NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., this
month will award a cost-plus-award-fee contract valued at
more than $330 million to the University of California system
to develop a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC).
The University of California, Santa Cruz, will manage the
contract.
The new UARC will provide Ames with additional research
capabilities to fulfill NASA’s mission requirements. Further,
the UARC has an educational mission to develop future human
resources in technology and science to benefit the entire
agency. Overall the UARC will provide long-term continuity of
top-tier research talent focused on NASA’s growing
multidisciplinary mission needs.
The close collaboration with an established university system
will enable the UARC to offer career opportunities to attract
and retain the best researchers. The UARC contract will
substantially expand university participation from
fundamental research under grants and cooperative agreements
to mission-driven research under task-order contracts.
The total estimated cost-plus-award fee for the base period
is $119 million; the total estimated cost-plus-award fee for
Option Period One is $82 million; the total estimated cost-
plus-award fee for Option Period Two is $132 million.
The period of performance is 10 years, consisting of a five-
year base period followed by two-year and three-year options.
The university will begin its phase-in operations in
September 2003, with full contract responsibility starting
December 2003 and continuing through August 31, 2013.
