongoing joint efforts are very strongly encouraged. Pre-proposals are sought in the following major topic areas: (A) "Virtual" Ocean Data and Remote Sensing Center(s)/Facility(ies) that would capitalize on existing centers by developing broad community access/exchange of Navy, NOAA and other data bases together with data display and assimilation techniques. One to three awards are anticipated on this topic with funding ranging from $0.5M to $1M per award. (B) National Littoral (i.e., coastal) "Laboratory" to augment or leverage existing field efforts and programs, keying on analysis and modeling, but emphasizing model development together with data synthesis and assimilation. A long-term goal is development of "portable" coastal ocean/atmosphere forecasting capabilities. One to three awards are anticipated on this topic funded at $0.5M to $1M each. (C) Partnership efforts to accelerate and leverage existing or planned interagency efforts in: i) "Broad-Based" Research, such as: effects of algal blooms, mechanisms of cross-shelf transport, transport, fate, and effects of arctic ocean and coastal atmospheric contaminants, effects of sound on marine mammals ii) Infrastructure Support, such as: regional consortia approaches for ocean & atmosphere observing capabilities, development and application of advanced and/or long-term capabilities for in-situ and remote observations, and transparent-connectivity between shipboard computing and the Internet. Cost sharing by nonfederal activities is very strongly encouraged in this topical area. About four to eight awards at $0.5M to $1.5M each, encumbering a total of approximately $5M are anticipated. (D) Education, Outreach and Training in support of military and civilian oceanography to enhance ongoing efforts, or to establish new partnerships efforts such as: Exchanges between military and civilian oceanographers for cross-training and at-sea experience, Teachers-to-sea and telepresence for science education, K-12 curriculum development & supplement materials,- Web based marine information clearing house to enhance science literacy, and Approaches to increase participation by minorities & other under-represented groups in oceanography. It is anticipated that a small number of awards less than $100K will be considered individually, potentially as pilot projects for larger outyear efforts or to meet a special, focused goal, but that emphasis will be placed upon a few major teamed efforts representing the larger community. One to three larger awards with funding ranging between $0.5M and $1.5M each are anticipated. Consortia, associations and foundations are strongly encouraged to bundle a range of activities together and generate proposals representing larger community interests covering issues along the lines of those listed above. Interested offerors are requested to submit a pre-proposal to the address listed below. The purpose of the pre-proposal is to give a preliminary indication of whether effort by the offeror in preparing a full technical and cost proposal is warranted. A pre-proposal is a five to seven page technical document that outlines the scientific and technical issues, defines the approach, and describes the anticipated results. Sufficient detail must be presented to determine whether a formal proposal is warranted. On additional pages as necessary, provide a budget estimate by cost and time (total and broken down by year)as well as summary (short) resumes of the principal investigator(s). The period of performance should be nominally one year but may be up to two years with a starting date on or about 1 April 1997. Ten copies of the pre-proposals are due not later than 4:00PM EST on 13 Jan 1997 to NOPP BAA/ONR 32, Room 407-8, Office of Naval Research, 800 N. Quincy Street, Arlington, VA 22217-5660. Pre-proposals received at ONR after this date and time will not be considered. All pre-proposals must indicate BAA number and which topic area is being addressed on the cover page. Separate pre-proposals must be submitted for each topic area. E-mail and facsimile materials are not acceptable. No request for proposal (RFP), solicitation, or other announcement of this opportunity will be made. Based upon reviewer comments, Pre-Proposers will be encouraged or discouraged from submitting a full proposal. Encouragement to submit a full proposal based upon pre-proposal screen does not assure award of a grant or contract. Notification along with details regarding the formal requirements for full proposals will be distributed in a timely manner for an anticipated due date of the final proposal (4:00 PM EST on 07 MAR 1997). Pre-proposals from all sources are welcome. Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions, as determined by the Secretary of Education to meet requirements of 34 CFR Section 608.2 and 10 U.S.C. Paragraph 2323(a)(1)(C), are particularly encouraged to participate. Evaluations of the pre-proposals and full proposals will be conducted using the following selection criteria subject to final approval by the Council, once established: (1) relevance of the proposed research to Partnership objectives, including a) support of critical research objectives or operational goals such as data accessibility, education and communication, b) broad participation within the oceanographic community, c) partners with a long-term commitment to the proposed objectives, d) resources are shared among partners, and e) the degree of cost-sharing by partners with the requested Partnership funding,(2) overall scientific and technical merits of the proposal,(3) the offeror's capabilities, related experience, and facilities or unique combinations of these that are critical to the proposal objectives, (4) the qualifications and experience of the proposed principal investigator and key personnel, (5) degree of significant partnering among at least two of the following parties, academia, industry or government, (6) socio-economic merits of the proposal(7) realism of proposed costs. The final distribution of awards among topics will depend on quality of proposals and availability of funds as determined by the Council once established. For awards made as contracts, the socio-economic merits of each proposal will be evaluated based on the commitment to provide meaningful subcontracting opportunities for small business, small disadvantaged business, women-owned small business concerns, historically black colleges and universities, and minority institutions. The standard industrial classification code is 8731 with the small business size standard of 500. In addition, contract proposals that exceed $500,000 submitted by all but small businesses, must be accompanied by a Small, Small Disadvantaged and Women-Owned Small Business Subcontracting Plan in accordance with FAR 52,219-9. Additional Information is available on the World Wide Web at: "http://www.onr.navy.mil/sci_tech/ocean" under "Additional Points of Interest". This notice constitutes an ONR Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) as contemplated by FAR 6.102(d)(2). Questions regarding business and legal matters relating to this BAA should be directed to: Office of Naval Research, Attention Ms. Anna Mae Weston (Code 252), Ballston Towers One, 800 N. Quincy St., Arlington, VA 22217-5660, (703) 696-4509. Technical questions may be submitted by E-mail to "NOPPBAA@ONR.NAVY.MIL" or by fax to "NOPP BAA" (703) 696-2007 if necessary. (0339)

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