REF: RCUKI2014B
ANNEX 1
INSTRUCTIONS TO SUPPLIERS
Tender for: RCUKI2014B
1. Introduction
These instructions are designed to ensure that all tenders are given equal and fair
consideration. Please ensure that you read the information provided in connection
with this invitation to tender carefully and that your tender response includes all the
information requested as your company will be initially evaluated solely on the
evidence supplied in response to this invitation to tender.
2. Timetable of Events
The tender return date is 9th January 2015.
The evaluation of tenders will take place 12th-16th January 2015.
Any short-listing or award decision will be made shortly thereafter. Should face-toface meetings or presentations be required, tenderers will be contacted with
adequate notice.
Please note that we reserve the right to amend any of the dates stated in this
section at anytime.
3. The Tender Response Evaluation Stages
Stage 1
Tender Evaluation
A shortlist of suppliers will be produced after the Tender
evaluation.
Stage 2
Presentations by Short Listed Suppliers
If presentations are seen as necessary, the date and time for this
activity will be arranged directly with each of the short listed
suppliers. Suppliers will be evaluated on proposed methodology,
understanding of the project objectives, relevant experience,
proposed budget, track record and the way in which the overall
presentation was made.
Stage 3
Award Contract
Subject to meeting the Requirement and successful commercial
negotiations the contract will be awarded to the preferred supplier.
4. The Tender Response
All of the sections below must be answered in the tender response.
THE REQUIREMENT
Tenderers are to submit a response by 11am (UK time) on 9th January 2015.
The response should outline how the tenderer proposes to meet the
requirements of RCUKI as detailed in Annex 2, and deliver the service. The
following is required as part of your response:
YOUR COMPANY PROFILE AND IF APPLICABLE, ANY SUB-CONTRACTOR’S COMPANY
PROFILES
Please provide a profile limited to two sides of an A4 paper for each and every Company
involved with your response including:
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Company name, address, telephone and fax number, URL of Company web site.
Ownership of the business, its parent, related or subsidiary companies.
Number of years trading, including a profile of the development of the business
since inauguration, and any planned directions for future development.
The current business focus and particular specialism of the business.
Recognised quality standards currently in force by the Company.
RESOURCES
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The resources you expect to use to undertake the service. Include the number of staff
you expect to use in providing the service. Where relevant, also include an
organisational chart indicating responsibilities and reporting lines. Please indicate the
level of staff participation.
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The qualifications and experience of staff expected to undertake the service. Please
provide CVs, maximum of two pages, for such individuals. CVs should be of named
individuals who would be undertaking the work associated with the project and not of
generic role types.
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The likely level of input that will be required from RCUKI staff and at which stages of
the project.
METHOD STATEMENT
Describe how you would achieve the deliverables required in the specification and an
outline programme for undertaking the work. This should include an outline project plan,
timeframes, indication of the number of days and those individuals envisaged for each
element of the project. Specifically, you should include:
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A summary of the bid highlighting how you will meet the evaluation objectives
A clear description of the proposed approach to be adopted, including how
focus areas for the research will be defined and measured
Details of the evidence to be reviewed and the ways in which this will be
analysed
A discussion of the practical and technical difficulties likely to be faced and how
these would be addressed, including the approach to challenges involved with
the large number of relevant organizations in India
A summary of the key risks to the project and how you will manage them
A description of how you will manage the evaluation, including quality
assurance procedures and delivery against the timetable described in the
Specification
QUALITY PLAN
Give details of how you will ensure a high quality service and your proposals for the
monitoring and reporting on the quality of the service delivered, including the
performance checks you will perform and who will perform them.
REFERENCES
The names and full contact details of at least two referees with whom you have
recently undertaken similar work who may be approached to comment on your
capabilities in relation to the project.
PRICING SCHEDULE
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The vendor shall provide a firm (i.e. unchangeable) lump sum price which shall include
consultancy fees, travel and subsistence expenses, and all other company costs. The
tendered price should be broken down to show separate costs for the above cost
elements within the tender price format table (Table 1 in Annex 3).
The price should be quoted in pounds sterling (£). If the tenderers’ company does not
normally operate in this currency, please use the current (at the time of tender going
live) exchange rate of 1 GBP = 96.74 INR. This exchange rate will be considered fixed
for the duration of the project.
A daily fee rate for each direct staff member to be involved in the work should be shown
in a labour cost table (see example format - Table 2 in Annex 3).
All prices quoted should be inclusive of VAT.
