Storing, Curating, and Managing Scientific Ice Cores for the NSF Research Community

Request for Information Storing, Curating, and Managing Scientific Ice Cores for the NSF Research Community 1. Background. The Office of Polar Programs (OPP) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) currently supports the National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL) (www.icecores.org) housed at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, Colorado. NICL is supported with NSF funding through an Interagency Agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey. Scientific management of the collection is provided through a subaward from the USGS to the University of New Hampshire. The current NICL main archive freezer is near the end of its useful life and utilizes refrigerants that were phased out under the Montreal Protocol. NSF seeks a modern and compliant facility to ensure preservation and scientific access to ice core archives and to manage future operating costs. NSF anticipates investing in refurbishment and/or construction of an upgraded NICL facility along with an annual operations and maintenance budget to ensure the core are available for scientific analysis. Modernization options include but are not limited to a modernized facility within the Denver Federal Center, a new facility at another location, or renovation of an existing facility. The NICL facility consists of a main archive freezer (55,000 cubic ft., -36oC), core processing laboratory (12,000 square ft., -24oC), small filtered-air laboratory, loading dock for receiving shipments, and office space for staff and visiting scientists. Current holdings comprise roughly 19,000 meters of ice core collected from various locations. 2. Information Requested. a. Responding Business Concern (or Organization) Information. Company Name, Company Address, CAGE code (if applicable), Point of Contact (POC) Name, POC Address (if different than Company Address) POC Phone Number, POC E-mail Address. b. Solution. OPP is seeking qualified sources to provide storage, curation, and scientific management capabilities for ice cores collected in support of scientific research. The goal of this RFI is to find secure, long-term, cost-effective archival of and access to ice cores for use by the scientific community. NSF is open to considering ideas for new management models and/or partnerships for a modernized facility within the Denver Federal Center, a new facility at another location, or renovation of an existing facility. NSF welcomes innovative management, operational, or technological concepts, including public-private partnerships. All respondents should include a management model, a proposed location and a strategy for scientific oversight that is responsive to the needs of the research community. NSF is under no obligation to provide feedback to the company, or to contact the company for clarification of any information submitted in response to this request. Interested respondents must provide a clear, concise and complete approach including: - Which model is being discussed (modernization and management at the Denver Federal Center, relocation and management at a new faculty, or renovation and management of a new facility); - How your approach improves efficiency of service and operations while minimizing capital and ongoing costs; - Your approach to science management (core allocation); and - Your approach to long-term core curation (core storage and access to the scientific community for sampling and analysis). 3. Submission Instructions. Written responses must be received by 4:00pm EST, February 15, 2018. If in the best interests of the Government, late responses may be reviewed. Send responses to this RFI via e-mail to: contact@example.gov and contact@example.gov. Hard copy, telephone responses and inquiries will not be accepted. Each response shall not exceed 10 pages, excluding the cover sheet, and be provided in MS Word 2013 compatible format no larger than 10MB. The size of each e-mail including attachments shall be no larger than 10MB. 4. Other Information. a. Note well that this RFI is issued solely for informational, market research, and/or planning purposes. It should not be construed as a commitment by NSF to enter into any agreement with any participating entity, or as a commitment to issue any RFP or solicitation concerning the subject matter of this RFI. The Government is not liable for any expenses incurred by any entity which provides and/or attempts to provide information in response to this RFI. The Government reserves the right to reject in whole or in part any industry input as a result of this announcement. b. The information requested by this notice will be used within NSF to facilitate the decision-making process and will not be disclosed outside of the agency. Nevertheless, the Government recognizes that proprietary data may be a part of your submittal. If so, clearly mark such restricted or proprietary data and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information. All addendum pages must be included in the total page count referenced above. The Government will not return submittals. NSF reserves the right to independently verify all information submitted.