Research Support Services -Science and Technology Policy Fellowship Program (STPF) Placement Pre-solicitation Notice with Intent to Sole Source

Pre-Solicitation Notice for notice of intent to award a sole source contract. This is not a solicitation. The Department of Veterans Affairs intends to negotiate a sole source contract for a one (1) year period with American Association for the Advancement of Science DBA AAAS, 1200 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005 for the placement of one fellow from the Science & Technology Policy Fellowships program (STPF) for the National Artificial Intelligence Institute (NAII), Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC. The 2024-2025 STPF fellowships at VA will continue a valuable partnership to enable talented scientists and engineers to contribute their analytical and technical skills to the policy, planning, and programmatic activities of the federal government, while also providing fellows with an opportunity to learn first-hand how science and technology policies are formulated and implemented. STPF fellows are employed by AAAS Fellowship Programs, Inc. (AFPI), a subsidiary of AAAS. The aim of the Program is to foster scientifically informed, evidence-based policy and practice by involving scientists and engineers from a broad range of disciplines, backgrounds, and career stages to directly contribute their knowledge and analytical skills to the Federal Government; to learn first-hand about policymaking and implementation at the Federal level; and to build leadership for a strong S&T enterprise that benefits all people. AAAS is the only organization that offers the Science & Technology Policy Fellowships program (STPF). Over the past five decades, the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellows have made significant contributions to increasing the quantity and quality of scientific and technical expertise available to federal agencies and congressional offices. AAAS provides broad networks to support fellows at federal agencies, and from which to recruit highly qualified fellowship applicants. Due to the on-going projects AAAS supports related to NAII s leadership in Trustworthy AI, including ethics, compliance, policy, risk management, and quality assurance, and the STPF fellowships at VA that continue a valuable partnership with the Washington VA Medical Center, AAAS is the only Organization that can provide these services. Since the intent is to procure this on a sole source basis, no solicitation will be posted to FedBizOps (FBO). The applicable NAICS code is 611430 with a $15 MIL size standard. The PSC is AF11. The authority for this action is FAR 6.302.1-1 Only One Responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. Interested persons may contact the Contracting Officer via email at annmarie.stewart@va.gov regarding this procurement. The determination to conduct a competitive procurement based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Contracting Officer.