Research and Innovation Advisory Services to undertake a collaborative research, development and innovation project with Lucideon Ltd entitled "Flash sintering of ceramic electrolyte materials for solid state batteries"

Tenders are invited from interested parties for the provision of Research and Innovation Advisory Services to Lucideon Ltd to be delivered as part of the Smart Energy Network Demonstrator (SEND) project led by Keele University.

The purpose of the procurement is to appoint a Service Provider to deliver research and innovation advisory services as detailed in the Tender Specification in Section 2 of the ITT to support Lucideon Ltd. The tender is hence based upon a specific project research brief devised and written in conjunction with an individual SME beneficiary company.

Given the need for one Service Provider to co-ordinate the delivery of all of the services required, the contract has not been divided into lots.

In order for the University to meet the "Output Indicator Definitions Guidance for the European Regional Development Fund" it is a mandatory requirement of this invitation to tender that the Service Provider is a "Research Entity". A research entity is an organisation whose primary activity is R&D. This includes the following:

• England Public Sector Research Establishments (PSRE) or equivalent. • Research and Development Organisations (RDO's) or equivalent. • Research and Technology Organisations (RTO's) or equivalent. • Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) or equivalent. • Further Education Institutions (FEIs) or equivalent.

Tenderers must indicate on page 35 of the ITT which of the above organisation groups they belong to and provide documentary evidence in their tender submission to verify this.

Any tenderer who is not a Research Entity or fails to provide documentary evidence to verify that they are a Research Entity, will be deemed non-compliant with the tender requirements and their tender will not be considered further.

The SEND project (project reference code 32R16P00706) is part-funded from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds England Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The Research and Innovation Advisory Services required are also part funded by ERDF.

The Service Provider will be paid a fixed total fee of £61,217. This fee will cover the delivery of all of the services required under the contract including the C1, C4, C26 and C29 output (as detailed in the Tender Specification in Section 2 of the ITT) covering the entire contract period, reflect the cost of providing a full-time graduate researcher, cover the delivery of the required quality of the proposal, and be fully inclusive of all expenses including travel and subsistence and accommodation costs, disbursements and any other costs but be exclusive of VAT. The fee will be fixed for the duration of the contract.

Additional information: The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofkeele/aspx/Home

Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofkeele/aspx/Home

Tenderers remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third party acting under instructions from the Tenderer in connection with taking part in this procurement, regardless of whether such costs arise as a direct or indirect consequence of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the University at any time.

The SEND project (project reference code 32R16P00706) is part-funded from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds England Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The Research and Innovation Advisory Services required are also part funded by ERDF.

Funding Type (WEFO or EU) : EU

Funding Description

Part-funded from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds England Growth Programme 2014-2020.

Is a Recurrent Procurement Type? : No