--- title: "260158 Contract for the Provision of a Research Intelligence Tool" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06e910" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06e910" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e910.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e910.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Tender" buyer: "Queen's University Belfast" published: "2026-08-24" --- # 260158 Contract for the Provision of a Research Intelligence Tool Buyer: Queen's University Belfast Current stage: Tender OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06e910 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06e910) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e910.json) ## Summary Queen’s University Belfast is procuring a research intelligence tool: a software platform and associated database and information technology services. It will support institutional research and innovation strategy, planning and evaluation by benchmarking research performance, identifying emerging strengths, monitoring collaboration and partnership activity, and supporting research assessment exercises and strategic planning across Faculties and Schools. Expected users include academic staff, research deans, research strategy and policy teams, research development and partnerships teams, the Library’s open research function, business alliance, marketing and reputation teams, and research intelligence staff. The service will need to address data quality, usability, interoperability, responsible metrics and research culture, with sustainability also considered. Delivery is for Queen’s University Belfast in the United Kingdom. The procurement has reached the tender stage: the university invited offers through an open procedure, with electronic submission allowed in English. This is a single-lot services contract. Questions had to be submitted by 10 September 2026 at 16:00, and offers by 15 September 2026 at 16:00. The intended award decision date was 9 October 2026. The contract is scheduled to run from 4 January 2027 to 3 January 2032, with renewal arrangements described as 60 months and a maximum extent to 3 January 2037. The estimated value is £900,000 excluding VAT and £1,080,000 including VAT. Evaluation gives 90% to technical quality and 10% to price, with detailed technical scoring covering functionality, data, analytics, reporting, integration, implementation, resilience, sustainability and social value. This opportunity suits software providers and specialist research-information suppliers able to deliver a robust research intelligence platform for a university environment. Strong candidates will have demonstrable capability in research performance benchmarking, emerging-strength analysis, collaboration and partnership intelligence, impact analytics, reporting, visualisation and data export. The platform must provide reliable, transparent and well-covered data, an accessible and usable user experience, interoperability and API capability, and a sound technical architecture. Suppliers should be able to implement the service, maintain continuity, provide responsive support and demonstrate platform resilience. Experience of responsible research metrics and alignment with research culture will be important, alongside credible sustainability and social value measures. The procurement is identified as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises and voluntary, community or social enterprises. ## Notice Queen's University Belfast requires a Research Intelligence Tool to support institutional research and innovation strategy, planning, and evaluation. The tool will enable benchmarking of research performance, identification of emerging research strengths, monitoring of collaboration and partnership activity, and support planning for research assessment exercises and strategic planning across Faculties and Schools. Queen's will develop requirements based on institutional needs, including functional fit, data quality, usability, interoperability, alignment with research culture and responsible metrics principles, and value for money. Key users will include academic staff, Faculty Deans of Research, Research Strategy & Policy Team, Research Development, Global Research Partnerships, Business Alliance, Library (Open Research), Global Marketing and Reputation, and the Research Intelligence Team. ### Planning Information Queen’s has conducted Preliminary Market Engagement with a number of suppliers in order to: • develop the understanding of our requirements and the proposed approach to the procurement; • gain a better understanding of what the market can offer and if the market was capable of responding to a tender in relation to this requirement; • identify potential suppliers for the requirement; • understand potential lead times; • gain an understanding of the commercial profile for the requirement; • communicate sustainability targets and minimum requirements to confirm the market has the capability to deliver on these. • identify opportunities to reduce the environmental impact of the requirement. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/080446-2026 | | Notice type | UK4 - Tender Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Open | | Procurement method details | Open procedure | | Tender suitability | SME, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning, Tender | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 24 Aug 2026 | | Submission deadline | 15 Sep 2026 | | Future notice date | 21 Aug 2026 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 4 Jan 2027 - 3 Jan 2032 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £900,000 | | Lots value | £900,000 | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Active | | Lots status | Active | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | Queen's University Belfast | | Locality | BELFAST | | Postcode area | Northern Ireland | | Postcode | BT7 1NN | | Country | Northern Ireland | | ITL 1 | TLN Northern Ireland | | ITL 2 | TLN0 Northern Ireland | | ITL 3 | TLN06 Belfast | | Local authority | Belfast | | Electoral ward | Central | | Westminster constituency | Belfast South and Mid Down | | Delivery location | TLN Northern Ireland | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 48 - Software package and information systems - 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support ### Codes - 48000000 - Software package and information systems - 48610000 - Database systems - 72222300 - Information technology services - 72320000 - Database services ## Release History - 24 Aug 2026 at 15:07 - TenderUpdate - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/080446-2026 - 21 Aug 2026 at 13:31 - Tender - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079928-2026 - 20 Aug 2026 at 17:04 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079660-2026 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/080446-2026 24th August 2026 - Tender notice on Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079928-2026 21st August 2026 - Tender notice on Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079660-2026 20th August 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender - https://in-tendhost.co.uk/queensuniversitybelfast/aspx/Home Queen's Portal ## Notice URLs - http://www.qub.ac.uk - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06e910. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e910.json.