General BAA Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions:

The following questions are offered as general guidelines for those who are interested in submitting proposal abstracts and proposals to the Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) at DARPA. Please choose from the following list of question topics.

1. What are the mechanisms for solicitations from DARPA (BAA, RFP, other)?

2. What is the official definition of a BAA? How does it differ from an RFP?

3. Can FFRDCs and government agencies respond to a BAA?

4. What are the mechanisms for funding from DARPA?

5. What mechanisms are available for government agencies for funding from DARPA?

6. Will DARPA accept abstracts or proposals from foreign organizations?

7. How detailed must my cost proposal be in the abstracts?

8. Is a bidders' list available?

9. How much funding is budgeted for this BAA? Understanding the targeted scope of the project will assist in determining a reasonable total budget.

10. What is the length of the funding period for the BAA?

11. Will DARPA entertain projects proposing eighteen-month periods?

12. May I ask for clarification of technical wording during the solicitation period?

13. What is the cut off date for administrative questions?

14. What is meant by the following wording in Proposal Format Section: "Awards made under this BAA are subject to the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 9.5, Organizational Conflict of Interest. All offerors and proposed subcontractors must affirmatively state whether they are supporting any DARPA technical office(s) through an active contract or subcontract."?

15. Does the section regarding conflict of interest apply to the Technical POC or just to the organization submitting a proposal?

16. What is meant by an "other transaction" in the sentence "Proposals identified for funding may result in a contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or other transaction depending upon the nature of the work proposed..."?

17. Our Administrative POC has changed. Would you please correct your records to show that?

18. We would like to withdraw our proposal. How do we do that?

19. What if my question is not answered in this Frequently Asked Question document?

20. A revision to FAR Part 15 took effect October 10, 1997. Are DARPA/ITO BAAs issued before January 1, 1998 subject to this change?

1. What are the mechanisms for solicitations from DARPA (BAA,RFP, other?)?
Methods of solicitation normally applicable to DARPA projects include requests for competitive proposals (RFP) and the use of other competitive procedures (Broad Agency Announcement, Research Announcement).

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2. What is the official definition of a BAA? How does it differ from an RFP?
"Broad Agency Announcement" means a general announcement of an agency's research interest including criteria for selecting proposals and soliciting the participation of all offerors capable of satisfying the Government's needs. It can be used for basic, applied, and advanced research (sometimes called science and technology), which is not performed with the objective of developing a particular system or hardware item. If the research is focused on a specific system or hardware solution, use of an RFP would be appropriate.

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3. Can FFRDCs and government agencies respond to a BAA?
In general, Government labs and FFRDCs are not permitted to compete directly with other sources. Proposals submitted by FFRDCs and Government labs are handled as in-house efforts. The proposals should be submitted directly to the appropriate DARPA program manager (PM) who must carefully evaluate their unique contributions.

If a lab or FFRDC submits a proposal to a BAA, they will be sent a letter thanking them for their interest and stating that the proposal will be reviewed, but not as part of the BAA evaluation. If a PM wants to work with a lab or FFRDC, a justified "in-house" effort would be the way to fund it.

If a proposer wants to include lab or FFRDC work, this sometimes can be done as a subcontract (depending on the lab), or by referring to "work being submitted independently to DARPA." The latter case would then refer to the SOW provided separately by the lab.

Two exceptions to the above include (a) DOD sponsored FFRDCs that function primarily as research laboratories, and (b) DoE sponsored FFRDCs, as detailed below:

(a) These DoD FFRDCs may respond to solicitations and announcements for programs which promote research, development, demonstration, or transfer of technology. Currently, the only three FFRDCs meeting this criteria are C3I, SEI and Lincoln Laboratory.

(b) DoE sponsored FFRDCs are authorized to respond to solicitations and announcements of the DoD for the purpose of promoting research, development, demonstration, or transfer of technology. A listing of these DoE sponsored FFRDCs can be found at the following website: http://www.nsf.gov/

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4. What are the mechanisms for funding from DARPA?
Proposals identified for funding may result in a contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or other transaction depending upon the nature of the work proposed, the required degree of interaction between parties, and other factors.

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5. What mechanisms are available for government agencies for funding from DARPA?
DARPA will consider proposals from government organizations for the performance of in-house RDT&E in support of DARPA objectives. The proposal must be technically unique and innovative and include a statement on why the work cannot/should not be done by outside contracting resources. [See also answer to #3/15]

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6. Will DARPA accept abstracts or proposals from foreign organizations?
As long as there is no prohibition stated in the Broad Agency Announcement, foreign organizations may submit abstracts and proposals.

