NIH Professional, Scientific and Technical Support Services
Overview
Buyer
Place of Performance
NAICS
PSC
Set Aside
Original Source
Timeline
Qualification Details
Fit reasons
- NAICS alignment with historical contract wins in similar service areas.
- Scope strongly matches core technical capabilities and delivery model.
Risks
- Past performance thresholds may require one additional teaming partner.
- Potential clarification needed on staffing minimums before bid/no-bid.
Next steps
Validate eligibility requirements, assign capture owner, and schedule partner outreach to confirm teaming strategy before submission planning.
Quick Summary
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is soliciting proposals for Professional, Scientific and Technical Support Services (PSTSS) under a Multiple Award Indefinite Quantity (MA IDIQ) contract. This opportunity aims to provide specialized scientific and professional expertise to support NIH's current and emerging research priorities, with a total portfolio ceiling of $3 billion. Proposals are due May 8, 2026, at 3:00 PM ET.
Scope of Work
The contract requires broad scientific and professional expertise across various domains. This includes support for basic, translational, and clinical research; vaccine research and development; general laboratory research at BSL-2, -3, and -4; veterinary and scientific research in ABSL-2, -3, and -4 environments; and bioinformatics and computational biology. Services will be furnished via individual task orders and encompass activities such as new and in-progress research projects, program deployment, international research efforts, clinical trials, biomedical knowledge expansion, high-throughput genomic sequencing, proteomics, and image analysis.
Contract Details
- Contract Type: Multiple Award Indefinite Quantity (MA IDIQ)
- Maximum Ceiling: $3,000,000,000 (total portfolio across all contracts)
- Minimum Guaranteed Order: $2,000 per IDIQ contract
- Period of Performance: Base period from September 15, 2026, through September 14, 2031, with an option to extend services until March 14, 2032.
- NAICS Code: 541990 (Other Professional Services)
- Set-Aside: Not set-aside for small business. FAR 52.219-31 (Notice of Small Business Reserve) applies. A small business subcontracting goal of 33.25% is specified.
- Place of Performance: Bethesda, MD, United States.
Submission & Evaluation
- Proposal Due Date: May 8, 2026, at 3:00 PM ET.
- Submission Method: Electronically via the eCPS website.
- Offer Validity: Offers must be valid for 120 days.
- Evaluation Factors: Technical factors, including experience and past performance, are of paramount consideration, though cost/price is also important.
- Key Personnel: Only the Project Director is mandatory key personnel at the IDIQ level. Resumes and letters of commitment for Key Personnel do not count towards the 50-page limit for the Technical Proposal.
- Attachments: Offerors must use the revised Attachment 10 (Table of Labor Rates and Unit Prices) and disregard the "Technical Proposal Cost Summary."
- Acknowledgement: Offerors must acknowledge receipt of all amendments.
Additional Notes
Offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to award. Security requirements include background investigations for personnel, with Tier 2S (Moderate Risk Public Trust) being applicable.