A -- UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTER (UARC) FOR MULTI-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

Notice Date

October 16, 2001

Contracting Office

NASA/Ames Research Center, JA:M/S 241-1, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000

ZIP Code

94035-1000

E-Mail Address

Deborah E. Glass (dglass@mail.arc.nasa.gov)

Description

This is a special notice to announce the initiation of market research activities in anticipation of the development of a draft acquisition plan to establish a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC). New discoveries critical to NASA's mission will emerge from the innovative integration among many disciplines. The UARC's mission will be to perform, in direct collaboration with NASA ARC, strategic multi-disciplinary, integrative research and science that supports NASA's long-term mission requirements. The UARC is anticipated to begin operating at ARC in FY 03. The UARC collaboration will focus on the multi-disciplinary, integration of research among the core competency areas at ARC. These core areas at ARC currently include Information Technology, Biotechnology, Nanotechnology, Astrobiology, Fundamental Space Biology, Aerospace Operations Automation, and Computer Science. Potential offerors will be required to demonstrate substantial capabilities in integrative research and science in multi-disciplinary areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Reasoning, Human Factors/Human-Centered Computing, Knowledge Engineering, Evolvable Hardware and Software, Biomolecular Technologies and Science, Nano-electronics and Computing, Exobiology, Astrophysics, Planetary Protections Science, Biology, Genomics, Proteomics, Cellomics, Operations Automation, System Simulation and Modeling, and Engineering of Complex Systems. This special notice will be followed by publication of a Sources Sought Synopsis and a draft acquisition plan in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD) and on the NASA Acquisition Internet Service (NAIS) http://nais.msfc.nasa.gov/ . It is anticipated that the Sources Sought Synopsis and draft acquisition plan will be posted within the next 60 to 90 days. The acquisition plan constitutes the "strategy" the Government has developed to meet its requirements and ARC's intended approach for this acquisition. It will provide potential offerors and other interested parties with insight into the envisioned approach for this acquisition and into the many critical areas where compliance is necessary. This "right place, right time" approach provides a forum for the government to obtain value-added comments on all parts of the strategy from academia and others, prior to the development of a solicitation. Capability statements will be requested at the time of publication of the draft acquisition plan. Input from interested parties will assist the Government in its market research and in making critical contracting and work breakdown structure approach decisions, including its approach regarding extent of competition. You are reminded that, at this time, no solicitation exists. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized in the CBD and on the NAIS. Interested parties can track this acquisition and all its updates by subscribing to the NAIS Email Notification System (NENS) at this website http://nais.msfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/nens/index.cgi . Acquisition postings can be tracked by product/service class, NASA center, a combination of the two, and by specific acquisition number. No responses are requested at this time. Information in the posted draft acquisition plan will supercede information in this special notice and render it obsolete. Please send questions or comments related to this announcement via email to: Deborah Glass, Contracting Officer, email dglass@mail.arc.nasa.gov or Rachel Khattab, Contracting Officer, email rkhattab@mail.arc.nasa.gov. The requirement is not considered to be a commercial or commercial-type product. A commercial item is defined in Internet "Note A." This special notice is for information and planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to release a solicitation. Any referenced notes can be viewed at the following website: http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/nasanote.html .

Web Link

Click here for the latest information about this notice (http://nais.msfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/EPS/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=21#99224)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20011018/SPMSC005.HTM (D-289 SN5107P8)