Research tenders

A tender is a formal offer to perform work in return for payment. Payment can be in the form of a fixed price or via a schedule of rates. Work may include the supply of goods and services or both. Research can form part of a tender.

I've found a research tender I want to apply for - what should I do next?

1. Contact the Grants and Tenders Team

Tenders require a period of intensive work in a very short time and so by letting the Grants and Tenders team know of your interest the team can support your application and provide timely advice.

Most tenders come with a proposed contract. This means that contract review and approval needs to occur prior to tender submission. When you have decided to respond to a tender, the Grants and Tenders team will send the draft contract and all relevant response documents to the Research Contracts team via ServiceOne. The Research Contracts team ideally needs a minimum of 5 working days to review the contract. The review can be in progress while you are working on your tender documents.

2. Meet with the Grants and Tenders Team to discuss response documents, timelines and level of support

Organise this meeting as early as possible. The format (in person, Microsoft Teams, phone) and content of this meeting is up to the researcher, but should be used as an opportunity to walk through the entire response documentation. From a Grants and Tenders team perspective, key items include:

discuss any parts you are not sure or need advice about
to determine who will be responsible for which parts of the response
agree on timelines for completion
identify the main contact person in the Grants and Tenders team.

Most tenders require some business or corporate information such as ABN, governance structure, information on insurance policies, Workplace Gender Equality compliance, data security etc. The Grants and Tenders team can provide the necessary documentation for these items.

At the meeting, the Grants and Tenders team can provide guidance on pricing, including links to consultancy rates and the commissioned research budget estimator tool, and highlight any key aspects of the response documents in terms of compliance.

3. Put together the response documents, including sections provided by the Grant and Tenders team and Research Contracts team

You will be responsible for assembling the response documents including all the parts that are completed by the Grants and Tenders team.

Some tenders come with a response checklist which is helpful to ensure that you have all the correct attachments or schedules associated with your response.

4. Obtain College approval through completion of ResearchNow pre-award application

As with all research funding applications, College approval is required prior to submission. The ResearchNow form approval process can be completed with an advanced draft of your application response including the budget. This process should be started as soon as possible to ensure adequate time for your Dean (Research) to review your proposal.

5. Send final versions to the Grants and Tenders team for signatures

Tender responses require sign-off prior to submission by an authorised representative. This authorised representative is normally the Director, Research Development and Support, but your tender will not be signed off unless;

the contract has been reviewed, and
College approval (via ResearchNow) has been obtained.

6. Submit the tender response to the funder

Submission of the response documentation for the tender is the responsibility of the researcher unless the guidelines explicitly state that submission is to be via the institution's Research Office (or equivalent).

Please ensure that you send a copy of the final version of your response documentation to research.grants@flinders.edu.au, along with acknowledgement of receipt by the funder. This allows the Grants and Tenders team to monitor all tenders that have been submitted and support you further if the tender is awarded.

Handy hints

Register with the Tender platforms; Austender and/or GrantConnect. This way you can search for opportunities yourself and be able to download any relevant documents (including any addendums and FAQs – which are regularly updated).
Tendering is a competitive process but can be less competitive than traditional grants; in many cases, once you have developed a reputation and evidence of delivery more tenders will follow.
Make sure that you familiarise yourself with the tender requirements. These are usually very different for each opportunity.
Carefully check the tender guidelines for budget costing rules. The Budget estimator tools are available to assist in developing a budget.
Take note if you need to upload your response documents to an online portal or submit via email.
Many tenders require that you register via an online portal prior to submission or does the University need to register on your behalf? If so, contact the Grants and Tenders team as soon as possible.
The University tender information page provides information on the most commonly requested information used in responding to tenders on behalf of the University. This is useful if you have to provide information on supplier of insurance information.
Take note if you need to have institutional sign-off or is there a declaration page in the online form (Director, Research Development and Support and/or Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) will need to be notified of this declaration).
Check the submission date and time – don’t assume the time of submission is 5 pm, this timing can vary between tenders.
Remember that tenders are end-user driven, with the scope and requirements being dictated by the funder. This means that you need to understand the purchaser and their problem.
While your academic track record is important to demonstrate your capabilities and skills, tenders are more about the capabilities of the team you can pull together and solving the immediate problem.
Make sure you are clear about your rights in terms of intellectual property and your ability to publish your research post the tender process.