Rigorous Literature Reviews (Education)

25 April 2012

Rigorous Literature Reviews - Education. Questions and Answers from organisations invited to submit full proposals

Question

Is it possible for bidders to increase the number of days required for the work, or must they stick to the amount requested in the Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)?

Answer

You can change the number of days you initially requested in your PQQ. DFID will negotiate with any preferred bidders about time allocated and budgets requested following peer review of the bids.

Question
Can you advise whether, by submitting a full application, bidders are agreeing to adhere to "Section 2 - DFID's standard contract terms."

Answer
These are DFID's standard terms and conditions and are widely accepted amongst the supplier community. They are provided for information only at this stage.

Question
Re Section 3.1 of the application form (Timing), can you clarify, please, what is meant by “Finalisation of report (allowing for a 2 week turnaround by DFID)”

Answer
DFID will provide feedback on the draft main report within 2 weeks of receipt. Bidders are asked to provide an indicative date for their taking account of any comments from DFID and reflecting these in a final report for further approval by DFID. 

 
Question
Should we present the budget only in the application form provided for this bid, or  should we also complete pro formas 1-4 contained in DFID’s standard contract documents?

Answer
You should complete only the application form.

Rigorous Literature Reviews - Education. Questions and Answers from the Expressions of Interest stage

Question
Is any further information available on the funding or scale of these literature reviews?

Answer
DFID is not releasing budget details on this occasion, and will be interested in shortlisted bidders’ assessment of resource requirements to fulfil the Terms Of Reference (please note that funding proposals are not required at the Expression of Interest stage). Some reviews are more complex than others and the available evidence varies,  we do recognise that this will impact on resource requirements.

Question
Can you please clarify the timeframe:
When exactly does the 4-6 months begin?
Will the period between the submission of the initial and the final report be expected to be encompassed within the 4-6 months?

Answer
We anticipate that this work will begin In December 2012, although it is not possible to be definitive at this stage. Exact dates would be agreed with successful bidders.
Yes, 4-6 months is the overall timeframe.

Question
Is there a requirement for Institutions or Researchers to be UK based or UK/Commonwealth citizens?

Answer
No - UK Aid is untied, and we welcome Expressions of Interests from Institutions across the globe. There is no requirement for Researchers to be UK or Commonwealth citizens.

Question
Would Brazil and India be classified as developing countries for the purposes of this tender?

Answer
For the purposes of the literature reviews, it is fine to draw on robust and relevant evidence from across the globe. Looking to the future, we would expect Research Frameworks to be built around the needs of Africa and South Asia (including India).

Question
Do you require each Literature Review to be conducted by a multidisciplinary team, or is it the overall set of literature reviews that will require a multidisciplinary team

Answer
It is envisaged that each Literature Review will be undertaken by a multidisciplinary team.

Question
Will an organisation be disadvantaged if one institution submits several bids?

Answer
It is for organisations themselves to decide whether or not to submit multiple bids, taking account of their capacity to deliver on each.

Question
Given a particular theme, is a selected bidder expected to carry out a rigorous review of literature of its own country or of developing countries as a whole?

Answer
Bidders will not be restricted to undertaking rigorous literature reviews relating to their own country.

Question
Is an Indian national who has been the recipient of a Newton International Fellowship, and who is now working in India and in receipt of minimal funding from the Fellowship, eligible to apply for funding under this competition?

Answer
There are no DFID restrictions on eligibility to apply for funding to undertake these reviews.

Question
Would the work need to be completed in the UK?

Answer
No, the work can be undertaken in any country.

Question
I am in the process of moving from one University to another (1 September). Should the Expression of interest come from my current or new institution?

Answer
This is for you to decide, bearing in mind that DFID would expect to enter into a contract with the organisation that submitted the Expression of Interest (and subsequent bid) for the duration of the contract period.

Question
Can you confirm that by applying for funding to undertake this work an applicant is not signing up to any terms and conditions?

Answer
Yes - there is no commitment to acceptance of any terms and conditions at this stage. DFID will issue the Terms and Conditions of contract to shortlisted bidders.

Question
Can you confirm whether the declaration at the end of the Pre-qualification Questionnaire should be completed by an organisation or by the proposed Principal Investigator

Answer
The declaration should be signed by the person with whom DFID would enter into a contract. If any contract would be with an organisation, then the declaration should be signed by an authorised representative of that organisation

Question
Can we go for a literature Review/case study relating  to a single country under this call?

Answer
It is for you to decide how best to structure any Expression of Interest based on the Terms of Reference provided.

Question
Can you clarify how DFID defines multi-disciplinary teams?  Are you referring to multi-disciplinary within education (i.e. educational economists, linguists, educational psychologists) or across sectors (i.e. health, governance, economics)?

Answer
It is for applicants to determine what skill sets should be brought together  to best deliver on the Terms of Reference