Call for tender – Research project manager

Seeking a qualified research project manager for FEPS and FES Warschau Project: ‘Social democracy without people. On the sources of the popularity of authoritarian populism in Poland’.

Call for Tender
19 December 2023

FEPS – GENERAL INFORMATION

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) is the think tank of the progressive political family at EU level. Our mission is to develop innovative research, policy advice, training and debates to inspire and inform socialist and social democratic politics and policies across Europe.

We operate as hub for thinking to facilitate the emergence of progressive answers to the challenges that Europe faces today.

FEPS works in close partnership with its members and partners, forging connections and boosting coherence among stakeholders from the world of politics, academia and civil society at local, regional, national, European and global levels.

Today FEPS benefits from a solid network of 74 member organisations. Among these, 40 are full members, 26 have observer status and 5 are ex-officio members. In addition to this network of organisations that are active in the promotion of progressive values, FEPS also has an extensive network of partners, including renowned universities, scholars, policymakers and activists.

PURPOSE OF THE PRESENT TENDER

The purpose of this tender is to select a qualified research project manager, who would be in a position to help implement the third and last phase of the project “Social Democracy without people. On the sources of the popularity of authoritarian populism in Poland”.

Tasks to be fulfilled include – notwithstanding the possibility to adjust upon mutual agreement:

• Coordination of the final steps of collecting data with the polling institute contracted to deliver the data for this project
• Completion of the final report and research paper based on the 2 partial reports (delivered in 2022 and 2023) and original set of data (as obtained through two ways of survey and focus group sessions). This should be completed in English.
• Completion of the final publication that is to include the above-mentioned report and the explanation of the project alongside its further outcomes (additional to the paper)
• Drafting of an executive summary with clear policy proposals (based on the analyses included in the paper). This should be completed in English.
• Organization of 8 training sessions in Poland with politicians as well as drafting of a manual (toolkit), which would include a clear methodology of training and a description of specific training exercises to enable further multiplication of the training sessions
• Co-designing and implementing an outreach strategy – which would include communicating results and promoting the outcomes (both inside of Poland and externally)

These tasks, as described in the tender, would need to be completed by 30^th November 2024. If selected through the present call for tender, FEPS offers the possibility of a contract until the end of December 2024.

MAIN NEEDS AND PLANNING

A non-exhaustive list of requirements and preferences would be the following:

• Proven expertise in research projects’ management
• Proven ability to complete papers with use of a quantitative research methodology
• An extensive network of policy stakeholders, academic experts from within the field of political sciences, and other senior actors representing trade unions and civil society
• PhD in political sciences, international relations, European studies or similar is an asset
• Proven ability to organize activities belonging to the field non-formal education and training
• Strong communication and dissemination capacity
• Capacity to write and communicate both in English and in Polish
• Proven ability to deliver in a timely manner and respect the deadlines

PARTICIPATION IN THE TENDERING PROCEDURE

Tender Process

FEPS reserves the right to conduct the tender process and select the successful tender. FEPS is not bound contractually or in any way to a bidder to this request for tender until FEPS and the successful winner have entered into a written contract.

To comply with the necessary legal requirements for a successful call, we are extending this call with the same initial conditions until the 6 March 2024.

The key dates of this call for tender are the following:

1. Deadline for the submission of applications: receive the offer in writing via email by Wednesday, 31 January 2024 – Secondary deadline extension to Wednesday, 6 March 2024
2. Candidate(s) selection: Wednesday, 7 February 2024 – Secondary deadline extension to Friday, 8 March 2024
3. Start of the contract: as soon as possible once selected.

Application

The offer must contain:

• A CV of the applicant (preferably with the list of publications by that applicant)
• A 500 words essay explaining the understanding of the theme of the project and the main research questions that should be included in the context of the results of the 2023 parliamentary elections in Poland
• A proposal of a timeline for 8 training sessions – with details for each of them, when it comes to a) target group b) size c) methodology (with an example of 2-3 training exercises d) location
• A 500 words outline of a draft of an outreach strategy focused on disseminating the results of the project towards media in Poland

Tender main evaluation criteria

In non-preferential order, the evaluation criteria used to assess the quality of the applications is the following:

Criteria 1: The quality of the essay and the understanding of how this project could be an original contribution  

Criteria 2: The ability to adequately design training sessions

Criteria 3: The assessment of the outreach strategy and its compatibility with FEPS standards

Applicants must be able to work both in English and Polish languages

Contacts

If the above request is of interest to your company, we invite you to liaise Ms Céline Guedes, FEPS Project Officer at celine.guedes@feps-europe.eu

All written offers must be submitted to Dr Ania Skrzypek, FEPS Director for Research and Training  (ania.skrzypek@feps-europe.eu) and put in copy to Ms Céline Guedes, FEPS Project Officer (celine.guedes@feps-europe.eu) and as well as Ms Catherine Dubois, FEPS Head of accountancy (catherine.dubois@feps-europe.eu) and Dr Barbara Szelewa, Programme Coordinator at FES Warschau (Barbara.szelewa@fes.de).

Offers not provided in writing via email will not be considered.

TERMS OF PAYMENT

Prices must be fixed amounts in Euro.
The amount of VAT should be shown separately on the price offer and invoice.

Costs incurred in preparing and submitting tenders are borne by the tenderers and cannot be reimbursed.

RULES FOR SUBCONTRACTING

In the case of subcontracting services to external service providers, the selection process must be disclosed to FEPS.

For any subcontracted services to be eligible, the selection process followed by the selected candidate must result in a minimum of three written offers from potential subcontracting parties and result in a signed contract with a maximum duration that does not exceed the duration of the contract signed in execution of the present tendering process.

QUALITY ISSUES

In delivering the service the tenderer shall ensure the highest quality standards of which FEPS shall be the sole judge.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The tenderer undertakes that they will not at any time, either before or after the termination of this service, use or disclose or communicate to any person confidential information relating to the affairs of FEPS. This restriction shall continue to apply after the termination of the service without limit in point of time.

To ensure the independence of terms of their contract, the winning tenderer will sign a declaration certifying that they have no conflict of interests in relation to the tasks to be undertaken and undertake to inform Johan Robberecht, FEPS’ Director of Operations should this status change.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

FEPS reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, in whole or in part, to advertise for new proposals, to abandon the need for services, and to cancel or amend this call for tender at any time prior to the execution of the written contract. FEPS reserves the right to waive any formalities in the call for tender process. FEPS may respond to questions or provide.

information from tenderers, and is under no obligation to provide such responses or information to all other tenderers.

By submitting a proposal, the tenderer agrees that:

• FEPS may copy the proposal for purposes of facilitating the evaluation of the proposal and agrees that such copying will not violate the rights of any third party.
• It will not bring any claim or have any cause of action against FEPS based in any misunderstanding concerning the information provided or concerning FEPS’ failure, neglect or otherwise, to provide the bidder with pertinent information as intended by this call for tender.

The accomplishment of a tendering procedure imposes no obligation on the FEPS to award the contract. Should the invitation to tender cover several items or lots, FEPS reserves the right to award a contract for only some of them. FEPS shall not be liable for any compensation with respect to tenderers whose tenders have not been accepted. Nor shall it be so liable if it decides not to award the contract

CONTRACTING AUTHORITY

Foundation of European Progressive Studies (FEPS)
Avenue des Arts, 46 – 1000 Brussels
www.feps-europe.eu