Solicitations - Office of Incisive Analysis

Integrated Cognitive-Neuroscience Architectures for Understanding Sensemaking (ICArUS) Program - BAA Questions

IARPA-BAA-10-04
Proposers' Day Date: January 19, 2010
BAA Release Date: April 1, 2010
BAA Question Period: April 1, 2010 - May 3, 2010
Proposal Due Date: May 17, 2010

# Question Answer Date Posted
001 Will the input data for the Challenge Problems be in a widely used standard format? Yes. Input data will be provided in a standard format (most likely ASCII text file) and will not require specialized or proprietary software. 4/27/10
002 The timeline for milestones (Table 5) is not entirely synchronous with the timeline for TEMs (Table 6).  Is the misalignment deliberate? Yes. The TEMs are offset from the milestone due dates to allow time for preparation of deliverables and assessment of progress. 4/27/10
003 Should we deliver a single proposal or two separate proposals for Phase 1 and for Phase 2? A single proposal. 4/27/10
004 Are there any restrictions against having foreign nationals participate on the contract? As stated in Section 3.A of the BAA, “Foreign participants and/or individuals may participate to the extent that such participants comply with any necessary Non-Disclosure Agreements, Security Regulations, Export Control Laws and other governing statutes applicable under the circumstances.” 4/27/10
005 Is it anticipated that in the performance of the contract, the contractor will generate or need access to export-controlled data? We do not anticipate the contractor generating or needing access to export-controlled data. See also section 6.B.7 of the BAA. 4/27/10
006 Will the sample data set released at 6 months include training data?  How much training data will be provided in both the sample and the Challenge Problem data sets? A data set (whether sample or Challenge Problem data) will contain both training and test data; testing will utilize a subset of the overall data set.  The exact size of both sample and Challenge Problem data sets will be specified during the program; however, we currently anticipate that the aggregate size of an individual data set will be less than a gigabyte. 4/27/10
007 Should a Canadian university use its negotiated US federal indirect rate? Yes. 4/27/10
008 Is it reasonable for an offeror to request support for a compute cluster? As stated in section 4.B.2 of the BAA, for IT and equipment purchases, the offeror should include a letter stating why the offeror cannot provide the requested resources from its own funding. An itemization of any IT purchase should also be included in the detailed estimated cost breakdown. 4/27/10
009 Will there be a pre-publication approval clause in the resultant contract? See BAA Section 6.B.6: "It is anticipated that research funded under this Program will be unclassified contracted fundamental research that will not require a pre-publication review. However, performers should note that pre-publication approval of certain information may be required if it is determined that its release may result in the disclosure of sensitive intelligence information." Any such determination will be made based on the proposed work and any necessary provisions will be reflected in contract negotiations. 5/11/10
010 Can funds for the ICARUS Program be used to pay for postdoctoral or graduate students? Yes. 5/11/10
011 What is the preferred overhead rate for a university, and what if any items are exempt? IARPA does not specify overhead rates. The offeror should obtain their negotiated indirect rates and other information, including information on exemptions, from their office of contracts and grants administration. 5/11/10
012 Will IARPA extend the proposal due date to allow an offeror time to bring new members onto its team? No. 5/11/10