You can count the commercial price of the software license as cost share.
The lead organization needs to have a physical presence in Ohio. Your organization could open an office in Ohio to satisfy this requirement.
Section 2.5 Eligibility Information states: A Primary Applicant is the entity that submits a proposal for OFRN Round 7. Primary Applicants are legally and financially responsible for the administration of any resulting award of OFRN funds. Proposed projects may be led by either an industry in Ohio (either for-profit or not-for-profit) or an Ohio college or university.
Awards will be announced in August. The awarded projects will receive a notification letter that will include authorization to utilize cost share funding as of the date of the letter. For planning purposes in your proposal, using September 1, 2025 would be a good date to start cost share.
Insert one or two sentences about the Federal Research Requirement. It can be as simple as the name of the AOI/Subtopic, or it can be more specific as to what you are addressing.
You can provide a copy of their approved rates along with the proposal. If the rates are “approved” then they are acceptable for the proposal submission.
Question: OFRN R7 Solicitation: For the SEE Program, is it possible to have internship opportunities at the University where the academic organization would hire interns and then the interns would also gain experience at the Company? Where the Company would later intend on hiring the intern. For clarification could the university hire has an intern for 12 months and then the company hire as that intern as an employee for the remaining 6 months with the intention of a full time job? Would this arrangement be responsive to the SEE plan?
And/Or would it be acceptable to have student interns who work solely in the university labs, with the intention of the student being hired by the company after the program ends?
Response: All of these scenarios would be appropriate.
There is no limit to the funding amount for equipment. In the March 6th Proposal Training, it was mentioned that the goal of the Round 7 Opportunity is not to help purchase new equipment. You really need to provide some justification on why you need to purchase that equipment, and explain how there is no one else in the State of Ohio who can do this or that you are not able to rent time on a machine somewhere else. You should provide some in depth justification on the need to purchase that will be thoroughly looked through by the review team. It is understood that there are some circumstances where is might be necessary, but you will need to provide that level of justification for it.
A U.S. person is considered to be someone who is either a U.S. Citizen or a permanent resident. Having a Green Card means that they are a permanent resident.
Question: OFRN R7 Solicitation: Our proposal has subawards to different entities. Do we need to have each subaward complete Attachment 3 (OFRN Data Rights Assertions) and Attachment 4 (OFRN OCI)? I assume they don’t need to complete Attachment 1 (Vendor Profile & Attestations) but please correct me if I’m wrong.
Response: Regarding Attachments 3 and 4, you will want to submit OCI and Data Rights Assertions from each entity (sub). Attachment 1 is only needed for the proposal lead organization.
You can utilize a connection/contact at an Ohio Federal lab if you have one. If you do not have a contact/connection and need an introduction to a federal lab POC for your project, email ofrn-question@parallaxresearch.org with your request. Include the following: AOI and subtopic, and some information about what you are proposing (this will assist in finding an appropriate TPOC).