RFI: Seeking Expressions of Interest from IRIS and UNAVCO Member Institutions for Hosting Future Geophysical Facilities

The Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) and UNAVCO, Inc. (UNAVCO), both university consortia, are interested in identifying member institutions that may be willing to host one or more functions of a future (post-2023) merged IRIS-UNAVCO organization (referred to hereafter as “new organization”).

We are seeking expressions of interest from IRIS and UNAVCO member institutions, located in the USA, to host one or more functions of the new organization, which would support any future NSF-funded geophysical facility operated by the new organization. We will use responses to this Request for Information (RFI) for planning purposes and to ensure that any subsequent Request for Proposals (RFP) is well conceived and framed to take advantage of the full range of opportunities that host institutions may provide. We expect an RFP will be used to select one or more partners that will be part of our proposal team when the new organization responds to the anticipated NSF solicitation for the SAGE-GAGE follow-on facility.

The RFI provides additional explanation, context, and instructions for responding. Download the Request for Information (RFI).

Responses to this RFI should be emailed to rfi@iris.edu and are due by 5 PM MT on September 18, 2020.

Responder Questions and Answers, through 09/16/2020:

Q: I am thinking of putting in a response from my university. May I append letters of support from various campus people and will that count against the 5-page limit? 

A: You are welcome to include letters and they will not be counted against the 5 page limit. However, letters of support or other “single copy" documents are really not needed, particularly since there is no down-select happening at this stage. You should feel free to simply react to the RFI by providing relevant information and feedback, and preserve the letters for any subsequent proposal you might submit. You can use the five page response to identify the level of support you have from others on campus, the administration, etc.

Q: A news item was published on September 15, 2020 that says UNAVCO is moving its headquarters to Missoula, Montana. Does this mean that a future merged IRIS-UNAVCO organization will be hosting its headquarters in Missoula? Is responding to the “headquarters” element of the RFI scope a moot point?

A: The scope of the RFI, in terms of the four functional areas of the SAGE-GAGE activities that we are seeking one or more host institutions for, still stands. IRIS and UNAVCO expect to operate independently for up to three more years and actions taken by UNAVCO in the present are UNAVCO business, and are not binding to the planned merged corporation and any plans it makes for its operating locations. Please DO NOT consider as moot the headquarters element of the RFI scope. Please treat the RFI as it stands today.