UK Defence Innovation: competition assessment process and criteria (guidance)

This guidance explains our competition process and how your proposal is assessed.

At
UKDI
, we have a very thorough process for deciding which proposals to fund. The below guidance sets out our full competition process including the guidance given to our assessors to assess proposals.
Competition process
The competition process is made up of 10 stages.
1. Competition opens
All competitions are launched on our
UKDI
Competition Services
page.
Sign up to the
UKDI
Mailing List
Be the first to hear about new competitions, upcoming events and other
UKDI
news. To join the
UKDI
Mailing List, please complete the short sign up form
here
2. Proposal submission
The only way to submit a proposal to
UKDI
is online via the
UKDI
online submission service.
Log in or register for an account
.
Some tips to help with your submission:
before submitting your proposal, check the terms and conditions carefully to ensure that you agree with all of them. You may wish to check them with your commercial or legal department. Please read the Open Call
terms and conditions here
. The terms and conditions for a themed competition can be found within the competition document.
draft your proposal offline to avoid losing material when submitting online
be concise. Each assessor should be able to read, understand and assess your proposal within 1 hour and 30 minutes, unless otherwise stated in the competition document. Use the text boxes provided in the application form and look out for the word limits
attachments are limited to .png, .jpg, or.jpeg files only. Please provide full answers on the (Desirable/Feasible/Viable) criteria for your Innovation in the boxes provided. Proposals received with Desirable/Feasible/Viable answers provided as attachments will be considered non-compliant and sifted out of the competition.
only click submit when your proposal is complete. It is not possible to add any additional information to your proposal after it has been submitted
innovators are strongly advised to submit their proposal at least one hour before the deadline stated on the competition document. Proposals submitted close to the deadline risk encountering issues that cannot be resolved in time. Responsibility for timely submission rests entirely with the innovator, no extensions will be made.
3. Competition close
4. Pre sift
Once you have submitted your proposal, it will pass through an initial pre-sift process. At this stage, your proposal may be rejected if it:
does not demonstrate impact for defence or security
does not outline how it meets the scope of the competition
is incomplete
if the attachments have been used for additional text data over the stated word counts in Desirability, Feasibility, Viability and Additional Information
is lacking technical information to allow technical assessment to take place
does not demonstrate how the project can be completed in the timelines
exceeds the funding limit or timescale stipulated
does not demonstrate acceptance of or comply with
UKDI
terms and conditions
is not at the correct Technology Readiness Level (
TRL
) for the competition
is a resubmission of a previous proposal and does not adhere to the
resubmission guidelines
Further guidance on pre sift criteria is described in the online submission service for the specific competition and in the relevant competition document, accessible via the
UKDI
Competition Services
page.
5. Assessment
After the initial sifting process, experts from across UK government will be assigned to assess your proposal. When people outside of UK Government are used for assessment, it will be under a non-disclosure agreement and details will be provided in advance in the relevant competition document.
During the assessment phase all proposals are assessed against the following criteria:
desirable: strategic fit, end user support/pull (letters of support not required)
feasible: technical credibility, innovation, risk, expertise of team/capability
viable: costs and value for money, project delivery/plan
Further guidance on
assessment criteria is listed below
.
6. Moderation
After assessment, a moderator will compile an overview, pulling together comments to provide a collective outcome in the form of a ‘Fund’ or ‘No Fund’ recommendation against the proposal.
7. Challenge
Stakeholders/moderators are invited to challenge the ‘Fund’ or ‘No Fund recommendation made against each proposal. Challengers present their argument both in written form for circulation and at the decision conference.
8. Decision conference
The decision conference brings key stakeholders together to review proposal recommendations in line with competition delivery, including challenged recommendations. The moderator comments are presented and any challenges reviewed. At the conclusion of the conference, a final decision is made on whether each proposal will be funded.
Innovators are not permitted to attend.
9. Decision release
You’ll be able to track the progress of your application on your dashboard. You’ll be notified by email when we’ve made a decision on whether or not to fund your proposal.
If you are successful, our commercial team will be in touch shortly after the decision date to begin contracting. Once you are on contract, both
UKDI
staff and a Technical Partner will support and advise you throughout the period of your project.
10. Feedback release
If you are unsuccessful, you will receive brief written feedback within a few weeks of the applicable decision date. Feedback will be made available to you via email. Feedback is prepared by the proposal moderator, and is based on comments from all assessors and discussions at the decision conference. The feedback will give the main reasons why your proposal was unsuccessful.
Please note that every
UKDI
competition has a finite financial limit which affects the number of bids we can fund. Where a proposal meets the fundable requirements for a competition, but is not funded,
UKDI
will continue to seek funding and shall consider you