Research Leaders Development Programme

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1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

This contract requires a suitably qualified and experienced service provider to design and deliver a customised Research Leaders Development Programme for University College Dublin (UCD). The programme is a joint initiative between UCD HR People & Organisation Development (POD) and UCD Research. The estimated value of the contract is €200,000.00.

The programme is intended to commence in January 2027 and conclude in April/May of the same year, with a potential post-programme check-in approximately six months later. UCD anticipates delivering one cohort per annum, with each cohort comprising 15–20 participants. The target audience consists of early to mid-career academic staff from all disciplines, specifically at Lecturer/Assistant Professor (Above and Below the Bar) and Associate Professor grades. These participants are typically established or emerging research leaders who are already contributing to leadership within the University.

The core objectives of the programme are to foster participants' ambition and creativity, develop their capabilities in leadership, team management, and impactful collaboration, and ultimately empower them to navigate and contribute to UCD’s strategic ambitions for research excellence, innovation, and societal impact.

Key programme requirements include:

• Programme Design: Tenderers are encouraged to propose innovative, evidence-informed approaches. While the target cohort and desired outcomes are binding, the format and content are indicative. The programme should be evidence-informed, relevant to the higher education and research environment, interactive, reflective, participant-centered, focused on practical application, and flexible.
• Duration and Format: The programme framework is broadly equivalent to approximately five development days per participant. This can be delivered modularly or via half-day sessions, in person or via a blended format. Tenderers may propose alternative structures if they can justify enhanced participant experience and outcomes.
• Content Focus: The programme must address research leadership capability and sustainable research career development. It should incorporate structured reflection, self-assessment, and personal development.
• Developmental Support: An explicit developmental support component is required, anticipated as up to three structured coaching or facilitated peer-reflection sessions per participant (e.g., 1:1 executive coaching, facilitated group coaching, or Action Learning Sets).
• Peer Learning and Networks: The programme must promote peer learning, knowledge exchange, and relationship-building across diverse disciplines and organisational units. It should support ongoing collaboration and the long-term sustainability of impact.
• Application of Learning: Participants should be supported in applying their learning to live research projects, leadership practices, and career trajectories.
• Inclusion and Accessibility: The programme must be designed and delivered in accordance with strict principles of accessibility, inclusion, and equitable participation.
• Evaluation and Improvement: The successful tenderer will be responsible for evaluating programme effectiveness, gathering participant feedback, assessing objective achievement, and measuring qualitative and quantitative impact (aligning with frameworks like Kirkpatrick’s Levels of Learning Evaluation). Continuous improvement and adherence to KPIs and reporting mechanisms are required.
• Partnership and Management: The successful tenderer will act as a strategic partner, managing the contract, quality assurance, stakeholder engagement, risk management, and reporting.
• Post-Programme Support: Support for post-programme action planning and continued learning is required.

3. Background & buyer context

University College Dublin (UCD) is procuring this contract as part of its strategic commitment to strengthening research leadership capability across the institution. This initiative aligns with UCD's overarching strategy, Breaking Boundaries: UCD Strategy to 2030. The competition represents a formal re-tender of a previously delivered Research Leadership Development Programme, seeking to build upon its foundation with a high-quality, evidence-informed, and innovative successor.

The programme directly supports three core strategic initiatives:

• Learning for Life: Enhancing development supports for staff and organisational learning.
• One UCD: Strengthening staff development and retention, and institutional capability.
• Research with Ambition: Building research leadership capacity, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration, and fostering research excellence and impact.

The programme also aims to reflect UCD’s values of collegiality, creativity, excellence, integrity, inclusion, and engagement within research leadership practice. UCD is Ireland's largest university, with a significant student and staff population, and a commitment to maintaining high research activity and international collaboration.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

Bidders must meet the following minimum requirements to be considered for evaluation:

• Turnover requirement: Tenderers must have attained an average annual turnover of at least €300,000 in any one of the three previous financial years. This is confirmed via the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD).
• Insurance:
• Public and Product Liability: €6.5m
• Employer’s Liability: €13m
• Professional Indemnity: €250,000
• Certifications: Not specified for this tender.
• Past experience: Not specified in detail, but the tender requires a "suitably-qualified and experienced service provider" and references the "successful delivery of an established Research Leadership Development Programme in recent years" as a foundation to build upon. Tenderers must demonstrate how their proposed programme design effectively satisfies UCD's objectives and maximises learning.
• Personnel: Not specified for this tender.
• Geographic / facility constraints: Not specified for this tender.

5. Award criteria & scoring

The contract will be awarded based on the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT), determined by a combination of quality and price. The specific weighting and scoring mechanism are detailed in Section 6 of the Invitation to Tender document. While the exact percentages are not provided in the metadata, the evaluation will consider:

Criterion Weight (%) Sub-criteria