RFI: AISI - Post-Award Research Grant Administration

The Artificial Intelligence Security Institute (AISI), a directorate of the former Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), is seeking information from the market to help test the feasibility, deliverability, and commercial attractiveness of a proposed requirement for the AISI Grants Portfolio. The AISI funds external research through competitively awarded grant programmes. Awards are made to universities, research institutes and non-profit organisations. The Authority currently administers grants in-house and is considering whether a specialist delivery partner could provide all or part of the post-award administration function for future grant programmes. This Request for Information (RFI) is intended to inform the Authority's understanding of market capability and delivery models. This engagement does not constitute a procurement process and places no obligation on either the Authority or participating suppliers. The Authority's current portfolio comprises approximately:

• £20m of live grant funding;
• around 100 active grants;
• individual grants ranging between £100,000 and £1,000,000;
• typical grant durations of 6 to 24 months.

Future programmes are expected to be broadly similar in nature, although scope, scale and delivery models may change. The grants are primarily research-focused and commonly involve:

• UK universities;
• overseas universities;
• research organisations;
• non-profit entities;
• collaborative research projects.

The Authority is seeking information on supplier capability to deliver post-award grant administration services. For the purposes of this engagement, "post-award" includes all activities following the Authority's funding decision, including due diligence activities conducted prior to execution of grant agreements. The assessment of applications, evaluation of proposals and selection of grant recipients will remain the responsibility of the Authority and its expert reviewers and are not within scope. Accountability for each grant remains with the Authority under GovS 015: Grants. Any operating model will retain the Authority's grant manager in a decision-making role, with defined thresholds for what a delivery partner may decide and what must be escalated. Potential activities may include, but are not limited to:

• issuing and executing grant agreements using Authority-provided templates;
• managing amendments, variations, novations and extensions;
• managing monitoring and reporting processes;
• validating claims and expenditure submissions;
• administering payment schedules and disbursements;
• administering grants to overseas recipients;
• managing underspend, reprofiling and no-cost extensions;
• supporting suspension, recovery and clawback activity;
• operating assurance, audit and counter-fraud controls;
• maintaining grant records and management information;
• undertaking grant closure activities and record retention.

The Authority is keen to receive feedback from established grant-administration providers, specialist organisations, SMEs, new entrants and other organisations with relevant delivery experience. The Authority currently anticipates that, should it decide to proceed with a procurement following this preliminary market engagement, the opportunity would be conducted through the Fund Administration & Disbursement Services Dynamic Purchasing System, RM6322 (“FAADS”). You do not need to be an existing supplier on the Fund Administration & Disbursement Services DPS, RM6322 (“FAADS”), to respond to this market engagement. Suppliers that are not currently appointed to RM6322 are encouraged to consider applying to join the DPS if they may be interested in participating in any future procurement. Further information about RM6322 and the supplier application process is available through the Crown Commercial Service Supplier Registration Service: Fund Administration & Disbursement Services DPS (FAADS) - GCA The RM6322 application process and this RFI are independent:

• completing the RFI does not result in appointment to the DPS;
• applying to the DPS does not constitute an RFI response; and
• neither activity guarantees that a procurement will proceed or that an organisation will receive work.

RFI responses are requested solely to help the Authority understand market capability, delivery models, commercial viability, risks and implementation considerations. Responses will not be scored and participation will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in a future procurement. The Authority does not guarantee that a procurement will take place or that RM6322 will ultimately be used.