The US Army Contracting Command – New Jersey (CCNJ), on behalf of the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center (CCDC AC) seeks to enter into a Grant for a Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics (STEM) Outreach Program. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is considered a competitive combined synopsis/solicitation, therefore, this announcement constitutes the only synopsis or solicitation that will be released.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest employer of scientists and engineers in the United States and employs nearly half (46%) of the scientists and engineers in the Federal government. Under the Federal STEM strategic plan, the Department is charged with developing STEM initiatives that are unique to the DoD mission and also help meet national goals of: improving instruction; increasing engagement; growing the pool of STEM degree holders; broadening the participation of historically underserved groups; and improving the graduate school experience. DoD STEM represents the Department’s mission to attract, inspire, and develop exceptional STEM talent across the educational continuum to sustain the Department’s technological edge. It is estimated that 80% of the jobs in the United States will require STEM skills in the next decade.

The Department of Defense (DoD) provides learning opportunities from elementary school through graduate school to inspire and cultivate a diverse pool of exceptional STEM talent. DoD programs connect STEM education in the classroom to the excitement, skills, and challenges that some with safeguarding the United States. For example, DoD STEM scholarships provide awards to students who have demonstrated ability and aptitude for excelling in STEM fields in disciplines of importance to DoD. DoD STEM internships allow high school and college students the opportunity to engage in hands-on research, solving real world problems at DoD laboratories and facilities

The objective of this FOA, which is being issued in accordance with 10 USC §2192, is to seek application packages from Applicants capable of engaging and improving Grades K-12 Plus (to include colleges, universities, and vocational schools) STEM skills through outreach programs and support services on a national level. The requirement for increased STEM professional development is necessary to meet the long term national defense needs of the United States for personnel proficient in such skills.

It is expected that the Applicant will review all attachments and amendments to this notice prior to Application package preparation and submission. 

Each Applicant responding to this notice shall be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov. The representations and certifications made by your Company, including those completed electronically via the SAM shall be incorporated by reference into any resulting Grant that is awarded from this notice.

All application packages shall be submitted through Grants.gov (www.grants.gov). Required application package documentation is identified within the FOA. Forms for completion can be found on the Grants.gov website under the Research and Related (R&R) section of the forms repository.

The Government will review all submissions and perform an integrated assessment of each submission in accordance with the evaluation criteria and relative order of importance of the criteria as listed in the FOA. The Government intends to make a single award as a result of this FOA. The Government reserves the right to select for award, one or none of the application packages received. An award is anticipated to be made to the Applicant whose application package contains a proposed solution that is most advantageous to the Government’s identified STEM program objectives and tasks. The Government reserves the right to award to other than the most highly rated application package.

The Government intends to award a contract without exchanges (except for clarification), therefore, each Applicant is urged to provide an application package that contains its most favorable terms in order to reflect its best possible potential in fulfilling the program objectives and tasks. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct exchanges to permit Applicants to revise their application packages, if necessary. A notice of the Government’s award selection decision will be announced on FedBizOpps upon the conclusion of the evaluation process.

Any questions related to this FOA must be directed to the Government point of contact identified below by 4:00pm Eastern time on 08 May 2020:

David Grimes – Grants Specialist, CCNJ-ET – david.m.grimes2.civ@mail.mil

Edward Gorsky – Grants Specialist, CCNJ-ET – edward.a.gorsky.civ@mail.mil

Morgan Ziatyk – Grants Officer, CCNJ-ET – morgan.f.ziatyk.civ@mail.mil

All information submitted in response to this FOA will be at no cost or obligation to the Government. No sensitive or classified information will be discussed.

The FY20 Defense Appropriations Act provides funding to the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) to support to support medical research projects of clear scientific merit and direct relevance to military health. As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency J9, Research and Development Directorate manages the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation. The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC).

The FY20 PRMRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website. 

The vision and mission of the PRMRP is improve the health, care, and well-being of all military Service members, Veterans, and beneficiaries by encouraging, identifying, selecting, and managing medical research projects of clear scientific merit and direct relevance to military health.