Payment will be made against mutually agreeable milestones.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
This contract is offered under UK SBS Standard Terms & Conditions as
attached. In your submission, please confirm that you accept the Terms and
Conditions detailed in Annex 4 of this document.
If you do not accept the terms and conditions, please provide justification for this
in your submission.
INSURANCE
Please provide details of professional indemnity and other liability insurance
cover appropriate for the services described in Annex 2.
5. Incomplete Tender
Tenders may be rejected if the complete information called for is not given at the
time of the Tender submission.
6. Tender Return
Electronic copies of the tender must be e-mailed to rcuk.india@rcuk.ac.uk by
the required date and time.
7. Receipt of Tenders
Suppliers must ensure that their Tender submission is delivered no later than
the appointed time. Please note that UK SBS reserves the right not to consider
tenders received after that time.
8. Period for which Tenders Shall Remain Valid
Your tender should be valid for acceptance for 90 days from the tender return
date. The receipt of the enclosed tender documents shall be regarded as
adequate consideration for maintaining the validity of your tender for the period
requested in this letter.
9. Consortium
UK SBS will not contract with a consortium and any sub-contractor services
introduced to deliver the Requirement. Any use of sub-contractor services must
be declared in the tender response and the purpose of their engagement. Any
Supplier awarded the contract will be liable and responsible for any subcontractor services provided for the period of the contract.
10. Inducement
Offering an inducement of any kind in relation to obtaining this or any other
contract with the UK SBS, RCUK India or SIN India will disqualify your tender.
11. Evaluation of Tenders
Evaluation of submitted tenders will commence on 12th - 16th January 2014. The
evaluation of the proposal will be on a value for money basis and be subject to
the following criteria:
Capability
Including:
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Quality of the project plan
Understanding of the project objectives
Relevant experience and expertise
Capacity
Including:
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Sufficient resources for the requirement
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Realistic timescales
Quality
Including:
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Quality assurance processes
Price
Including:
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Price of contract
Please Note: The RCUK, UK SBS Ltd does not bind itself to accept the
lowest cost, or any, tender bid.
12. Tender Feedback
Following award of contract, feedback to unsuccessful Suppliers will be
provided if requested.
13. Enquiries
Queries may be raised at any reasonable time during the tendering period with
the appropriate contact as detailed below:
Technical:
Andrew Telford, Senior Programme Manager, RCUK India British High
Commission Shantipath, Chanakyapuri New Delhi
.
Email: Andrew.Telford@rcuk.ac.uk Tel: +91 11 24192416
Dr Rita Sharma, Senior Advisor, UK Science and Innovation Network, India
Email: Rita.Sharma@fco.gov.uk Tel: +91 11 2419 2479
Commercial or Contractual:
RCUK India
British High Commission
Shantipath, Chanakyapuri
New Delhi 110021
Tel: +91 11-24192370
Email: rcuk.india@rcuk.ac.uk
Please consider the time difference between UK and Indian Standard Time
(IST).
Please note any questions regarding the tender may be published to other
Suppliers if the answer is seen as relevant to all Tenderers, but will not contain
information identifying tenderers or their institutions.
The tender documents and any specifications, plans, drawings or information
issued or furnished by, or on behalf of, the Council in connection therewith are
issued solely for the purpose of enabling a tender to be completed and may not
be used for any other purpose. Such tender and other documents and any
information provided remain the property of the Council.
REF: RCUKI2014
ANNEX 2
Background Information
1. Partners:
Research Councils UK
Research Councils UK (RCUK) is the strategic partnership of the UK’s seven Research
Councils. Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Biotechnology & Biological
Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC),
Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Medical Research
Council (MRC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Science &
Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
RCUK India plays a key role in enhancing the UK-India relationship in science and
research. In the last five years, RCUK, the Government of India and third parties have
together invested close to £150 million in co-funded research programmes. Since its
launch in 2008, RCUK India has facilitated an impressive portfolio of over 80 highquality, high-impact UK-India research projects, involving more than 90 industry
partners. Through these research programmes, RCUK India supports a strong,
strategic and mutually beneficial partnership with India. This partnership continues to
grow and strengthen the future of research to benefit society and enhance the
prosperity of the UK, India and the world at large.
