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Solicitations | 1998
STTR Phase I Solicitation | Chapter
3 |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Small Business Technology Transfer 1998 Program Solicitation
3.1 Proposal Content
3.2 General Requirements
3.3 Proposal Cover Sheet and Project Summary
3.4 Technical Proposal
3.5 Proposed Budget
3.6 Cooperative Agreement
3. Proposal Preparation Instructions and Requirements
Each proposal submitted to the STTR Program must contain the following items in this order of presentation: (1) Proposal Cover Sheet (Form 9A); (2) Project Summary Sheet (Form 9B); (3) Technical Proposal; (4) Summary Budget Sheet (Form 9C); (5) Cooperative Agreement. Refer to Section 6.2 for requirements.
The STTR Phase-I proposal must provide sufficient information to convince NASA that the proposed SBC/RI cooperative effort represents a sound approach for converting technical information resident in the RI into a product or service that meets a need described in a solicitation research topic. It must also identify the eventual commercial application potential of the product or service and discuss how the SBC would bring it to market. Proposals directed toward systems studies, market research, and routine engineering design will be evaluated as non-responsive to this solicitation and will not be funded.
3.2.1 Page Limitation. As is specifically stated in Section 6.2, offerors are required to submit Phase-I proposals in both paper copy and electronic formats. The paper copy submitted by the offeror shall not exceed a total of 25 standard 8.5 x 11 inch pages. All five proposal items required in Section 3.1 will be included within this total. Pages may be single or double spaced. Each page shall be numbered consecutively at the bottom. Samples, videotapes, slides, or other ancillary items are not required and will not be accepted. If the paper copy of the proposal exceeds the 25-page limitation, then the entire proposal will be rejected as part of the administrative screening conducted prior to technical evaluation.
3.2.2 Type Size. A font size of 10 point or larger is to be used for text and tables, except as legends on reduced drawings. Proposals prepared in a font smaller than 10 point will be rejected.
3.2.3 Brevity and Organization. The proposal should be direct, concise, and logically organized. Offerors are requested not to use the entire 25-page allowance unless necessary.
3.3 Proposal Cover Sheet and Project Summary
Note: The Proposal Cover Sheet and the Project Summary are public information, and the Government may disclose them. Do not include proprietary information on these forms.
3.3.1 Page 1: Proposal Cover Sheet (Form 9A). A copy of the Proposal Cover Sheet is provided in Section 9.0. Each offeror shall provide complete information for each item and submit the form as required in Section 6.0. The proposal title shall be concise and descriptive of the proposed product. The title should not use acronyms or words like "Development of" or "Study of." The NASA research topic title must not be used as the proposal title.
3.3.2 Page 2: Project Summary (Form 9B). A copy of the Project Summary Sheet is provided in Section 9.0. Each offeror shall provide complete information for each item and submit form 9B as required in Section 6.0. Without revealing proprietary information and limited to 200 words, the technical abstract section shall summarize the anticipated results and implications of the approach (both Phases I and II). Potential commercial applications of the technology should also be presented.
3.4.1 The Technical Proposal shall not contain any budget data and must consist of all eleven parts in the following order. (Note: Parts that are not applicable must be included and marked "Not Applicable.")
Part 1: Table of Contents. Page 3 of the proposal shall begin with a brief table of contents indicating the page numbers of each of the sections of the proposal. The rest of the pages can be devoted to the Technical Proposal.
Part 2: Identification and Significance of the Technology or Intellectual Property. The first paragraph of Part 1 shall contain (1) a clear and succinct statement of the specific technology or intellectual property resident at the RI that is the basis for the proposed cooperative effort, and (2) a brief explanation of how this effort is relevant to meeting the need described in the applicable Research Topic contained in this solicitation. Additional paragraphs in Part 2 should provide appropriate background and elaboration to explain why the proposed cooperative effort should be supported.
Part 3: Phase-I Technical Objectives. The offeror shall state the specific objectives of the Phase-I effort and the technical questions that must be answered during Phase-I to determine the feasibility of the further research and development to convert the intellectual property resident at the RI into products or services that benefit the specified research topic and have potential commercial application.
Part 4: Phase-I Work Plan. The Phase-I Work Plan must be complete and self-contained and shall describe the Phase-I R/R&D required to answer the feasibility questions stated in Part 3. The work plan shall indicate, in detail, what will be done and where the work will be carried out. The methods planned to achieve each objective or task should be discussed in detail. Schedules (Gantt charts, or other suitable scheduled task displays), task descriptions and assignments, resource allocations, and planned accomplishments, including project milestones, shall be included. The work plan will specifically address the percentage and type of work to be performed by the SBC and by the RI, and provide evidence that the SBC will exercise management direction and control of the performance of the STTR effort, including situations in which Principal Investigator may be an employee of the RI.