Congressionally Directed Topic Areas: All applications submitted to the PRMRP must address at least one of the FY20 PRMRP Congressionally directed topic areas. The FY20 PRMRP Topic Areas are as follows:

• Arthritis
• Burn Pit Exposure
• Chronic Migraine and Post-Traumatic Headache
• Congenital Heart Disease
• Constrictive Bronchiolitis
• Diabetes
• Dystonia
• Eating Disorders
• Emerging Viral Diseases
• Endometriosis
• Epidermolysis Bullosa
• Familial Hypercholesterolemia
• Fibrous Dysplasia
• Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis
• Food Allergies
• Fragile X
• Frontotemporal Degeneration
• Guillain-Barré Syndromemorrhage Control
• Hepatitis B
• Hydrocephalus
• Immunomonitoring of Intestinal Transplants
• Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
• Interstitial Cystitis
• Metals Toxicology
• Mitochondrial Disease
• Musculoskeletal Health
• Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Myotonic Dystrophy
• Nutrition Optimization
• Pancreatitis
• Pathogen-Inactivated Blood Products
• Plant-Based Vaccines
• Polycystic Kidney Disease
• Pressure Ulcers
• Pulmonary Fibrosis
• Resilience Training
• Respiratory Health
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Sleep Disorders and Restriction
• Spinal Muscular Atrophy
• Sustained Release Drug Delivery
• Vascular Malformations
• Women’s Heart Disease

Clinical Trial Award – Letter of Intent due July 29, 2020

Assistant Professor level or above (or equivalent):

• Supports the rapid implementation of clinical trials of novel interventions with the potential to have a significant impact on patient care in the Topic Area(s) of interest.
• Proposed projects may range from small proof-of-concept trials through large-scale, definitive trials.
• Investigational New Drug (IND) or Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) applications to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), if needed, must be approved by the FDA before the PRMRP application submission deadline unless applying to the Planning Phase with Clinical Trial application category.

New for FY20:  Optional Planning Phase available. The Planning Phase will provide support to prepare and submit an IND/IDE application to the FDA; FDA/regulatory approval to proceed is required prior to exercising option for clinical trial.

Planning Phase (optional): Maximum of $500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs). Maximum period of performance is 18 months. Clinical Trial: No maximum funding limit; requested funding must be appropriate for the scope of work proposed. Maximum period of performance is 4 years.

Clinical Trial Award (for Emerging Viral Diseases and Respiratory Health) – Letter of Intent due June 8, 2020

Assistant Professor level or above (or equivalent):

• Supports the rapid implementation of clinical trials of novel interventions with the potential to have a significant impact on patient care in the Topic Areas of Emerging Viral Disease and/or Respiratory Health.
• Applications must address at least one of the Focus Area published in the Program Announcement.
• Proposed projects may range from small proof-of-concept trials through large-scale, definitive trials.
• IND or IDE applications to the FDA, if needed, should be submitted to the FDA before the PRMRP application submission deadline.
• Funding limit for clinical trial not defined; requested funding must be appropriate for the scope of work proposed.
• Maximum period of performance is 4 years.

Investigator-Initiated Research Award (for Emerging Viral Diseases and Respiratory Health) – Letter of Intent is due May 28, 2020

Assistant Professor level or above (or equivalent):

• Supports research that will make an original and important contribution to the field of research and/or patient care in the Topic Areas of Emerging Viral Diseases and/or Respiratory Health.
• Applications must address at least one of the Focus Areas published in the Program Announcement.
• Partnering PI Options available.
• Clinical trials will not be funded.
• Maximum funding of $1.6 million for direct costs (plus indirect costs); $2.0 million for direct costs (plus indirect costs) for applications including a Partnering PI Option
• Maximum period of performance is 4 years.

Technology/Therapeutic Development Award (for Emerging Viral Diseases and Respiratory Health) – Letter of Intent due May 28, 2020

Assistant Professor level or above (or equivalent):

• Supports the translation of promising pre-clinical findings into clinical applications for prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, or quality of life in the Topic Areas of Emerging Viral Diseases and/or Respiratory Health.
• Applications must address at least one of the Focus Areas published in the Program Announcement.
• Product-oriented (e.g., device, drug, clinical guidelines). The product(s) to be developed may be a tangible item, such as a pharmacologic agent (drugs or biologics) or device, or a knowledge-based product.
• Clinical trials will not be funded.
• Maximum funding of $4.0 million for direct costs (plus indirect costs).
• Maximum period of performance is 4 years.

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) at https://eBRAP.org prior to the pre-application deadline. All applications must conform to the final Program Announcements and General Application Instructions available for electronic downloading from the Grants.gov website.  The application package containing the required forms for each award mechanism will also be found on Grants.gov. A listing of all CDMRP and other USAMRDC extramural funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420. 

