JISC

This guide to bidding for JISC invitations to tender is aimed at individuals, organisations and institutions responding to a tender invitation for a specific piece of work, particularly for anyone unfamiliar with the process.

Anyone tendering should be familiar with and will be expected to comply with JISC's terms and conditions of grant. A second document provides further information on the expectations of JISC in the area of project management and provides project management guidance to bidders and project holders. However, much of the project management guidance may not be applicable to small scale studies funded through invitations to tender.

For a bid to be successful it must

• Stand out from the others
• State its objectives clearly and concisely
• Describe how it meets the criteria set out in the tender and clarify outputs
• Demonstrate that an initial assessment of project risks has been undertaken
• Provide a sound initial project plan and demonstrate robust project management arrangements
• Document proposed dissemination, embedding and evaluation mechanisms
• Provide clear costings
• Demonstrate value for money or add significant value to the funding requested

JISC activities

JISC and its sub-committees must ensure that the activity

• Supports innovation
• Provides a UK wide benefit and adds value beyond that which could be achieved by institutions acting individually or collectively
• Is not possible, or is unlikely, without central support
• Has a clear output and is delivered with demonstrable value for money
• Could not be performed as well and more appropriately by institutions themselves or by another public or commercial body

Outcomes JISC aims to achieve

• Continually enhance national infrastructure to support the activities of institutions
• Enhance capacity, knowledge and skills in the sector to enable positive and informed change (through piloting new technologies and approaches)
• Provide guidance to the sector on ‘best practice’ models for using technology that can be used at departmental, institutional, regional or national levels
• Provide strategic leadership to the sector and other bodies in specialist areas and influence national and international agendas
• Be a reflective and learning organisation

JISC will fund evaluations, case studies, toolkits, preparation of guides and good practice, trials of new technologies and techniques, and the roll-out of new technologies into institutions

JISC will not, in general, provide funding for unsolicited proposals. However most committees are prepared to consider suggestions for other areas which could be included in a later bidding programme. Suggestions should include a description of the topic, how the work would support an issue facing institutions and further the JISC strategy, and an indication of the scale of the work required. These should be sent via email to the relevant JISC Committee Secretary.

Evaluation criteria

Winning bids always demonstrate that the author has read the invitation to tender thoroughly and carefully.
Bids will be evaluated against a set of criteria that are described in the invitation to tender. Read the tender thoroughly and carefully and check whether your bid meets these criteria. It can help to have an independent colleague carry out a check for you.

Examples of evaluation criteria in invitations to tender

• Evidence of understanding of the problem/issues
• Feasibility of approach/appropriateness of the methodology
• Feasibility and detail of the work plan/ timetable
• Project management
• Risk assessment and management
• Relevant experience, track record
• Value for money

Your bid will be marked by a panel of independent experts. They may not have much knowledge of you or your institution/organisation and will usually have many such proposals to mark. Your proposal must not only stand out as a good idea, it must also be clear, concise and provide all of the information requested in the invitation to tender within the maximum number of pages stated. A well-written, brief summary of the project that sets out the information in an easily understood form will be very helpful. A clear presentation of the information in your proposal is therefore the key to success.

Making the case

First and foremost your bid should be aligned with the requirements of the invitation to tender and demonstrate how the outputs requested will be delivered and the methodology to be used.

Once you have made the case for the work you have to convince the evaluators that you can manage the project. Your proposal should provide an outline project plan, with achievable milestones and deliverables. You should describe the team members, their experience and complementary roles (clarifying where posts will need to be advertised) and provide evidence that the project will be properly managed. Robust project management is particularly important where there are several partners in the project. Your bid should also include a considered indication of the risks that it may face and how these may be minimised.

JISC promotes the use of appropriate international and industry standards. The invitation to tender will make reference to JISC’s standards guidance if applicable. Your bid should be based on these standards wherever possible.

Most invitations to tender give an indication of funding parameters or the maximum funding available per project.  Do not hesitate to submit a bid for smaller amounts of funding if that is all that is justified based on the methodology proposed.

It is very important to provide a brief summary of all expenditure, justifying the amounts and the need and clarifying whether VAT is applicable. JISC does not recover VAT. VAT should be charged at the applicable rate at the time of bidding; any increases to VAT will be honoured by JISC.

All bids submitted by UK higher education institutions should use the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) methodology in order to cost the activity.  Bidders should then consider how they wish to price the activity (by considering the level of institutional contribution) in order to submit a competitive bid. 

Other institutions and organisations submitting bids should use their usual costing and pricing practices but all costs should be clear and transparent, clarifying the price and number of days each individual working on the activity will provide, in order to assist the evaluators in determining the value for money of a proposal.

Legal requirements

Potential bidders should be aware that as a public body, JISC is subject to legislation such as the Race Relations Amendment Act, 2000, Equality Act 2006 and the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (More information). JISC is also subject to the Data Protection Act 2003 and the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000. JISC requires any potential bidder to be aware of and abide by these regulations.

Any information that a bidder considers to be commercial in confidence will need to be put into a separate annex in the tender submission. JISC may still be obliged to make this information available if challenged. All tender submissions other than information in this annex will be deemed to be disclosable under the FOI Act. However, JISC would never disclose any information during the actual tendering process, to avoid any prejudice to this process.

Checklist for final stages of submitting a bid

Check the deadline and submission process - late copies of bids will not be accepted regardless of any extenuating circumstances.

Ensure you have collated the following information to accompany the main part of the bid

• cover sheet 
• certificate of bona fide tender (if requested in the invitation to tender)
• ensure the main body of the bid follows the font size and page limit guidance
• ensure the bid is submitted in the correct format and does not exceed the file size indicated
• include any commercial in confidence appendices (ONLY include commercial in confidence appendices unless otherwise stated in the invitation to tender)

Evaluation process

JISC has a standard procedure for the evaluation of bids and project proposals.