MOCS Frequently Asked Questions

Please refer to Section 3.1.3. of the MOCS ISO for information about non-US eligibility.

Please refer to the MOCS ISO section 3.1.3 for specific requirements for Non-U.S. Entities. Outside of the language in this section, there are no specific requirements or prohibitions for Non-U.S. Entities. 

Note that proposals should be aligned with the ARPA-H mission and should clearly identify how the proposed work will benefit the people of the United States.

Per Section 3.1.1. of the MOCS ISO, federal entities are prohibited from being a performer and should not be part of a proposing multi-party team. 

Proposing and performing teams may choose to consult with other government entities. However, this engagement cannot be part of the scope or tasks associated with the MOCS program. If you were engaging in this capacity with a proposer, you would be welcome to join their pre-proposal discussion but should not request your own.

Agreements are not required to be executed in order to submit a proposal. All agreements must be executed prior to potential award of funds. Prior to potential award of funds, teams will be required to submit proof of execution of their teaming agreement. This is not required prior to submission. Examples of teaming agreements can be found online. ARPA-H does not require a specific format.

Yes, entities are allowed to submit as a member of more than one team. An entity that is identified as a lead member on one proposal may not be a lead member on any other proposal. You may participate in multiple proposals aimed at any TA as long as that participation is defined.

The MOCS solicitation does not contain a Solution Summary step or require a Task Description Document (TDD) for submission of a proposal. A TDD may be requested for those selected for negotiation of a potential award. Please refer to the full proposal instructions for inclusion of a succinct scope of work description intended for the review stage.

Teams applying to both TAs where the team and technology is the same for both may use a 60 page limit for a single proposal.  If the multiparty team and/or technology changes between the TAs, even if the administrative lead is the same, two separate proposals should be submitted. Note that proposers to both TAs should adhere to the one page limit on the executive summary regardless of which TA they are applying to. If the technology and team has changed substantially between TAs where a longer summary would be needed, teams should consider separate proposals for each TA.

Appendix B can be submitted under the "Tech and Management Proposal." Note that the "Research Description Document" is not requested for the MOCS proposal. MOCS also does not require a "Solution Summary." Documents submitted under categories that are not requested in the ISO may not be reviewed by the MOCS teams. Please refer to Appendix B for details on how information that may have gone in a task description document can be included in your submission.

Please see Attachment 3, which provides the www.nsf.gov link to the required forms. These can be uploaded as part of Attachment 3. ARPA-H does not require the use of any particular online portal for bioksetches such as SciENcv. Biosketches should be included as part of the Attachment 3 submission. 

Proposers should request the funds that they deem appropriate to meet the requirements outlined in the MOCS solicitation. The attachments contain a cost proposal and spreadsheet that can help structure your proposal, including indirect rates. This program ISO does not request information that would provide ARPA-H with insight into direct salary for performers, as we anticipate awarding a fixed-milestone approach Other Transaction awards for the MOCS program. Therefore, salary cap requirements may not be applicable. The government reserves the right to analyze negotiate all elements of price/cost prior to award.  

Yes, please follow page limits outlined in Appendix B. Note that the full proposal instructions in Appendix B contains instructions to include a succinct scope of work intended for the review stage. This should not be a full task description document (TDD). A TDD may be requested from those selected for negotiation of a potential award and is not requested for the review stage.

For any items that request multiple files, you may compress those files together into a .zip folder for the submission portal. 

You may leave the Internal Reference number blank.

We are unable to provide informal feedback on scope at this time. Please review the MOCS ISO requirements and determine if your solution can meet the needs of the MOCS program.

The MOCS ISO describes the criteria by which proposals will be reviewed. If your proposal does not align with the goals, and scope of the MOCS program, it is unlikely to be selected under this solicitation.

Please refer to the MOCS Solicitation Section 4 for details on the Pre-Proposal Discussion.

Per Section 4.2 of the MOCS Solicitation, Pre-Proposal Discussions are required in order to submit a proposal. At least one team member from each proposing team must participate in a discussion in order to submit. 

Since the deadline has passed, we recommend connecting with others who may be leading a team and seeing if your ideas align with their needs. 

The MOCS Teaming page may be helpful in your search.

No. Per the MOCS solicitation Section 2.2.2, TA 1 is intended for use in labor and delivery triage upon decision to admit the patient. Solutions may include some data collection prior to triage for the purposes of algorithm development, but solutions should ultimately be used in the defined clinical setting and meet the Target Product Profile in the ISO. 

The MOCS ISO contains descriptions of accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. These are meant to be conceptual from a clinical use standpoint and does not specify a formula for use. 

Please use industry standards to guide your proposal’s interpretation of these metrics relevant to your solution.