Antarctic Research Vessel (ARV) Integrator, Draft Solicitation Release

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is pleased to release a draft Request for Proposal (RFP) for its Antarctic Research Vessel (ARV) Integrator requirement. It represents a functionally complete RFP with sections A through M. NSF’s intent is to provide transparency and early exposure for what is a robust requirement. NSF desires feedback from industry on the whole of the RFP, be that technical or contractual requirements, instructions to offerors and evaluation criteria, or small business engagement. By inviting questions NSF desires to enhance mutual understanding by reducing ambiguity.  

This draft release includes a Question and Answer (Q&A) matrix on which interested parties must submit their questions. After the conclusion of this release, all questions and answers will be provided via SAM.gov – the identity of parties who submitted questions will not be provided.  

During industry’s review, internal efforts related to ARV acquisition planning will be ongoing. All elements of the RFP are in draft form and subject to change according to NSF need, in addition to industry feedback. This includes the contents of the associated attachments, such as the drawings, reports, and studies. NSF’s desire for feedback is measured against its inability to tailor requirements to the benefit of a specific interested party. NSF reminds interested parties that responsiveness to questions or inclusion of any suggestions is at NSF’s discretion. To maximize fairness, only feedback received on the provided matrix will be reviewed and considered. 

At present, NSF does not intend to release a second draft of the RFP following this one. However, NSF does anticipate further industry engagement beyond this draft RFP release. Any industry engagement opportunities will be posted publicly on SAM.gov.  

As a reminder, this is a draft RFP and we are not soliciting proposals at this time, and none will be accepted. This solicitation and associated potential contract opportunity remains open to parties capable of meeting NSF’s requirements. 

Interested parties must submit responses for this release to arv.procurement@nsf.gov. Please submit responses no later than 31 October 2023. Any questions related specifically to this release and its instructions may be submitted to the above address as well. Answers will be released via this SAM.gov announcement. The timing of answer release is to be determined based on volume of questions received - an accurate prediction cannot be provided at this time. It’s at NSF’s discretion whether any questions received after the response window are answered and released. The description, contents, or attachments of this special notice are subject to change and revision by NSF.