Science and Innovation Network
The Science and Innovation Network (SIN) support the UKs economic and social goals
through international collaboration in science research and innovation and works to
ensure that UK plays its part in addressing global challenges. SIN has officers in 28
countries and 48 cities around the world who develop country specific action plans and
work to the following objectives:
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influence science and innovation policies of governments, industry and
academia to benefit the UK
improve UK policy based on international experience and emerging
opportunities and challenges
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stimulate strategic science collaborations to benefit the UK and deliver wider
policy goals
harness international technology partnerships and investment to grow UK
innovation capability
In India, there are nine SIN officials spread across Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai.
2. Mapping Project:
In continuation to our endeavor to understand the research and innovation ecosystem
in India, this piece of work aims to commission a mapping exercise in an area that has
been identified as UK-India priority theme for research collaboration by the UK-India
task force on research and innovation.
The priority theme is:
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Energy-Water-Food Nexus
3. Objectives:
Within the Energy-Water-Food Nexus priority area we would like to identify:
a) Universities and Institutions
- Leading Indian research Universities and Institutions based on their publication
metrics. As a guide, the number of highly cited papers published by authors working at
the institute, in that priority theme, would be a typical measure.
b) Researchers
- Top researchers within Universities and Institutions identified above in the EnergyWater-Food Nexus theme.
- Additional top 20-25 individual researchers, in terms of their publication metrics,
outside of these institutions (where they are not based in a previously identified high
impact University/ Institute). Consideration should also be given on how to capture
emerging researchers and centres of excellence within this priority area.
c) Funders
- Research priorities for Indian funders in Energy-Water-Food Nexus theme. We would
like to know to what extent the funders (at national level) are working with the endusers. Are there already international collaborations in this theme and if yes, with which
countries.
4. Budget
We expect that bids for mapping this priority theme will not exceed £10K. However we
do recognise that this is a large area and any bids over this threshold will still be
considered in the decision making process.
5. Timeline for delivery
Bids should work around an 8 week timeline for creating the final report. The bid
should include the opportunity for RCUKI and SIN colleagues to regularly feed in
comments and view a draft version of the report.
6. Target audience for the Mapping work
The target audience for this report will be the seven Research Councils, Indian and UK
policy makers, public and private companies, academics and researchers working in
the area of Energy-Water-Food Nexus.
7. Description of priority theme:
Scope of the priority theme as defined by the UK-India task force:
Energy-Water-Food Nexus
UK-India Research under this theme will develop solutions for poor communities to
benefit from low-cost energy storage, new designs for water-efficient energy systems
and more equitable water allocation systems proposed for pilot river catchments.
Research will develop innovative approaches to sustainably increase agricultural
productivity in the context of resource efficiency. This will involve interactions with key
stakeholders including farmers, retailers, industry and policy makers. Research under
this theme will also develop approaches to reduce food wastage.
High Level Research and Innovation Objectives on the UK-India Partnership
1
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3
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Developing efficient energy storage solutions for mini/off-grid renewable energy.
Developing affordable and water-efficient energy technologies.
Small modular thermal power plant designs that use 50% less water for cooling.
Improving the scientific understanding of eco-hydrological system, including
uncertainties and climate change, at the level of river catchment.
5 Developing better understanding of changing water demand from different
sectors (industry, domestic, energy, agriculture) in pilot river catchments.
6 Developing better understanding of the governance, political economy and
public participation in decision making on water resource allocation in pilot river
catchments.
7 Developing innovations to :
 increase sustainable agricultural productivity
 reduce waste
 increase nutritional value
 increase tolerance to biotic/abiotic stresses
by using agri-ecosystem approaches and through low cost access and efficient
use natural resources (water, soil, energy) - with focus on small farms.
8 Encouraging multi-functional use of land to deliver a range of goods and
services.
9 Developing low-cost technologies to reduce post-harvest losses across agrifood lifecycle including infrastructure technologies such as storage and
refrigeration.
REF: RCUKI2014
ANNEX 3
PRICING SCHEDULE
The supplier must provide the following pricing information presented in the format of
the following tables.
Table 1 – Project Implementation Costs
Dates
Activity or Product
Description
No of Units
Cost per unit
Each collective bid should include the breakdown of costs per priority theme
No of days
Cost per day
Total cost
Table 2 – Labour Costs
A daily fee rate for each of the various direct staff to be involved in the work should be shown. All prices
quoted should be inclusive of VAT.
Name
Grade/Position/Role
Cost/Day
No. of days
Total
REF: RCUKI2014
UK SBS TERMS & CONDITIONS FOR SERVICES
AW4.1 Contract
Terms and Conditions.pdf
ANNEX 4