Sub-Call for Expression of Interest – IMPRESS PCP: Drive the future of TEM!

Sub-call for Expression of Interest - IMPRESS PCP: Drive the future of TEM! 
Seize this Pre-Commercial Procurement tender worth €2mln

Express your interest here to receive assistance!

1. What is Impress PCP?

IMPRESS PCP (Pre-Commercial Procurement) aims to develop an innovative, interoperable platform for transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) and other analytical instruments. The platform utilises correlative, adaptable, and transferable cartridges with a standardized interface. The technologies focus on open standards, components, and interfaces to enhance compatibility, customization, and seamless exchange between different TEM instruments. Additionally, the project includes an Open Knowledge and Innovation Hub named "FAIRcube" to manage and share scientific data based on FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles.

The EU is funding a joint Pre-Commercial Procurement initiative coordinated and led by Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH (FZ Jülich), a publicly funded research organisation in Germany. FZ Jülich acts as the Lead Procurer and is responsible for signing and awarding the Framework Agreement and Phase Contracts for all phases of the PCP. The procurement is regulated by German national public procurement legislation.

FZ Jülich engages in cooperation with a Public Buyers Group, which includes: 

• Area di Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica di Trieste (AREA), Italy; 

• Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Italy; 

• Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) ERIC, Czech Republic; 

• Fundacio Institut Catala de Nanociencia i Nanotecnologia (ICN2), Spain; 

• Leibniz Institut für Festkörper und Werkstoffforschung Dresden EV (IFW), Germany; 

• Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerp), Belgium. 

PCP in a nutshell
Pre-Commercial Procurements allow public entities to acquire R&D services from various Technology Providers simultaneously. This approach enables a thorough comparison of alternative solutions, promoting the identification of the most cost-effective and valuable options. PCP involves a risk-benefit sharing arrangement under market conditions between public procurers and Technology Providers. Importantly, there is a clear separation between the PCP phase and the subsequent deployment of commercial volumes of end-products.  
The PCP procedure consists of three phases: Phase 1 (Solution design), Phase 2 (Prototype development), and Phase 3 (Validation and Demonstration of the solutions), as illustrated in the following picture: 

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2. Information about the Public Buyers Group

The IMPRESS consortium brings together 7 public buyers from Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, and Czech Republic. The Public Buyers Group is represented by Forschungszentrum Jülich GMBH as Lead Procurer.  
For further details on additional procurers, kindly consult the document titled “IMPRESS_PCP_TD1_Call for tenders” (Annex 4).  

Entities that are interested in participating in the Impress PCP call are encouraged to register on the Subreport platform.  

All tender documents can be found at the following link.   

Here you can find the new suite "PCP at a glance" dedicated to IMPRESS PCP targeted at companies interested in participating in the Call for Tenders!

Selection criteria for this tender
All information on the selection criteria for the Impress PCP call for tenders can be reached at the following document: Document “IMPRESS_PCP_TD1_Call for tenders” (Section 3).

Total budget and budget distribution per Phase
The maximum total budget for the PCP is €2,000,000 excluding VAT. 

The table below presents an overview of the details of each PCP Phase: 

The number of contractors for Phases 2 and 3 is subject to modification based on eligible Technology Providers submitting bids. For Phase 1, contracts will be financed up to the maximum Discount Price offered but not exceeding € 60,000 per contractor, with a minimum budget of € 30,000. Any remaining Phase 1 budget can be transferred to Phases 2 and/or 3, as decided by the PBG. Additionally, the IMPRESS PCP consortium has the right, but not the obligation, to shift budgets between phases. Consequently, the maximum budget for Phases 2 and/or 3 and per bid may be adjusted to ensure the completion of activities in those phases. 

The maximum and minimum acceptable Bids per Phase can be found in the table below: 

DISCLAIMER: Please note that responses to the invitation to tender for Impress PCP must be in English. Any statement or other document not written in English must include a sworn translation. The SPIN4EIC team will provide support for the tendering process in English but it will not provide the translation of documents into other languages.  

3. SPIN4EIC Assistance Action - What's in it for you?

SPIN4EIC is part of the Business Acceleration Services (BAS), and aims to support EIC beneficiaries by providing guidance and enhancing their capacity to leverage innovation procurement. Specifically, the SPIN4EIC Strategic Innovation Procurement Program allows EIC-funded companies to expand their networks and engage with relevant innovation procurement decision-makers across Europe. As part of this programme, selected applicants can receive tailored assistance to participate in tender opportunities, such as the Impress PCP.

The SPIN4EIC assistance action is a tailored guidance scheme that includes the following main activities:  

1. Assignment of a Single Contact Person from the assistance team, who will be responsible for guiding the beneficiaries along the process. 

2. Organisation of an online Kick-off meeting during which the beneficiaries and the assistance team will agree on the required guidance activities and define the next steps. The support to the EIC beneficiaries under the SPIN4EIC Initiative will encompass guidance activities such as providing best practices on drafting tenders, sharing best practices of organising tendering documents, and providing guidance on their format and organisation. The support will not include services such as the drafting of technical documents, the preparation of administrative documents, the submission of documents to buying entities, nor translation, mediation, and litigation services. 

3. Provision of tailored assistance services: the exact guidance activities to be provided to each beneficiary will be tailored based on the nature and needs, as agreed during the Kick-off meeting. 

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4. SPIN4EIC assistance eligibility criteria & selection process

To receive support in the context of the SPIN4EIC assistance action, applicants must submit the application questionnaire within the following date: 26/03/2024 at 23:59 CET. 

Applicants are not automatically accepted to participate in the assistance action.

For the assistance actions, participants must meet the following criteria: 

• Be an EIC beneficiary (“EIC beneficiaries" involve all SMEs and projects funded by the EIC, EIC Pilot, SME Instrument, FTI, Pathfinder, Transition and FET (no matter the year they were funded). SMEs that got the Seal of Excellence (SoE) under Horizon Europe (not before 2021) as well as Women in Tech awardees are also included.); 

• Ensure that your company complies with tender requirements stated above (“Selection criteria”); 

• Ensure that your company possess the linguistic capacity to submit an offer in the language requested by the tender opportunity (English); 

• Ensure that your company has the available resources to participate/allocate to the assistance services. 

5. Disclaimers

Please note the following disclaimers: 

• Technical and Administrative Document Drafting Disclaimer:  
  The assistance provided does not encompass the drafting of technical or economic documents, the preparation of administrative documents, or the submission of documents to buying entities.  

• Language Translation Disclaimer:  
  This assistance action does not extend to the translation of documents. 

• Document development responsibility Disclaimer:  
  The assistance action is tailored to offer assistance in selected aspects of the procurement process; however, the beneficiary will be responsible for the development of all the documents related to the opportunity.   

6. Open Call for the SPIN4EIC Assistance Action

Please note that in addition to this Sub-call for EOI, you should also complete and submit the form for the Open Call, which is available here.