For email notification when Program Announcements are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under “Email Subscriptions” on the eBRAP homepage at https://eBRAP.org. For more information about the PRMRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.army.mil).

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are engineered systems that are built from, and depend upon, the seamless integration of computation and physical components. Advances in CPS will enable capability, adaptability, scalability, resiliency, safety, security, and usability that will expand the horizons of these critical systems. CPS technologies are transforming the way people interact with engineered systems, just as the Internet has transformed the way people interact with information. New, smart CPS drive innovation and competition in a range of application domains including agriculture, aeronautics, building design, civil infrastructure, energy, environmental quality, healthcare and personalized medicine, manufacturing, and transportation. CPS are becoming data-rich enabling new and higher degrees of automation and autonomy. Traditional ideas in CPS research are being challenged by new concepts emerging from artificial intelligence and machine learning. The integration of artificial intelligence with CPS especially for real-time operation creates new research opportunities with major societal implications.

While tremendous progress has been made in advancing CPS technologies, the demand for innovation across application domains is driving the need to accelerate fundamental research to keep pace. At the same time, the CPS program seeks to open new vistas for the research community to think beyond the usual cyber-physical paradigms and structures and propose creative ideas to address the myriad challenges of today’s systems as well as those of the future that have not yet been designed or fielded.

The CPS program aims to develop the core research needed to engineer these complex CPS, some of which may also require dependable, high-confidence, or provable behaviors. Core research areas of the program include control, data analytics, and machine learning—including real-time learning for control, autonomy, design, Internet of Things (IoT), mixed initiatives including human-in- or human-on-the-loop, networking, privacy, real-time systems, safety, security, and verification. By abstracting from the particulars of specific systems and application domains, the CPS program seeks to reveal cross-cutting, fundamental scientific and engineering principles that underpin the integration of cyber and physical elements across all application domains. The program additionally supports the development of methods, tools, and hardware and software components based upon these cross-cutting principles, along with validation of the principles via prototypes and test beds. This program also fosters a research community that is committed to advancing education and outreach in CPS and accelerating the transition of CPS research into the real world.

All proposals must include the following as part of the Project Description:

• A Research Description that describes the technical rationale and technical approach of the CPS research, including the challenges that drive the research problem and how the research integrates cyber and physical components.This section must also describe how the research outcomes are translational to other application domains. Specifically, it must include:
  • A subsection titled “CPS Research Focus” which describes the cyber-physical system attributes of the challenge problem and clearly identifies the core CPS research areas addressed in which the novel and foundational research contributions are being made;
  • An Evaluation/Experimentation Plan that describes how proposed concepts will be validated and outlines the metrics for success;
  • A Project Management and Collaboration Plan that summarizes how the project team is ideally suited to realize the project goals and how the team will ensure effective collaboration; and
  • A Broader Impacts section that describes how the research will be disseminated to a broad and diverse audience. This should go beyond traditional academic publications and includes education and outreach from the research team spanning multiple levels of engagement. Broader Impacts encompasses Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) and Engineering (BPE).

In FY 2020, NSF is working closely with multiple agencies across the federal government, including the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T); the US Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); several National Institutes of Health (NIH) institutes and centers including the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), National Cancer Institute (NCI), and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS); and the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA, hereafter referred to as NIFA). Proposals for three classes of research and education projects—differing in scope and goals—are supported through the CPS program:

• Small projects may request a total budget of up to $500,000 for a period of up to 3 years. They are well suited to emerging new and innovative ideas that may have high impact on the field of CPS. Note that Small projects are not accepted under this solicitation.
• Medium projects may request a total budget ranging from $500,001 to $1,200,000 for a period of up to 3 years. They are well suited to multi-disciplinary projects that accomplish clear goals requiring integrated perspectives spanning the disciplines.
• Frontier projects must address clearly identified critical CPS challenges that cannot be achieved by a set of smaller projects. Furthermore, Frontier projects should also look to push the boundaries of CPS well beyond today’s systems and capabilities. Funding may be requested for a total of $1,200,001 to $7,000,000 for a period of 4 to 5 years. Note that the Frontier project deadline is different than that for Medium projects.

Please note, this solicitation includes windows for Medium and Frontier proposals. Small proposals are not invited in FY 2020. For FY 2021 (beginning Oct. 1, 2020) and beyond, the CPS program anticipates going to a “no-deadline” submission for Small and Medium proposals. Specific annual deadlines for Frontier proposals are anticipated to continue as noted in this solicitation.

