1.Overview: The purpose of this notice is to announce an upcoming Request for Applications (RFA) for the Centers for Advanced Studies project, including details on a pre-application conference which USAID intends to hold on May 6, 2014. The Centers for Advanced Studies (CAS) project was designed by USAID and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) to support Pakistans economic development by strengthening the capacity of Pakistani universities to respond to changing public and private sector needs for applied research and skilled graduates in the sectors of food security/agriculture, water and energy. Through this project, Centers for Advanced Studies will be established in the following areas: Water / Food Security and Agriculture / Energy . Subject to the availability of funds, the United States Government intends to fund three Cooperative Agreements (in total) supporting partnerships in each of the sectors listed above. Each cooperative agreement is anticipated to be limited to $9-10 million each for the food security/agriculture and water CAS partnerships and $16-18 million for the energy partnership (two Centers for Advanced Studies in Energy will be established at Pakistani universities). The duration of each cooperative agreement will be five years. 2.Project Activities: Each CAS will form public-private partnerships and interest-specific networks that will bringing together the best minds in academia, government and the business community to seek applied research solutions that strengthen the effectiveness of policy making and drive innovation, competitiveness and economic growth in these key sectors3. RFA Release and Communication with Pakistani Universities:USAID intends to release the full Request for Application on Grants.gov on or about April 21, 2013. The RFA will provide a detailed program description, instructions on submitting the application, and contact details for the Pakistani universities. Until the RFA is released, prospective applicants must not contact Pakistani universities to discuss a potential partnership. Engaging in this contact ahead of the RFAs release may be grounds for exclusion from the CAS competition.4.Pre-Application Conference: Prospective applicants are advised that USAID intends to hold a conference on May 6, 2014, in Washington DC (venue is TBD based on the estimated number of participants). The purpose of this conference will be to provide background on the CAS project, discuss all parts of the RFA in detail, highlight important aspects of working with USAID, and answer questions related to the technical and cost applications. Prospective attendees are required to RSVP to Mr. Juan Esteban Proaño, Assistance Specialist, (
[email protected]) no later than April 17, 2014, 9:00 am (Pakistan Standard Time) . Any university staff from interested applicants, both faculty and administrative, are welcome to register. However, due to space constraints, USAID reserves the right to limit participation to a first-come-first-serve basis or to cap the number of participants each university may send. Further instructions regarding the specific location and time will be shared with interested applicants by email. 5.Communication with USAID: Questions concerning this notice may be directed to Ryan Weddle, Agreement Officer, at
[email protected] (with a copy to
[email protected]). However, please be advised that substantive questions with respect to the RFA will not be answered until the RFA is released. Prospective applicants may not contact USAID technical staff directly for information on this RFA such contact may be grounds for exclusion from the competition. Until the Cooperative Agreements are awarded, all communication between applicants and USAID must be directed through the Agreement Officer or Assistance Specialist.