Invitation to tender - ‘Responding to international humanitarian crises: lessons from the UK higher education sector response to the invasion of Ukraine’

This study will analyse the UK higher education sector response to the invasion of Ukraine to: 

• Provide a descriptive overview of the key features of the response, highlighting the perceived value and impact of different activities.
• Identify the factors that enable and facilitate different types of response, and those that limited the capacity and ability of institutions and other stakeholders to engage.
• Develop a framework of policy and practical options for institutions looking to respond to future international humanitarian crises, including conditions that need to be in place for effective and impactful deployment.
• Make recommendations to universities, to funders, and to government to ensure that all stakeholders are better prepared to offer support for those affected by international humanitarian crises in the future.

Deliverables should include: 

• A short summative report on key findings and recommendations (max 10 pages)

• A longer, detailed technical report, including 8-10 case studies identifying good practice that can be used in public forums and communications.

• A slide pack or infographics setting out the key findings and recommendations in an accessible visual format (for use in presentations and social media).

The total budget available for this project is £83,000 exclusive of VAT. This will be payable in two tranches: 

• 50% on signing of the contract 

• 50% on satisfactory completion of the project.

Funding for this project is provided as part of a grant from UKRI/Research England.

This project will be managed by Rosalynd Boxall, Partnerships Manager at Universities UK International (UUKi).

The project should be undertaken between no later than 31 March 2023 and 15 July 2023. The candidate should note the following key dates:

• This project must begin no later than 31 March 2023 

• Deadline for receipt of emailed tenders: 14 February 2023 at 12 noon GMT 

• Shortlisted applicants are likely to be invited to interview in the week commencing 20 February 2023 

• Award of tender to successful candidate: 28 February 2023 

• All outputs must be satisfactorily delivered to UUK no later than 15 July 2023 

The dates set out in this paragraph section are provisional only and may be altered by UUK at its discretion.

Please email, attaching your response in English to Rosalynd Boxall ([email protected]) with copy to Dajana Dzanovic ([email protected]) with the subject marked as: Lessons learned tender response: [your name].

The email containing the tender documents attached should arrive no later than 14 February 2023 at 12 noon GMT.

UUK shall have the right to disqualify any candidates who submit incomplete or late tenders.

For further details, please contact Rosalynd Boxall, Partnerships Manager at Universities UK International (UUKi) by email ([email protected]). Rosalynd is also candidates’ point of contact for any queries that you might have relating to this ITT.

Any queries should clearly reference the appropriate paragraph in the documentation and, to the extent possible, should be aggregated rather than sent individually.

The deadline for submitting queries is 7 February 2023.

The frequently asked questions will be updated regularly to ensure that answers to questions are as transparent and up to date as possible. Please check back regularly or get in touch with us at [email protected] if you cannot find the answer to your question below.