Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF MAY 30, 2015 FBO #4936
DOCUMENT

R -- Merit Review Support Services - Attachment

Notice Date

5/28/2015
 

Notice Type

Attachment
 

NAICS

541611 — Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Veterans Affairs;Program Contract Organization East(PCOE);323 North Shore Drive;Pittsburgh, PA 15212
 

ZIP Code

15212
 

Solicitation Number

VA26815R0090
 

Response Due

6/5/2015
 

Archive Date

9/3/2015
 

Point of Contact

Keith J Costantino
 

E-Mail Address

822-3438<br
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS. This is a Sources Sought Synopsis announcement; market survey for information only, to be used for preliminary planning purposes. No proposals are being requested or accepted with this synopsis. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT SHALL BE AWARDED FROM THIS SYNOPSIS. The Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research & Development has been tasked to solicit for and award a contract for Merit Review Support Services. Proposed contract will be a Firm Fixed Price contract for a Base 12 month period, and include four 12 month option periods. The type of solicitation to issue will depend upon the responses to this synopsis. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this synopsis or any follow up information requests. The purpose of this synopsis is to gain knowledge of interest, capabilities and qualifications of interested sources to compete and perform the required services. The Government must ensure there is adequate competition among the potential pool of responsive contractors. Purpose, Background and Scope: To award a contract for the support of scientific and technical peer review services on research applications received in response to the Office of Research & Development's (ORD) Merit Review Programs. To support the required tasks, VA requires an experienced and cohesive team of scientific, technical and administrative professionals who can demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the requirements to conduct peer review and produce acceptable deliverables within the required timelines while meeting schedule and performance requirements. This proposed contract seeks to acquire support for the VA Office of Research & Development Peer Review Process. The Peer Review Process involves the receipt of investigator-initiated scientific research proposals four times a year, with each cycle spanning a six-month period. The Peer Review Process consists of the following elements: The receipt and review of investigator-initiated scientific research proposals four times a year, with each cycle spanning approximately six-months each. ORD receives approximately 2,500 applications per year for the Merit Review Process, to include Special Reviews. ORD recruits approximately 1400 scientific experts per year to serve as reviewers; on average, 980 are non-VA scientific experts and the remaining are VA staff. Service Awards: Competitive awards for VA investigators honoring outstanding achievements in research. Approximately 25 applications are received per year for each award, and are reviewed by a peer review panel. Shared Equipment Evaluation Program (ShEEP) & Laboratory Animal Major Equipment (LAMb): The ORD Shared Equipment Program encourages applications from groups of VA investigators to purchase or upgrade a single item of instrumentation or an integrated system that costs at least $75,000. Approximately 90 applications are received and reviewed for funding each year. Career Development Program(CDP): A mentored award for junior scientists intended to attract, develop, and retain talented researchers. Approximately 200 CDP applications re received and competitively reviewed each year. Research Career Scientists: Provides recognition and salary support for outstanding non-clinician scientists in VA. Approximately 150 applications are received and competitively reviewed each year. The contractor will be required to facilitate meeting planning, to include space for the meetings and travel arrangements and honorariums for all non-VA reviewers traveling for the Review meetings. Travel will be reimbursed in accordance with Federal Travel Regulations. Tasks and Requirements: 1. Project Management Support and delivery of a Project Management Plan. 2. Work within eRA (Electronic Research Administration) Commons System. The contractor shall have experience working in the National Institute of Health's electronic Research Administration (eRA) Commons system. The contractor shall have a working knowledge of the following eRA modules: Receipt and Referral, Committee Management, Peer Review, Internet Assisted Review (IAR), and Grants Management 3. Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) Support -Prepare FACA nomination package as needed (up to four times a year), Maintain a list of FACA members and terms, Update members in FACA database and eRA Committee Management, Prepare letters/certificates of appreciation for members completing forms, Complete annual FACA Report for the Designated Federal Official (DFO) endorsement, Biennially-prepare a Charter Renewal Package, Biennially-prepare a Delegation of Authority 4. Pre-Application Receipt - Receive and manage Letters of Intent (LOIs)/Intent to Submit (ITS) process, Review and manage waiver requests, Create meeting materials and folders, Prepare FACA Notice for Federal Register, Complete ORD travel/meeting approval package 5. Application Receipt - Work within the various eRA modules from receipt to managing grants, Conduct a data integrity download from eRA's Data Management Module (eDMM) 6. Travel and Meeting Preparation- The contractor shall conduct meeting preparation and schedule travel for all non-VA participants. In addition, the contractor shall develop a contingency plan for all meetings when weather can reasonably be considered an interference with the meeting (potentially November - March). The contractor shall finalize meeting logistics, to include: A Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority(WMATA)-accessible conference center, Audio/visual needs, Hotel room blocks, Transportation, Teleconferencing, Couriers, Equipment and supplies, Signs for meeting rooms. 7. The Review Meeting - Collect score sheets and any outstanding reviewer Conflict of Interest (COI) and Ethics forms, Collect post-meeting COI forms from reviewers, Ensure the Chair/SPM signs the meeting minutes, Reconfirm with reviewers the deadlines for submission of final scores, summary of discussions and revised critiques 8. Post Review Meeting - Confirm that the final scores and critiques have been received, Verify final scores using IAR, Download pre-summary statements from IAR, - Edit, format, and add summary of discussions to the pre-summary statement, Save any needed reports (e.g. percentile report, conflict report, etc.), Upload final summary statements to the IAR, Complete and submit final meeting logistics/cost documentation and submit, Confirm that appropriate payments have been made for non-VA reviewers, Enter meeting information for each board in FACA database for the Annual Comprehensive Review (ACR), Prepare materials for funding decision meetings, Notify the field research offices of the review outcome, Provide report of meeting and travel costs per subcommittee, For funded projects, initiate grants management, to include creating WIPs, sweeping human subjects/animals codes, and assigning grants management officer. Offeror's response to this Synopsis shall be limited to 5 pages and shall include the following information: 1. Offeror's name, address, point of contact, phone number, and e-mail address. 2. Offeror's interest in bidding on the solicitation when it is issued. 3. Offeror's capability to meet requirements. 4. Offeror's capability to perform a contract of this magnitude and complexity and provide comparable work performed within the past 5 years -brief description of the project, customer name, timeliness of performance, customer satisfaction, and dollar value of the project). 5. Offeror's socio economic status (Business Size and status) Interested Offerors shall respond to this Sources Sought Synopsis no later than 09:00 AM (EST) 5 June 2015. All interested contractors must be registered in SAM.gov to be eligible for award of Government contracts. Email your response to Keith.Costantino@va.gov. No telephone or postal mail responses will be accepted.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/6cb29f626822d60d0411838a2bc78a93)
 

Document(s)

Attachment
 

File Name: VA268-15-R-0090 VA268-15-R-0090.docx (https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2072661&FileName=VA268-15-R-0090-000.docx)

Link: https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/FBODocumentServer/DocumentServer.aspx?DocumentId=2072661&FileName=VA268-15-R-0090-000.docx

 

Note: If links are broken, refer to Point of Contact above or contact the FBO Help Desk at 877-472-3779.
 

Record

SN03745450-W 20150530/150529035933-6cb29f626822d60d0411838a2bc78a93 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

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

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