Part 5: Related R/R&D and Bibliography of Related Work. The section should include a clear statement of the offerors awareness of key recent developments by others in the specific subject area. It should include any significant R&D activities, which are directly related to the proposal, that have been conducted by the SBC, the RI and the Principal Investigator or Project Manager (PI/PM). Any other planned R&D related to the proposed project should also be described. At the offeror's option, this section may include concise bibliographic references in support of the proposal if they are confined to activities directly related to the proposed work.
Part 6: Relationship with Phase-II. The offeror shall (1) state the anticipated results of the proposed R&D effort if the project is successful (Phases-I and -II) and (2) discuss the significance of the Phase-I effort in providing a foundation for the Phase-II R&D effort.
Part 7: Commercial Applications Potential. The offeror shall describe whether and by what means the proposed project appears to have potential (1) commercial application and (2) use by the Federal government.
Part 8: Company Information and Facilities. This section shall provide adequate information to allow the evaluators to assess the ability of the SBC/RI team to carry out the proposed Phase-I and projected Phase-II and Phase-III activities. The offeror should describe the relevant facilities and equipment currently available, and those to be purchased, in order to adequately support the team's proposed activities. NASA will not fund the acquisition of equipment, instrumentation, or facilities under STTR Phase-I contracts as a direct cost (Section 5.14). The capability of the offeror to perform the proposed activities and bring a resulting product or service to market must be indicated. Qualifications of the offeror and its principals in marketing related products or services or in raising capital should be presented.
Part 9: Key Personnel and Other Staff. The offeror shall identify the key employees to be committed to Phase-I activities. Key personnel are the Principal Investigator or Project Manager (PI/PM) and other individuals whose expertise is essential to the success of the project. Substitution of the PI/PM or other personnel designated as "key" at any time may be made only with the written consent of the NASA contracting officer. Substitution of a "key" person will be judged against the education and experience of the key person approved at contract award.
The PI/PM is presumed to be essential to the success of an STTR project. The PI/PM must have the technical competence and authority to plan and guide the proposed R/R&D effort. Co-PI’s or Co-PM’s are not acceptable. NASA assumes that the PI normally will be employed either by the SBC or the RI, and will make a substantial commitment to the project. If the PI is not an employee of the SBC, the offeror must describe the management process to ensure SBC control of the project.
The proposal must state the time and effort planned for the key personnel and their organizational affiliation (SBC, RI, or other). Information on the education, experience, and any directly related publications of key personnel is required. Offerors are requested to avoid extensive vitae and publication lists not pertinent to the proposed R/R&D. This section shall indicate the extent to which other proposals recently submitted or planned for submission in 1998, and existing projects, commit key persons' time concurrently with this proposed activity. The qualifications of other staff who will make significant contributions to the project, but who are not considered key personnel, should also be described.
Part 10: Subcontracts and Consultants. The SBC/RI team may establish business arrangements with other entities or individuals provided such arrangements do not exceed 30 percent of the work (amount requested including cost sharing if any, less fee, if any) in both Phases-I & -II. The offeror must describe all subcontracting or other business arrangements, and identify the relevant organizations and/or individuals with whom arrangements are planned.
The expertise to be provided by entities other than the SBC and RI must be described in detail, as well as the functions, services, number of hours and labor rates, and extent of the effort to be provided. The proposal must include certifications by each participating organization and individual consultant that they will be available at the times required for the purposes and extent of effort described in the proposal. Failure to provide subcontractor/consultant certifications may result in rejection of the entire proposal.
Part 11: Similar Proposals or Awards. A firm may elect to submit proposals for essentially equivalent work under other Federal program solicitations, or may have received other Federal awards for essentially equivalent work. In these cases, a statement must be included in each such proposal indicating:
It is unlawful to enter into contracts or grants requiring essentially equivalent effort. If there is any question concerning this, it must be disclosed to NASA before award.
3.5.1 Summary Budget (Form 9C). A copy of the Summary Budget Sheet is provided in Section 9.0. Each offeror shall provide complete information for each item and submit the form as required in Section 6.0. Sufficient information shall be submitted to show how the offeror plans to use the requested funds, and enable NASA to determine whether the proposed budget is realistic and reasonable. Items on the form that do not apply to the proposed project may be omitted.
3.5.2 Property. NASA will not fund the purchase of instrumentation, equipment, or facility acquisition as a direct cost under Phase-I (Section 5.14). However, any purchases of products required for R/R&D under an STTR contract using NASA funds should be American-made.
3.5.3 Travel. Use of STTR funds for travel must be reasonable and essential for the purposes of Phase-I.
3.5.4 Profit. Unless prohibited by statute, a reasonable profit or fee should be included in the proposed budget (Section 5.9).
3.5.5 Cost Sharing. (Section 5.8)
The Cooperative Agreement (not to be confused with the Allocation of Rights Agreement) shall be a single page document (see the enclosed Model Cooperative Agreement for an example) which contains a statement to NASA that the SBC, the RI, and any applicable subcontractors and/or consultants have agreed to cooperate on the proposed project, if and when the project is selected for funding. The Cooperative Agreement shall be submitted in accordance with Section 6.0.