Award Procedures Research Articles

Choosing the open or the restricted procedure: A big deal or a big deal?

The legislation in the European Union (EU) regarding contracts to be awarded to third parties allows for a free choice by public agencies between the open and restricted procedure. Empirical evidence shows a high variance in the preference for one of the procedures exists between countries. This preference may be based on cultural phenomena only. Here we develop a quantitative model to calculate which procedure is the most economic. With insights from this model guidelines are given for an efficient policy regarding the choice for the open or restricted award procedure.

NIH taking modular approach to grants

Harold E. Varmus, director of the National Institutes of Health, has given final approval to new application, review, and award procedures that should streamline the grant-making process and shorten the time between grant application and award receipt. Starting with the applications due by June 1, the revised format, known as the Modular Research Grant approach, will apply to many major research grant mechanisms, including competing individual research project grants, socalled R01 grants. Under the modular grant procedures, applicants can request total direct costs in $25,000 increments up to $250,000 in any year of a project. They will need to provide limited budget information in a narrative format and will not have to submit other research support information until after the award is approved, but before the check is cut. Applicants requesting more than $250,000 in direct costs in any year will continue to follow existing application and award procedures. The purposes of the modular research ...

Selection criteria and the award procedure in public procurement

This paper examines the admissibility of some selection criteria in the light of European public procurement law. It also points out the opportunity of using such criteria through an economic analysis. The main aspect to be dealt with is the numerical selection criteria, which may hinder firms not fulfilling them from participating in the award procedure. These criteria refer, according to the European Union directives on public procurement, to the economic, financial, and technical capacity of the candidate firms. In our analysis, the legal appreciation should be confronted with an economic analysis of the numerical selection criteria. This analysis is based on an arithmetic approach which focuses on relative rather than absolute values. Thus, through a series of performance indicators, an alternative approach to the above criteria is presented.

ASSISTING QUALITY ASSESSMENT AND IMPROVEMENT IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS OF SLOVENIA

There are two universities in Slovenia which undertake research and teaching and offer professional services. The quality of the research performed by faculty members is assured by strict quantitative bibliographical criteria employed in the faculty rank award procedure. The criteria for teaching quality are less well defined. The new Higher Education Act of 1993, organized university staff development, the appearance of an integrated information system, and student evaluation of faculty teaching performance with the aid of student questionnaires can all be regarded as extrinsic assistance to intrinsic efforts on the part of faculty, students, and their organizations. Slovenia will endeavour to broaden and deepen its co‐operation with international organizations and foundations in the field of quality assessment and improvement of higher education institutions, particularly the quality of the teaching they offer.

Firm Price Bidding at Metropolitan Edison Company

The Metropolitan Edison Company chose to try lump sum bidding of circuits or jobs as an alternative to time and material contracting. This firm price bidding method has successfully reduced the cost per mile of contracted line clearance work. The six-year development of this procurement system is highlighted, along with key features of the bidding and award procedures and specifications currently in use.

A Forum for Researchers: A Brief Look at NSF's Research in Science Education Program

The purpose of this article is to provide information on the funding patterns and award procedures of the Research in Science Education (RISE) program within the National Science Foundation (NSF). In doing so, a brief look at the structure of NSF and of the Science Education (SE) Directorate in particular will be given along with their respective budgets.

Contract Award Practices

The papers and discussion from the floor of the Seminar on Contract Award Practices is presented. The current (1965) award practices in the construction industry in the United States are described and methods of improving the system, such as prequalification of bidders, licensing of contractors, and awarding contracts to other than the low bidder are proposed. European contract award procedures are described, as is the method of turn-key construction, whereby the entire design-construction process is conducted by a contractor-engineer, or architect-engineer. This organization is proposed as a workable solution to many of the existing problems in this area.