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7. How detailed must my cost proposal be in the abstracts?
A rough order of magnitude of cost and program duration must be provided in the abstract. Additional detail such as funding distribution among team members and associated levels of effort are helpful but not required in the abstract.

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8. Is a bidders' list available?
Unlike Requests for Proposal (RFPs), bidders' lists are not maintained for Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs). Therefore, no such list is available.

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9. How much funding is budgeted for this BAA? Understanding the targeted scope of the project will assist in determining a reasonable total budget.
Some BAAs specify the amount of funding available in the "Program Scope" section of the BAA. At other times, the Program Manager chooses not to provide that information.

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10. What is the length of the funding period for the BAA?
Some BAAs specify the funding period for the BAA; however, most do not. You should propose a length of time for funding that is appropriate for the work that is being proposed. If your proposal is selected for funding, the period of funding would be subject to negotiation between your organization and the contracting agent. As a general guide, most proposals received by DARPA have historically requested funding for a period of 1-3 years.

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11. Will DARPA entertain projects proposing eighteen-month periods?
Yes, unless the BAA specifically states a period of performance that precludes an eighteen month program.

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12. May I ask for clarification of technical wording during the solicitation period?
No, clarification of technical wording may not be provided to an individual during the solicitation period. If the technical wording is not clear, please bring it to DARPA's attention via one of the administrative addresses for the BAA, and if necessary, an amendment to the BAA will be published to clarify the issue for the entire research community.

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13. What is the cut off date for administrative questions?
The BAA provides the deadline for questions under the "General Information" section of the announcement. The date is one week prior to the deadline for proposal submission.

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14. What is meant by the following wording in Proposal Format Section: "Awards made under this BAA are subject to the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 9.5, Organizational Conflict of Interest. All offerors and proposed subcontractors must affirmatively state whether they are supporting any DARPA technical office(s) through an active contract or subcontract."?
The above helps implement DARPA's policy regarding actual and potential organizational conflicts of interest (OCI). For purposes of the policy, a "support contract" or "support contractor" includes a contract or subcontract for acquisition of SETA services and other support service contracts in which any one of the following situations apply: 1. Have personnel who regularly maintain offices or frequently occupy space within DARPA; 2. Maintain external spaces in which DARPA personnel maintain offices or frequently occupy; or 3. Have personnel with any access to the DARPA fiscal database, EIS, or contractual or programmatic documentation related to other than their own contract(s).

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15. Does the section regarding conflict of interest apply to the Technical POC or just to the organization submitting a proposal?
The organization is considered to be the offeror. If the Technical POC, as an individual, is engaged in other activities or relationships that create an organizational conflict of interest, as defined in FAR 9.501, that too would have to be disclosed.

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16. What is meant by an "other transaction" in the sentence "Proposals identified for funding may result in a contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or other transaction depending upon the nature of the work proposed..."?
Pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 2371, the DOD may, for the purpose of carrying out research projects, enter into arrangements that are not contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements. These arrangements have been called "other transactions." Because other transactions are not traditional procurement contracts, DOD is not required to include the traditional Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations (DFARS) clauses, but is free to negotiate provisions that are mutually agreeable to both the Government and the consortium of companies entering into the agreement. Other transactions are appropriately used in situations such as multi-party technology development arrangements without traditional prime/subcontractor relationships and transactions in which the acquisition of goods and services by the Government is not the principal purpose. A consortium agreement is a form of other transaction entered into with a group of entities (consortium/team/partnership) where one or more partners of the consortium are non-traditional government contractors or, when in furtherance of the policy to encourage commercialization of technology, it is in the interest of the government to allow one or more of the parties in the consortium to retain title and all licenses to patents under the agreement. Normally, other transactions require non-Government participants to provide at least 50 percent of project costs.

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17. Our Administrative POC has changed. Would you please correct your records to show that?
Send your request on your official organization letterhead to:

DARPA/ITO
Attn: BAA #
3701 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203-1714

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18. We would like to withdraw our proposal. How do we do that?
Send your request on your official organization letterhead to:

DARPA/ITO
Attn.: BAA #
3701 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203-1714

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19. What if my question is not answered in this Frequently Asked Question document?
Submit your question to the BAA Coordinator at any of the administrative addresses shown on the BAA or the Proposer Information Pamphlet.

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20. A revision to FAR Part 15 took effect October 10, 1997. Are DARPA/ITO BAAs issued before January 1, 1998 subject to this change?
Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 97-02 revised Part 15 of the FAR. Any solicitation issued before 1 JAN 98 which does not notify offerors that the new rules apply or does not contain the new provisions and clauses, is automatically conducted in accordance with the FAR excluding these changes.

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