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The Acquisition Research Program (ARP) (www.acquisitionresearch.net) conducts and supports research in academic disciplines that bear on public procurement policy and management. These include economics, finance, financial management, information systems, organization theory, operations management, human resources management, risk management, and marketing, as well as the traditional public procurement areas such as contracting, program/project management, logistics, test and evaluation and systems engineering management. The ARP is interested in innovative proposals that will provide unclassified and non-proprietary findings suitable for publication in open scholarly literature. Studies of government processes, systems, or policies should also expand the body of knowledge and theory of processes, systems, or policies outside the government. The following research areas are of special interest: Leading-edge techniques in data collection, management, visual analytics and decision-making; Robust risk modeling techniques; Performance metrics and methodologies; Collaboration and cross-functional teams; and, Model-Based Acquisition. Offerors bear prime responsibility for the design, management, direction and conduct of research. Researchers should exercise judgment and original thought toward attaining the goals within broad parameters of the research areas proposed and the resources provided. Offerors are encouraged to be creative in the selection of the technical and management processes and approaches and consider the greatest and broadest impact possible.

Organizations -- private and public, established and entrepreneurial, designed and emergent, formal and informal, profit and nonprofit -- are critical to the well-being of nations and their citizens. They are of crucial importance for producing goods and services, creating value, providing jobs, and achieving social goals. The Science of Organizations (SoO) program funds basic research that yields a scientific evidence base for improving the design and emergence, development and deployment, and management and ultimate effectiveness of organizations of all kinds. SoO funds research that advances our fundamental understanding of how organizations develop, form and operate. Successful SoO research proposals use scientific methods to develop and refine theories, to empirically test theories and frameworks, and to develop new measures and methods. Funded research is aimed at yielding generalizable insights that are of value to the business practitioner, policy-maker and research communities. SoO welcomes any and all rigorous, scientific approaches that illuminate aspects of organizations as systems of coordination, management and governance. In considering whether a particular project might be a candidate for consideration by SoO, please note: Intellectual perspectives may involve (but are not limited to) organizational theory, behavior, sociology or economics, business policy and strategy, communication sciences, entrepreneurship, human resource management, information sciences, managerial and organizational cognition, operations management, public administration, social or industrial psychology, and technology and innovation management. Phenomena studied may include (but are not limited to) structures, routines, effectiveness, competitiveness, innovation, dynamics, change and evolution.Levels of analysis may include (but are not limited to) organizational, cross-organizational collaborations or relationships, and institutional and can address individuals, groups or tea

This program will provide professional training, through the use of internships, mentoring, environmental education, and interpretive educational opportunities in order for young people to learn conservation and land management processes and policies as they relate to natural resources management of public lands. Furthermore, this program will achieve a variety resource management projects on public lands managed by the BLM¿s Eastern States Field Offices. Routine workload may include provision of outreach and interpretive services, visitor service patrol, facility maintenance, trail work, exotic species control or any other action supporting the implementation of BLMs approved plans.

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Port Security Grant Program (PSGP) is one of four grant programs that constitute the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) focus on transportation infrastructure security activities. These grant programs are part of a comprehensive set of measures authorized by Congress and implemented by DHS to help strengthen the Nation's critical infrastructure against potential terrorist attacks. PSGP provides funds to state, territorial, local, and private sector partners to support increased port-wide risk management and protect critical surface transportation infrastructure from acts of terrorism. Among the five basic homeland security missions noted in the DHS Quadrennial Homeland Security Review, PSGP supports the goal to Strengthen National Preparedness and Resilience. The 2018-2022 FEMA Strategic Plan creates a shared vision for managing the risks posed by terrorism and sets an ambitious, yet achievable, path forward to unify and further professionalize emergency management across the country. PSGP supports the goals of Building a Culture of Preparedness and of Readying the Nation for Catastrophic Disasters. We invite our stakeholders and partners to also adopt these priorities and join us in building a more prepared and resilient nation.

MENA governments - especially in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia - have undertaken important reform initiatives to modernize their public administrations and pass access to information laws. Several have applied to join the Open Government Partnership (OGP), an international initiative that aims to leverage capabilities of new technologies to strengthen participatory governance and fight corruption. Further actions are required to sustain this progress and implement open government principles that foster civil society collaboration with government. This project will assist governments in developing action plans to improve management and governance activities such as: budgeting, human resources management, regulatory practices, public integrity, public procurement, digital government, open government and data, risk management, and innovations. By focusing on public governance areas and creating inclusive economies and societies, this project will guide governments to benchmark their countries' progress on public sector reforms at the national and regional levels, and to compare them against international standards. Additionally, it will create the first MENA long-term strategic partnership and governance network for policy dialogue and exchange of good practices. Finally, it will deliver ad hoc policy recommendations to advance public sector reform agendas in specific sectors at the national or regional level with a focus on policies pertaining to women and youth.

