The Provision of an Evaluation Framework for the ICURE Programme

Descriptions

**Please note, no award is to be made for this procurement exercise** Funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and Innovate UK, the £9.2 million ICURe pilot 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. Under the pilot project, Early Career Researchers (ECRs) at the five SETsquared universities (Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey) and other selected universities, working with their Principal Investigator (PI) and a Business Mentor, are given tailored training, mentoring and funds to undertake focussed market validation and business model development to speed up the commercialisation of their ideas, technologies, products and services. Teams will gain invaluable marketplace knowledge and first-hand commercial experience, which will be taken back into the research environment to refine the ideas and technologies and to help direct research towards commercial opportunities. Successful outputs are expected to include the creation of university spin-out and start-up companies founded on the teams' ideas; the licensing of IP to an existing company for commercialisation; and research partnerships with industry. At the start of the pilot over 140 applicants (in total for 5 rounds) are expected to apply, of which only 50% are expected to be successful teams, each team comprising of three people (Principal Investigator and Early Career Researchers). The successful cohorts then go on to receive the business training so, potentially, could be compared to the unsuccessful groups UK Shared Business Services eSourcing As part of the strategic alliance between UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) and Crown Commercial Service (CCS), UK SBS can use the CCS eSourcing Suite for future procurements. 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. 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.go Your email must clearly state: the name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for; the name of the registered Bidder; and the 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 Sou