UK SBS CR18144 - Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research (ICURe) - Evaluation of the Programme

The final date and time for the submission of bids is 11 / 10 / 2018 at 14:00hrs. DO NOT apply directly to the buyer.

All tender information MUST be submitted through the CCS eSourcing Portal. Brief Description of Requirement Funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and Innovate UK, the £21 million ICURe project aims to help accelerate the successful commercialisation of publicly funded university research , via licensing agreements and spin out companies.

In addition, it aims to develop entrepreneurial skills and market knowledge in a new cadre of Early Career Researchers. To date it has received 329 applications and supported 176 teams from 34 universities across the UK.

The programme has seen participants create 50 new companies and 146 jobs in the UK. The evaluation will be used to assess the implementation of ICURe pilot cohorts 1-12 and provide evidence as to the suitability of the pilot for expansion and national roll-out.

It is envisaged that the evaluation will be designed using a mix of both quantitative and qualitative data sources to assess the impact and process involved. These teams represent 34 Higher Education Institutes across the UK.

It is intended to have an output of the key findings from the evaluation building on the 2018 report (cohorts 1-6). This report drew on in-depth research with stakeholders in the programme, analysis of management information collected, a survey of participating teams and those not awarded a place on the programme, and detailed case studies of 10 projects funded.

Please ensure you review all attached information to ensure a full understanding of this requirement. All attachments can be found with the RFx attachments tab within the Emptoris System.

This contract will be awarded based on the evaluation criteria set out in the ITQ / RFP document. 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. Please disregard any content in this notice that requests your organisation "to apply directly to the buyer" as this unfortunately a system generated error, that is outside of the Contracting Authorities control.

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 tender documentation; responses received outside of the deadline or not sent via the eSourcing portal will not be accepted or considered further for this opportunity. How to Register on the CCS eSourcing Suite 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 contracting authorities to improve efficiency, generate savings and modernise. Where UK SBS is not named as the Contracting Authority within the documentation, UK SBS will be acting as an agent on behalf of the Contracting Authority.

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.