The National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of the U.S. healthcare system. Since 2012, the foundation has made grants to support innovative health services research that advances knowledge in the areas of healthcare financing, delivery, management, and/or policy.

DRL invites organizations to submit proposals outlining program concepts and organizational capacity to manage projects in Vietnam. Our objectives in Vietnam are to: increase Vietnamese citizens? access to alternative, credible information; promote the growth of civil society; and support individuals who use existing institutional platforms to press for increased freedoms and rights in Vietnam. Please refer to the announcement for details on specific program areas we seek to support.

The MURI program supports basic research in science and engineering at U.S. institutions of higher education (hereafter referred to as "universities") that is of potential interest to DoD. The program is focused on multidisciplinary research efforts where more than one traditional discipline interacts to provide rapid advances in scientific areas of interest to the DoD. As defined in the DoD Financial Management Regulation:Basic research is systematic study directed toward greater knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena and of observable facts without specific applications towards processes or products in mind. It includes all scientific study and experimentation directed toward increasing fundamental knowledge and understanding in those fields of the physical, engineering, environmental, and life sciences related to long-term national security needs.

USDOL/ILAB intends to award up to USD 2 million for one cooperative agreement to fund a technical assistance project in Peru. The purpose for funding this project is to help build the labor law enforcement capacity of the Peruvian labor inspectorate, with a focus on the Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion (MTPE)'s newly-formed National Superintendency of Labor Inspection or Superintendencia Nacional de Fiscalización Laboral (SUNAFIL). The project will help the MTPE in its transition from a decentralized to a more centralized labor law enforcement system and will help ensure more effective labor law enforcement at the national and regional levels. The project will focus particularly on improving the MTPE's enforcement of laws, regulations, and other legal instruments governing subcontracting/outsourcing and the use of short-term employment contracts, especially in the nontraditional export sectors (e.g., mining, agriculture, fishing, and textiles). The duration of the project funded by this announcement is up to 4.5 years (54 months) from the effective date of award. The project start date will be negotiated upon award of the individual cooperative agreement but will be no later than December 31, 2014. ILAB's mission is to use all available international channels to improve working conditions, raise living standards, protect workers' ability to exercise their rights, and address the workplace exploitation of children and other vulnerable populations. ILAB is authorized to award and administer cooperative agreements by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, Pub. Law 113-76. Cooperative agreements awarded under this solicitation will be administered by the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and technically managed by ILAB's Office of Trade and Labor Affairs (OTLA). The mission of OTLA is to implement trade-related labor policy and coordinate international technical cooperation in support of the labor provisions in free trade agreements; to

In response to the White House and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) call to action for evidence-based reforms across the federal government, the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy is launching a competition for low-cost randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that seek to build valid, actionable evidence about "what works" in U.S. social spending. This is designed as a high-visibility, three-year initiative, whose purpose is to demonstrate the feasibility and value of low-cost RCTs to a wide policy and philanthropic audience. In its first year, the competition will select and fund three low-cost RCTs that meet the criteria for policy importance and other factors described in the application packet. We will also be co-sponsoring a workshop on low-cost RCTs with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in mid-2014 in Washington DC, aimed at exploring wider government and philanthropic use of such studies with leading researchers, and officials of the White House and OMB, federal agencies, Congress, philanthropic foundations, state/local government, and other organizations that help shape social spending.

The U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) seeks single-country proposals for its Local Grants program. The Local Grants program serves as MEPI's most direct means of supporting organizations and individuals in the Middle East and North Africa. These grants are designed to: * Promote positive change, advocacy, and civic activism; * Strengthen civil society; * Support citizen's efforts to achieve economic, social, and political empowerment; * Expand opportunities for women and youth; * Strengthen the rule of law; * Develop independent media; and * Help communities work alongside governments in shaping their own futures. MEPI's regional offices, located in the Middle East and North Africa, manage the program. For more information about MEPI's regional offices, or to contact them, visit: www.medregion.mepi.state.gov or www.arabianpeninsula.mepi.state.gov. A MEPI Committee at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate within each country of origin reviews all Local Grant proposals, and forwards only the most competitive proposals to one of MEPI's two regional offices to negotiate the awards. MEPI accepts proposals to this program on a rolling basis, but each U.S. Embassy or Consulate has a unique selection process for submissions. Applicants should ask the respective U.S. Embassies or Consulates about their selection processes before preparing their submissions.

Together with University Advancement, the Office for the Advancement of Research & Scholarship (OARS) is rolling out an new crowdfunding platform called HawksNest. Through HawksNest, alumni, family, and friends of the university can directly support the research, scholarship, and service projects of Miami University students, faculty, and staff. This is how HawksNest works: * Any Miami University student, faculty, or staff member may complete an online application to have a project considered for funding. * An internal review team assesses applications and posts approved projects on HawksNest for a maximum of 45 days. * Potential donors visit the site to learn about and pledge funds to approved projects. * Once a funding goal has been met, the project can begin! * Project managers use the site to keep donors up-to-date with information on the project's progress.