A Notice from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT):

In light of COVID-19 public health concerns, many organizations have converted to teleworking or closed their offices completely. ODOT’s Research Section is still hard at work… remotely. Although we are not physically in the office, the entire staff is teleworking and available via email or phone during normal business hours. Unless you are informed otherwise by your ODOT Research Project Manager, all project status calls are continuing as scheduled.

While everyone is doing their part to slow the spread of COVID-19, we understand that the progress of research projects may be impacted. Laboratories at universities and some private facilities have either put restrictions on the number of people that may have access at any one time or are preparing to close. Access to project staff, such as students, may become limited. Obtaining essential supplies for testing/development, getting survey responses, and coordinating for field tests/data collection may have become more difficult. While ODOT does expect work on research projects to continue, we do realize that due to these unique circumstances projects may be delayed at no fault of the researcher. Our office will take these events into consideration in regard to due dates and contract completion dates. It is essential that researchers keep Technical Advisory Committees and ODOT’s Research staff informed of any issues that may lead to a delay in a project. Be proactive. Send an email to Research@dot.ohio.gov to help document these problems in the event adjustments to the contract may be needed. Don’t wait until draft final reports are due to let us know of issues affecting projects that are related to COVID-19 closures.

No-cost time extension requests should not be submitted until the full impact on the project is known. All delays associated with COVID-19 will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. If researchers are unsure of what to do, contact the ODOT Research Project Manager for assistance. We also understand that many accounting/billing departments are in the process of converting to teleworking. ODOT is currently making the same adjustment. Quickly transitioning a paper process to an electronic one is difficult and challenging. In light of this, ODOT’s Research Section is issuing a 30-day grace period on project billing for the quarter ending March 31, 2020 on all research projects. These invoices will be due by May 31, 2020 as opposed to April 30, 2020. We strongly encourage organizations who are able to submit their invoices by the standard deadline to do so in order to reduce delays in reimbursement. If you have any questions about billing, please contact your ODOT Research Project Manager.

We thank you for your participation in transportation research in Ohio. Your efforts help ODOT provide an efficient and safe transportation network to the traveling public. If you have any questions, please contact our office. In the spirit of safety, keep washing your hands.

A message from the Head of the Office of International Science and Engineering

Dear Colleague:

BACKGROUND

To further scientific and technological cooperation between the United States and the European Community, the National Science Foundation and the European Research Council signed an Implementing Arrangement on October 29, 2019 to enable U.S.-based scientists and engineers with active NSF awards, particularly those early on in their careers, to pursue research collaboration with European colleagues supported through EU-funded European Research Council (ERC) grants.

Connecting researchers with complementary strengths and shared interests promotes scientific progress in solving some of the world’s most vexing problems. This international research opportunity is mutually beneficial to the U.S. participants and their hosts through cooperative activities during research visits and establishing international research partnerships to enrich future research activities in the U.S. and Europe.

Under the Arrangement, the ERC Executive Agency (ERCEA) identifies ERC-funded research groups who wish to host NSF grantees for research visits of up to one year within their ERC funding.

OPPORTUNITY

This letter invites current NSF grantees to submit supplemental funding requests for research visits to any identified, appropriate ERC-funded European research group. NSF particularly encourages requests from NSF grantees who are early on in their careers or who are still actively building their careers. Further, the letter gives instructions on how to submit supplemental funding requests and other relevant policies and requirements.

ERCEA has provided a list of ERC-funded principal investigators (PIs) and research teams interested in hosting NSF grantees. NSF grantees should request this list via email from Roxanne Nikolaus, Program Director, Office of International Science and Engineering, at rnikolau@nsf.gov, and then communicate directly with ERC PIs to ascertain areas of mutual interest and research goals for a visit. NSF grantees then must discuss plans for the visit(s) with the NSF Program Officer managing their award prior to submitting a supplemental funding request. If approved by NSF, the request is forwarded by NSF to ERCEA for review and confirmation with the ERC-funded project.

The European hosts will provide funding to support in-country living expenses during the visits.

NSF will provide travel funds to and from Europe. It is expected that the amount requested will not exceed $20,000, inclusive of any foreign travel expenses for qualified family members (see Conditions below).

Activities are subject to availability of funds and all applicable laws, regulations, policies, and programs of the ERC and NSF.

