PART 1835
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1835.003 Policy.
1835.004 Publicizing requirements and expanding research and development sources.
1835.014 Government property and title.
1835.015 Contracts for research with educational institutions and
nonprofit organizations.
1835.016 Broad agency announcements.
1835.016-70 Foreign participation under broad agency announcements
(BAAs).
1835.016-71 NASA Research Announcements.
1835.016-72 Foreign participation in NRA proposals.
1835.070 NASA contract clauses and solicitation provision.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING
1835.003 Policy.
See NPG 5800.1, Grant and Cooperative Agreement Handbook, for policy regarding the use of grants and cooperative agreements.
1835.015 Contracts for research with edu-cational institutions and nonprofit organi-zations.
(a)(1)(iv) The research contract shall include a requirement that the contractor obtain the contracting officer's approval when it plans to continue the research work during a continuous period in excess of 3 months without the participation of an approved principal investigator or project leader.
1835.016 Broad agency announcements.
(a)(i) The following forms of broad agen-cy announcements (BAAs) are authorized for use:
(A) Announcements of Opportunity (see 1872).
(B) NASA Research Announcements (see 1835.016-71).
(C) Other forms of announcements ap-proved by the Associate Administrator for Procurement (Code HS).
(ii) Other program announcements, notic-es, and letters not authorized by para-graph (a)(i) of this section shall not be used to solicit propos-als that may result in contracts.
(iii) Draft or final versions of any form of BAA that directly or substantially supports a program subject to NASA Procedures and Guidelines (NPG) 7120.5 shall not be released unless --
(A) All applicable NPG 7120.5 required documentation (see 1804.7301(b)(2)(i)) is current and has been approved (e.g., Formulation Authorization Document, Program Commitment Agreement, Program Plan, or Project Plan); or
(B) Authority to proceed without the required documentation has been granted by the Chair of the Governing Program Management Council or designee.
(c) BAAs may not preclude the participation of any offer-or capable of satisfying the Government's needs unless a justification for other than full and open competition is approved under FAR 6.304.
1835.016-70 Foreign participa-tion under broad agency announcements (BAAs).
(a) Policy.
(1) NASA seeks the broadest participation in response to broad agency announcements, including foreign proposals or proposals including foreign participation. NASA's policy is to conduct research with foreign entities on a cooperative, no-exchange-of-funds basis (see NPD 1360.2, Initiation and Development of International Cooperation in Space and Aeronautics Programs). NASA does not normally fund foreign research proposals or foreign research efforts that are part of U.S. research proposals. Rather, cooperative research efforts are implemented via international agreements between NASA and the spon-soring foreign agency or funding/sponsoring institution under which the parties agree to each bear the cost of discharging their respective responsibilities.
(2) In accordance with the National Space Transportation Policy, use of a non-U.S. manufactured launch vehicle is permitted only on a no-exchange-of-funds basis.
(3) NASA funding may not be used for subcontracted foreign research efforts. The direct purchase of supplies and/or services, which do not constitute research, from non-U.S. sources by U.S. award recipients is permitted.
(b) Procedure. When a foreign proposal or a U.S. proposal with foreign participation is received in response to a BAA, the NASA sponsoring office shall determine whether the proposal conforms to the no-exchange-of-funds policy in 1835.016-70(a).
(1) If the proposal conforms to the policy in 1835.016-70(a), the NASA sponsoring office shall evaluate the proposal and make selection in accordance with 1835.016-71(d). In conjunction with the notification of successful foreign proposers, the NASA sponsoring office shall notify the Headquarters Office of External Relations, Code I. Code I will negotiate the agreement with the sponsoring foreign agency or funding institution for the proposed participation.
(2) If the proposal does not conform to the policy in 1835.016-70(a), the NASA sponsoring office shall:
(i) Determine whether the proposal merits further consideration;
(ii) If further consideration is warranted, refer the proposal to Code I; and
(iii) Complete the evaluation of the proposal. However no notification of selection, whether tentative or final, shall be made without Code I approval.
(3) Notification to Code I required by paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(2)(ii) of this section, shall address the items contained in 1872.504(c), and shall be coordinated through the Office of Procurement, Code HS.
1835.016-71 NASA Research Announce-ments.