The Kyiv American Center Program will provide all staffing, resource materials, technology infrastructure, technical support and key program activities to administer the Kyiv American Center in Ukraine, which is one of approximately 700 American Spaces supported by the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) of the U.S. Department of State. American Spaces exemplify the U.S. commitment to a core tenet of democracy: the citizen's right to free access to information. The American Center in Kyiv will support the foundation of public diplomacy by creating a place for in-person engagement with Ukrainian audiences. The Center will be a technology-forward, welcoming, and engaging environment where Embassy personnel, official visitors, and implementing partners connect with Ukrainians, especially young leaders and young professionals, to inspire dialogue on issues that matter most to U.S.-Ukraine relations. The recipient organization will be responsible for staffing and operating a new stand-alone American Center in downtown Kyiv. Key program activities under this cooperative agreement will include hiring local Ukrainian staff with expertise in program and event management to staff the center; purchasing all necessary technology, materials, and supplies to provide a basis for engagement with Ukrainian audiences; and designing a flexible and dynamic program of activities each month to interact with Ukrainian visitors to the center and encourage visitors to return regularly. Decisions on staffing and program content will be made in consultation with the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.

RGN will serve leading governance activity in Niger under the USAID's Resilience in the Sahel II Project (RISE II). RGN will address Objective 4: Enhance governance of institutions and organizations, of the RISE II results framework (attached), specifically sub-IR 4.1: Improved performance of sub-national state institutions and sub-IR 4.2: Strengthened local civil society and community based organizations. The Activity is intended to support locally-driven, politically feasible approaches to enhance: Municipal government and citizen understanding of the roles and responsibilities of municipal governments and deconcentrated national authorities, and intergovernmental communications concerning local governance; Planning, budgeting and administrative capacity of municipal governments to manage and mobilize financial and human resources for locally-determined service and infrastructure needs; and Civic engagement in communal governance - in determining local priorities, and in holding government accountable to meet its obligations

The purpose of this FOA would be to establish, by awarding one cooperative agreement, a National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) to advance federal priorities to improve safety, permanency, and well-being by building the capacity of child welfare professionals and improving the organizations that recruit, train, supervise, manage, and retain them. The Workforce Institute will play a national leadership role in the field of child welfare in the following broad areas: (1)Demonstrating how university partnerships support workforce development; (2) Implementing organizational interventions to improve workforce recruitment and retention; (3) Providing leadership training across the child welfare career spectrum; (4) Developing cross system approaches to improve worker and child outcomes; and (5) Building evidence of best practices in workforce development. A broad range of activities will be undertaken by the Workforce Institute to promote effective child welfare practice, enhance agency efforts to create supportive work environments, and improve worker recruitment and retention outcomes by: Implementing an innovative, comprehensive and integrated organizational, educational, and professional development approach to effective child welfare workforce development building on the last two iterations of NCWWI work; Implementing effective workforce organizational interventions that result in improved agency climate, worker preparation, recruitment, and retention outcomes for agencies; such as reduction in emotional stress and worker burnout, increased length of stay for workers, changes in worker attitude and satisfaction, increased recruitment, etc.; Demonstrating expertise in collecting and disseminating information about effective and promising workforce practices in innovative ways;

Topic 1: Sociopolitical (In)Stability, Resilience, and Recovery Topic 2: Economic Interdependence and Security Topic 3: Alliances and Burden Sharing Topic 4: Fundamental Dynamics of Scientific Discovery Topic 5: Adversarial Information Campaigns Topic 6: Automated Cyber Vulnerability Analysis Topic 7: Power, Deterrence, Influence, and Escalation Management for Shaping Operations Topic 8: Security Risks in Ungoverned & Semi-Governed Spaces

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces a Request for Statements of Interest (RSOI) outlining project concepts and capacity to manage programs in Iraq that will: strengthen effective governance; increase political participation and civic activism; promote fundamental freedoms; and support atrocities prevention, accountability, and conflict mitigation.

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces a Request for Statements of Interest (RSOI) outlining project concepts and capacity to manage programs in Iraq that will: strengthen effective governance; increase political participation and civic activism; promote fundamental freedoms; and support atrocities prevention, accountability, and conflict mitigation.

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces a Request for Statements of Interest (RSOI) outlining project concepts and capacity to manage programs in Iraq that will: strengthen effective governance; increase political participation and civic activism; promote fundamental freedoms; and support atrocities prevention, accountability, and conflict mitigation.

The purpose of this program is to support USAID's goal of promoting inclusive development through the establishment of an umbrella Empowerment and Inclusion Solicitation and Management mechanism (EISM). In particular, EISM will focus on reducing risks to and reinforcing the capacities of communities, NGOs, and governments to provide services, to protect and promote the rights of vulnerable and marginalized populations as defined earlier in this document, and to expand access to opportunities that support their full participation in society.