Proposal Guide

IAP

Jig_Saw_Puzzle

General remarks

All IAP opportunities are advertised on the IAP Portal and through ESA's electronic system EMITS (Electronic Mailing Invitation To Tender System). While this IAP Portal only presents the IAP Open Call for proposals, all open competitive Invitations To Tender (ITT) and announces the Intended Invitations To Tender (IITT) to be released in a near future, the EMITS portal provides and publishes the official documentation. 'Call for User Ideas' are seen as initial stepping stones for future activities and are published on the IAP Portal only.

Please note that the closing date that will be mentioned upon issue of the open "Call for Proposals" is established solely for technical reasons connected with EMITS and can be disregarded.

On EMITS the consultation of the official documentation related to the Open Call and ITTs is only possible for duly registered users. More information on participation in general can be found in the ARTES Applications Handbook and the Administrative Guide. To participate in dedicated funding opportunities, several administrative steps/requirements must be followed during the proposal preparation process

User engagement

IAP activities always start from a set of user needs that relate to a specific problem or opportunity, rather than starting from a particular technological solution. User consultation meetings may be needed. They aim to specify the dedicated user needs, generate the related user requirements, and define the principle content of the studies.

Administrative Guide

In addition to following the general requirements for responding to Open Calls or Open Competitions, the Administrative Guide shall provide an overview of the administrative steps involved. It should also give an impression of the proposal submission process and the timeline of events. Please find it available for download below:


	Administrative Guide for Proposal Preparation

Responding to an Call for User Ideas

Announcing a Call for User Ideas, the IAP programme is inviting public and commercial user organisations to propose ideas and suggestions for new services for a thematic or regional focus. Based on the integration of space-systems, proposed ideas shall lead to new services, improving business performance and operations, and help enforce regulatory standards. Exemplary the Call for User Ideas on the Baltic Sea is presented here.

Responding to the Open Call for Proposals

Partner initiated feasibility studies or demonstration projects, resulting from stakeholder activities (users, service providers, industry, research institutes) or originating from awareness activities (workshops, call for ideas, ambassador platforms), are considered to be a direct negotiation in ESA's terminology. Figure 1 on open 'Call for Proposals' in the right column provides a simplified diagram of the process.

Outline proposal preparation

Responding to the IAP open 'Call for Proposal' involves the submission of an Outline Proposal. First the basic idea is iterated between an interested consortium and the related user community and then submitted as an Outline Proposal to IAP following the Guide & Template for Feasibility Study Outline Proposals and the Guide & Template for Demonstration Activity Outline Proposals available for download below and the documentation provided for the Open Call for Proposals (EMITS - AO 6124). Received Outline Proposals are then subject for evaluation by ESA in order to assess the compliance of proposed activities with the selection criteria of the IAP programme.


	Download Feasibility Study Outline Proposal Guide & Template

	Download Demonstration Project Outline Proposal Template

Following approval, applicants are invited to submit Full Proposals in a given timeframe.

Full proposal preparation

Following the approval of the outline proposal prepared in the previous step, applicants are invited to submit Full Proposals in a given timeframe. They are asked to take into account the requirements for the preparation of full proposals as documented in the continuous open call for proposals official documentation (EMITS - AO 6124). Full proposal submission requires the inclusion of specific support letter providing an express authorisation of the funding by the National Delegations of the Participating States whose contractor or sub-contractors are concerned. Only this authorisation represents the commitment of the Participating States to fund the related activity.

The submission of the Full Proposal initiates the evaluation process according to ESA regulations and procedures. Due to the direct negotiation character of the proposal, shortcomings of the proposals trigger clarification and iteration loops with the involved consortia. Only the positive conclusion of the proposal evaluation results in a negotiation meeting and contract award.

Responding to Open Competitions (ITT)

Responding to an open competitive Invitation to Tender (ITT) also referred to as Open Competition, requires the submission of a Full Proposal. Figure 2 on Open Competitions in the right column, provides a simplified diagram of the process. Open Competitions originate from ESA's awareness activities, e.g. workshops, call for ideas, ambassador platforms, or direct contacts with representative users and stakeholders in which basic ideas for new services were generated. Typically, user consultation meetings are held to specify the dedicated user needs, generate the related user requirements, and define the principle content of the requested studies. The results of these consultation meetings are inputs for the so called ‘Statement of Work’.

Full proposal preparation

The preparation for open competitive study proposals follows the same logic as direct negotiation activities under the Open Call for Proposals (EMITS - AO 6124) described above. However, whereas the definition of the content of activities in direct negotiation mode is left to the bidding consortia, the ‘Statement of Work’ for open competitive studies is defined by ESA in coordination with the needs and requirements of the user community collaborating with ESA.

Full proposal submission requires the inclusion of specific support letter providing an express authorisation of the funding by the National Delegations of the Participating States whose industry is concerned. Non inclusion of such support letters renders proposals not eligible for evaluation. Keeping the submission deadline is essential.

The consequential evaluation of proposals results in a recommendation for a winning bid. In the case that several proposals of sufficient quality targeting different and/or complementary aspects are submitted, the Agency reserves the right to place parallel contracts for each of the open competitive ITTs in coordination with the relevant national delegations and partners involved in case of external funding.

Final remarks

All proposals received by ESA are treated confidential. ESA selection procedures are compliant with the criteria of transparency, impartiality and non-discrimination. ESA evaluates project proposals and provides the participants with feedback. Once the proposal is accepted, a contract is signed between ESA and the participant.