2020 NIMH Grant Writing Workshop

NOTICE OF INTENT to Sole Source SOLICITATION NUMBER: NIMH20000338 TITLE: 2020 NIMH Grant Writing Workshop CLASSIFICATION CODE: R -- Professional, administrative, and management support services NAICS CODE: 813211 – GRANTMAKING FOUNDATIONS RESPONSE DATE: December 12, 2019 at 12:00 PM EST PRIMARY POINT OF CONTACT: Thien Nguyen [email protected] Phone: 301-827-0914 DESCRIPTION: INTRODUCTION THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) intends to negotiate on a sole source bases with Grant Writing Mentors LLC, 7103 Loch Lomond Drive, Bethesda, MD 20817-4759 NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE and SET ASIDE STATUS The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 813211 – Grantmaking Foundations with a Small Business Size Standard of 32.5 million. REGULATORY AUTHORITY This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures. Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6—Competition Requirements. FAR Subpart 13.106-1 (b) Soliciting from a single source provides that: For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, Contracting officers may solicit from one source IF the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand-name OR industrial mobilization). The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 20019-01 dated December 1, 2018. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES: The NIMH Office of Fellowship Training (OFT) requires training services for a Grant Writing course. The training will be provided to Postdoctoral and Faculty level participants who intend to submit a grant proposal in the next fiscal year. The course is required to provide participants with the basic fundamentals of grant writing, awareness of funding institutions and coaching for grant writing applicable to identified targeted grant mechanisms (K99/R00, K22, Foundation grants). The NIMH Office of Fellowship Training (OFT) is responsible for the oversight of research training and career/ professional development resources for approximately 250 trainees in the Intramural Research Program (IRP). OFT provides guidance to Principal Investigators and other staff in mentoring roles to ensure that there is consistency across labs with the overall fellowship experience. One of the fundamental objectives of the office is to develop training courses to help fellows advance to the next career stage. A critical training course that OFT must provide annually is Grant Writing and common areas that are addressed include critical elements of grants, funding institutions and writing tactics. To effectively cover all of the important grant topics, a multistep series approach is taken in the form of seminars and workshops to give fellows and instructors the opportunity to have both didactic and interactive sessions. To support the training of Postdoctoral fellows and Faculty/Senior Staff, the IRP is in need of a grant focused workshop that will provide an inclusive grants experience for junior and senior level individuals. These workshops will be geared toward learning about the critical elements of grants, the different grant types, understanding funding announcements and assembling grant applications for NIH and external sources. Grant types such as Public Health Service Grants, PHS 398, including Research Career Awards, Institutional National Research Service Awards, Foundation grants and international funding opportunities will be the focus. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT The contractor must have extensive knowledge and experience with the grant writing process. In specific, it is preferred that the contractor have a history of working with NIH and private foundation grants and also have familiarity with NIH mandated changes for the grant application format. The workshops will focus on how to generate novel ideas, prepare the grant application, and address the structure and methods needed to construct a successful grant that will be funded and fully supported. The Grantsmanship Series should encompass the following 3 parts and topics as follows: Workshop 1: Grantsmanship 101 (Basics of Grant writing) Instruction should be focused on the NIH grants process, the elements of a successful grant, strategy and communication of research. Workshop 2: Crafting a Competitive Application (K22/K99, Foundation grants etc) Instruction should focus on specifics of the grant application which include the Biosketch, Specific Aims, Candidate Section, and Description of Institutional Environment Research Plan. Workshop 3: Crafting a Competitive Application (K22/K99, Foundation grants etc) Instruction should focus on specifics of the grant application which include theResearch Plan section, Project Summary/Project Narrative and emphasis on any other areas essential to the application. The workshop should involve individual and group consultations with the contractor to allow participants the opportunity to engage with instructors. Scheduling of the one to one meetings must be flexible and tailored to the needs of individual participants. The purpose of the consultation component is to target postdoctoral level fellows and maximize the likelihood of success on the first submission by attending directly to their needs. The frequency of the individual consultations is subject to the needs of each of the fellows who participate in the grantsmanship training series. However, the contractor should dedicate a 2 to 3 month time frame to provide at least biweekly feedback and any other instructional assistance to fellows who require this service to improve the final proposal. At the end of the individual consultations, each participant will have completed a full grant application (NIH K99/R00, K22/K23, NSF and other foundational grants). CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME) DETERMINATION The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted. Specifically, Gian Luca Araldi is the only vendor in the marketplace that can provide the services required by NIMH. The intended source is: Grant Writing Mentors LLC 7103 Loch Lomond Drive Bethesda, MD 20817-4759 CLOSING STATEMENT THIS SYNOPSIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. All responses must be received by the closing date and time of this announcement and must reference the solicitation number, NIMH20000338. Responses must be submitted electronically to Thien Nguyen, Contract Specialist, at [email protected]. and Valerie Whipple, Contracting Officer, at [email protected]. U.S. Mail and fax responses will not be accepted.