ELIGIBILITY

This opportunity is open only to PIs and co-PIs of active NSF awards. Supplemental funding may not be used to support travel for senior personnel, postdocs, or others funded on the award. Please note, however, that NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellows with active Fellowships are eligible to submit to this opportunity.

CONDITIONS

NSF awardees may request supplemental funding for a single short-term or a single long-term research visit or multiple short-term visits. Multiple short-term visits should aggregate to a minimum amount of time as agreed in advance between the NSF grantee and the ERC-funded PI. For definition, research visits of less than 6 months are considered short-term, whereas visits of 6 months to one year are long-term visits. The maximum duration for either a single visit or the cumulation of multiple visits is 12 months. Visits must be concluded prior to the expiration date of the NSF award.

NSF grantees will continue to receive NSF funding during the period of the European visit, and their salaries will be covered in accordance with the award terms and conditions. NSF will provide supplemental funding to the NSF award for the foreign travel expenses (i.e., airfare and directly related expenses such as ground transportation to and from the airport and baggage fees) of the grantee for short-term and long-term visits. If requested, NSF may provide supplemental funding for foreign travel expenses of qualified family members (as defined in Uniform Guidance § 200.474 Travel Costs) for long-term visits. In this case, foreign travel expenses for qualified family members means one roundtrip airfare (and directly related expenses) per qualified family member.

In-country costs should be provided from the existing ERC funding in accordance with applicable national laws and regulations, commensurate with the level of experience of the NSF grantee. These in-country costs may include subsistence on a per diem basis or other appropriate arrangement by the host institution. Other eligible costs incurred during the visit that are directly related to the ERC-funded project may also be allowed and should be agreed with the European host prior to submitting the request.

NSF grantees will be expected to report on the research visits in their NSF annual and final project reports, as appropriate, and may be asked to participate in follow-up evaluation activities.

HOW TO REQUEST SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING

Research visits will be funded for NSF grantees as supplements to their awards. Supplemental funding requests will be prepared in accordance with standard policies and procedures using FastLane. For NSF Postdoctoral Fellows, form of payment for travel will be determined by the Directorate that funded the Fellowship, in consultation with the Office of International Science and Engineering.

Grantees must consult with the cognizant NSF program director of the original award or Fellowship prior to submitting a supplemental funding request.

The supplemental funding request consists of:

• Description of the research to be performed during the visit at the host location and how it relates to current research and broad career goals (no more than 3 pages)
• 2-page biographical sketch of the US PI
• 2-page biographical sketch of the ERC-funded PI host
• Time-line for the proposed activity
• Confirmation of Institutional Review Board/Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approvals, permits, and/or other special clearances needed, if any
• Budget and budget justification (e.g., estimated airfare, ground transportation to and from airport, baggage fees)
• Communication from the department chair of the US PI endorsing the visit
• Communication from the ERC-funded PI host indicating:
  1. How the proposed visit fits within the ERC-funded project;
  2. Facilities and resources to be made available to the NSF awardee; and
  3. Expectations that the ERC-funded PI host has for the NSF awardee’s visit.
• Endorsement of the visit from the ERC-funded host institution.

Following consultation with the cognizant program director, supplemental funding requests should be prepared and submitted via FastLane in accordance with the guidance in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), Chapter VI.E.4. NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellows should submit their requests via email to the cognizant program director for their Fellowship.

Supplemental funding requests will be reviewed internally by NSF Program Officers. All supplements are subject to (a) the availability of funds, and (b) review of the quality of the supplemental funding request.

NSF may share the supplemental funding request in its entirety with ERC staff and the proposed ERC-funded PI host.

WHEN TO SUBMIT:

Requests must be received at NSF at least 3 months prior to the proposed visit, but no later than May 15, 2020, for consideration using Fiscal Year 2020 funds.

CONTACT:

For further information, please contact:

Roxanne Nikolaus, Program Director, Office of International Science and Engineering, (703) 292-7578. Email: rnikolau@nsf.gov.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Keiser
Office Head
Office of International Science and Engineering

William Easterling
Assistant Director
Directorate for Geosciences

Suzanne Iacono
Office Head
Office of Integrative Activities

Anne Kinney
Assistant Director
Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences

Arthur Lupia
Assistant Director
Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences

Margaret Martonosi
Assistant Director
Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering

Karen Marrongelle
Assistant Director
Directorate for Education and Human Resources

Dawn Tilbury
Assistant Director
Directorate for Engineering

Joanne Tornow
Assistant Director
Directorate for Biological Sciences