UK SBS CR18096 Advanced Materials International Benchmarking

The final date and time for the submission of bids is 1st August 2018 - 14:00 Description Help to develop a strategy targeting Innovate UK support for international activities for advanced materials. To do this we need to understand how the UK advanced materials sector compares with international peers and then seek effective ways of working with our international counterparts.

We need to understand: • the size of other countries' RD&I for materials; • their national, regional and local strategies for materials, • their role in the wider economy (e.g., is it linked to manufacturing or other sectors) • what recent efforts and investments have been made and in what specific materials areas From this information we need to understand which countries are good candidates for joint activity with the UK and what kind of activities would be beneficial to both countries. We want to be able to use this information to help develop our own advanced materials strategies and priorities and to use as evidence for international partnerships and activities.

How to Apply As part of the strategic alliance between UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) and Crown Commercial Service (CCS), UK SBS will be using the CCS eSourcing Suite for this procurement. To register on the CCS eSourcing portal please follow the details contained within the Additional Information section of this notice.

Additional information: DO NOT APPLY DIRECTLY TO BUYER All submissions will be assessed in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, for procurement values that exceed Regulation 5 (Threshold amounts) Responses must be received by the date in the bid documents. Responses received outside or concurrently using the eSourcing process will not be accepted or considered further for this opportunity.

How to Register on the CCS eSourcing Suite Full details of this opportunity can be found on the e-sourcing portal please follow instructions below. If you have not yet registered on the eSourcing Suite, this can be done online at https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk by following the link 'Register for CCS eSourcing'.

Please note that, to register, you must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering, who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so. Once you have registered on the eSourcing Suite, a registered user can express an interest for a specific procurement.

This is done by emailing expressionofinterest@crowncommercial.gov.uk. Your email must clearly state: • name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for; • name of the registered Bidder; • name and contact details for the registered individual sending the email.

Crown Commercial Service will process the email and then enable the Bidder to access the procurement online via the e-Sourcing Suite. The registered user will receive a notification email to alert them once this has been done.

The Sourcing documents can then be accessed on the eSourcing Suite at: https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk using the instructions detailed in the Specification documents within Contracts Finder. As a user of the e-Sourcing Suite you will have access to Emptoris email messaging service which facilitates all messages sent to you and from you in relation to any specific RFX event.

Please note it is your responsibility to access these emails on a regular basis to ensure you have sight of all relevant information. For technical assistance on use of the e-Sourcing Suite please contact Crown Commercial Service Helpdesk: Telephone: 0345 010 3503 Training documents to support Bidders to utilise Emptoris CCS eSourcing are available in the Contracts Finder Tender documents section.

About UK Shared Business Services UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) brings a commercial attitude to the public sector; helping our customers improve efficiency, generate savings and modernise. Our broad range of expert services is shared by our customers.

This allows our customers the freedom to focus resources on core activities; innovating and transforming their own organisations. For full details of our partner base please review the following link: http://www.uksbs.co.uk/services/procure/