Institutions meeting the covered educational institution requirements under Title 10 United States Code Section 2362, Research and educational programs and activities: historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions of higher education, are allowed the opportunity to submit proposals under this notice for contracts for student research services.  Proposals may be submitted by Historically Black Colleges and Universities or Minority Institutions (HBCUs/MIs) to provide research support to any of the research and development areas listed in this solicitation.  HBCU/MIs interested in submitting a proposal must address the specific Research Topic Area numbers under which they are submitting. They must also clearly state within their proposal their capability to perform the contract and include a positive statement of their eligibility as an HBCU or MI.  These contracts will be written in accordance with the Contract Student Regulation as regards pay, GPA requirements, place of performance and every other requirement or statement within the regulation.

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) includes the Coastal and Hydraulics Lab (CHL), the Geotechnical and Structures Lab (GSL), the Reachback Operations Center (UROC), the Environmental Lab (EL) and the Information Technology Lab (ITL) in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire, the Construction Engineering Research Lab (CERL) in Champaign, Illinois, and the Geospatial Research Laboratory (GRL) in Alexandria, Virginia. The ERDC is responsible for conducting research in the broad fields of hydraulics, dredging, coastal engineering, instrumentation, oceanography, remote sensing, geotechnical engineering, earthquake engineering, soil effects, vehicle mobility, self-contained munitions, military engineering, geophysics, pavements, protective structures, aquatic plants, water quality, dredged material, treatment of hazardous waste, wetlands, physical/mechanical/ chemical properties of snow and other frozen precipitation, infrastructure and environmental issues for installations, computer science, telecommunications management, energy, facilities maintenance, materials and structures, engineering processes, environmental processes, land and heritage conservation, and ecological processes. This research is conducted by Government personnel and by contract with educational institutions, non-profit organizations and private industries.