(a) Scope. An NRA is used to announce research interests in support of NASA's programs, and, after peer or scientific review using factors in the NRA, select proposals for funding. Unlike an RFP containing a statement of work or specification to which offerors are to respond, an NRA provides for the sub-mission of competitive project ideas, con-ceived by the offerors, in one or more program areas of interest. An NRA shall not be used when the requirement is sufficiently defined to specify an end product or service.
(b) Issuance.
(1) Before issuance, each field-generat-ed NRA shall be approved by the installa-tion director or designee, with the concurrence of the procure--ment officer, and each Headquarters-generated NRA shall be approved by the cognizant Program Associate Administrator or designee, with the concurrence of the Headquarters Offices of General Counsel (Code GK) and Procurement (Code HS). The NRA approval authority shall designate the selection official.
(2) The selection official shall assure that the NRA is synopsized prior to issuance in accordance with FAR 5.201 and 1805.201. The synopsis shall be brief, and the technical section describing the area of interest should not exceed 50 words.
(3) If a Headquarters-generated NRA may result in awards by a NASA field installation, the issuing office shall notify the installation procurement officer and provide a copy of the NRA.
(4) The selecting official is responsible for the preparation and distribution of the NRA. (5) NRAs normally shall remain open for at least 90 days.
(c) Content. The NRA shall consist of the following sections and items. The entire package shall be provided in response to requests.
(1) Cover. The cover shall display:
(i) "OMB Approval Number 2700-0087" in the upper right corner.
(ii) Title.
(iii) "NASA Research Announcement Soliciting Research Proposals for the Peri-od Ending ".
(iv) NRA number.
(v) Official address for the office issuing the NRA.
(2) Summary and Supplemental Infor-mation.
(i) The Summary and Supplemental Information should not exceed two pages and shall include:
(A) Title and NRA number.
(B) Introductory paragraphs describ-ing the purpose of the NRA and the period for receipt of proposals.
(C) Address for submitting proposals.
(D) Number of copies required.
(E) Selecting official's title.
(F) Names, addresses, and tele-phone num-bers for the technical and contracting points of contact.
(G) The following statement when the NRA is to be issued before funds are available:
"Funds are not currently available for awards under this NRA. The Government's obligation to make award(s) is contingent upon the avail-ability of appropriated funds from which payment can be made and the receipt of pro-posals that NASA de-ter-mines are accept-able for award un-der this NRA."
(ii) The Summary and Supplemental Information may include estimates of the amount of funds that will be avail-able and the number of anticipated awards. A breakdown of the estimates by research area may also be shown.
(3) Technical Description. The first page shall contain the NRA number and title at the top. A brief description not exceeding two pages is preferable, but it should be detailed enough to enable ready comprehen-sion of the research areas of interest. Speci-fications containing detailed state-ments of work should be avoid-ed. Any program manage-ment information included must be limited to matters that are essential for proposal preparation.
(4) Instructions for Responding to NASA Research Announcements. The NRA shall contain instructions as stated in 1852.235-72 (see 1835.070(c)).
(d) Receipt of proposals, evaluation, and selection.
(1) Proposals shall be protected as pro-vided in FAR 15.608, FAR 15.609, and 1815.609-70.
(2) Late propos-als and modifications shall be treated in accordance with 1815.208.
(3) The selection decision shall be made following peer or scientific review of a proposal. Peer or scientific review shall involve evaluation by an in-house special-ist, a specialist outside NASA, or both. Evaluation by specialists outside NASA shall be conducted subject to the conditions in 1815.207. After receipt of a proposal and before selection, scientific or engineering personnel shall communicate with an offeror only for the purpose of clarifica-tion (as defined in FAR 15.306), or to understand the meaning of some aspect of the proposal that is not clear, or to obtain confirmation or substantiation of a proposed approach, solution, or cost esti-mate.
(4) Competitive range determinations shall not be made, and best and final offers shall not be requested.
(5) Part of a proposal may be selected unless the offeror requests other-wise. In addition, changes to a selected proposal may be sought if (i) the ideas or other aspects of the proposal on which selection is based are contained in the proposal as originally submitted, and are not intro-duced by the changes; and (ii) the changes sought would not involve a material alter-ation to the requirements stated in the NRA. Changes that would affect a proposal's selection shall not be sought. When changes are desired, the selecting official may request revi-sions from the offeror or request the contracting officer to implement them during negotiations with the successful offeror(s). The changes shall not transfer information from one offeror's proposal to another offeror (see FAR 15.306(e). When collaboration between offerors would improve proposed research programs, collaboration may be suggested to the offerors.
(6) The basis for selection of a proposal shall be documented in a selection state-ment applying the evaluation factors in the NRA. The selection statement represents the conclusions of the selecting official and must be self-contained. It shall not incorpo-rate by reference the evaluations of the reviewers.
(7) The selecting official shall notify each offeror whose proposal was not select-ed for award and explain generally why the proposal was not selected. If requested, the selecting official shall arrange a debriefing under FAR 15.5, with the participation of a contracting officer.
(8) The selecting official shall for-ward to the contracting officer the following information:
(i) A copy of the NRA (This requirement may be waived in the case of a grant award at the discretion of the grant officer);
(ii) The results of the technical evalua-tion, including the total number of propos-als received, the selection statement, and the listing of proposal(s) selected for funding (These requirements may be waived in the case of a grant award at the discretion of the grant officer if the purchase request specifically references the NRA number and states that the proposal forwarded for funding was selected under the NRA.);
(iii) A description of any chang-es de-sired in any offeror's statement of work, includ-ing the reasons for the changes and any effect on level of funding;
(iv) If a contract will be used to fund the proposal, a description of deliver-ables, including technical reports, and delivery dates, consistent with the require-ments of the NRA;
(v) A procurement request;
(vi) Comments on the offeror's cost pro-posal (either the selecting official's com-ments, which may be based on the reviewers' comments, or copies of the reviewers' comments with any different conclusions of the selecting official); these comments shall address the need for and reasonableness of travel, computer time, materials, equipment, subcontracted items, publication costs, labor hours, labor mix, and other costs; and
(vii) A copy of the selected propos-al as originally submitted, any revi-sions, and any correspondence from the successful offeror.
(9) The selecting official may pro-vide to the contracting officer copies of the reviewers' evaluations. Reviewers' names and institutions may be omitted.
(10) The selecting official may provide each offeror whose proposal was selected for negotiation a notification stating:
(i) The proposal has been selected for negotiation;
(ii) The offeror's business office will be contacted by a contract-ing officer, who is the only official autho-rized to obligate the Government; and
(iii) Any costs incurred by the offer-or in anticipation of an award are at the offer-or's risk.
(e) Award. The contracting officer shall choose the appropriate award instrument. If a contract is selected, the contracting officer shall--
(1) Advise the offeror that the Govern-ment contemplates entering into negotia-tions; the type of contract contemplated; and the estimated award date, anticipated effort, and delivery schedule;
(2) Send the offeror a model contract, if necessary, including modifications con-templated in the offeror's statement of work, and request agreement or identifica-tion of any exceptions (the contract state-ment of work may summarize the proposed research, state that the research shall be conducted in accordance with certain tech-nical sections of the proposal (which shall be identified by incorporating them into the contract by reference), and identify any changes to the proposed research);
(3) Request the offeror to complete and return certifications and representations and Standard Form 33, Solicitation, Offer, and Award, or other appropriate forms. If FAR 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan, is required for the resultant contract, request the offeror to provide a subcontracting plan;
(4) Conduct negotiations in accordance with FAR Subparts 15.3 and 15.4, as appli-cable;
(5) Award a contract; and
(6) Comply with FAR Subparts 4.6 and 5.3 on contract reporting and synopses of contract awards.
(f) Cancellation of an NRA. When pro-gram changes, program funding, or any other reasons require can-cellation of an NRA, the offi-ce issuing the NRA shall notify potential offerors by using the mail-ing list for the NRA.
1835.016-72 Foreign participation in NRA proposals.
Foreign proposals or U.S. proposals with foreign participation shall be treated in accordance with 1835.016-70. Additional guidelines applicable to foreign proposers are contained in the provision at 1852.235-72, Instructions for Responding to NASA Research Announcements.
1835.070 NASA contract clauses and solic-itation provision.
(a) The contracting officer must insert the clause at 1852.235-70, Center for AeroSpace Information - Final Scientific and Technical Reports, in all research and development contracts, interagency agreements, and in cost-reim-bursement supply contracts involving re-search and development work.
(b) The contracting officer shall insert the clause at 1852.235-71, Key Personnel and Facilities, in contracts when source selec-tion has been substantially predicated upon the possession by a given offeror of special capabilities, as represented by key personnel or facilities.
(c) The contracting officer shall ensure that the provision at 1852.235-72, Instructions for Responding to NASA Research Announcements, is inserted in all NRAs. The instructions may be supplemented, but only to the minimum extent necessary.