Notice

Annex B – UK Space Agency SBRI guidance

Updated 5 December 2023

This notice was withdrawn on 24 January 2024

This competition has closed.

1. How your application is assessed 

The assessment process listed here is the standard approach. Some assessments may vary and some funding may not go through a standard assessment process, but this will be made clear in the specific competition guidance. 

After the deadline, applications that meet the competitions eligibility criteria and scope are sent for assessment. 

You will be notified if your application is ineligible and we will tell you reasons why. The UK Space Agency has the right to declare applications as ineligible. Eligible applications are assessed by a panel comprised of the Project team.

2. Standard assessment process 

The standard assessment process applied to most full stage applications is as follows: 

• each application is assessed by three to five independent assessors
• if you have submitted an application for a second time, we cannot guarantee different assessors will assess your application
• applications are assessed against the stated questions in your competition
• each individual assessor submits scores for assessed questions with comments for each of these. The assessor comments will form your application feedback
• a report is compiled to identify a ranked order of all applications based on the average of all assessor scores. This is known as the panel sheet
• the panel sheet is reviewed and moderated by the UK Space Agency lead responsible for the competition

Moderation involves checking for any outlying assessor scores, for instance, if one of the scores varies considerably from the other scores provided. If an outlier is found, their score might be removed from your overall score but their feedback comments will remain. 

The highest ranking applications, subject to a minimum quality threshold, are recommended to for funding. 

The final recommended panel list is presented to UK Space Agency directors to obtain final approval for funding.  

We retain the right to make any decision over scope, and whether a proposal is in or out of scope for a competition. Projects considered out of scope will not be funded. 

3. The portfolio approach 

The UK Space Agency reserves the right to apply a ‘portfolio’ approach in certain competitions. The portfolio can be spread across a range of: 

• scope areas 
• categories of research and development 
• project durations 
• project costs, including demonstrating value for money 
• locations. 

The ‘portfolio approach’ is used to fit the spend profile of the competition. The programme lead responsible for the competition will make sure that funds are allocated across the strategic areas identified in the scope of the competition. This may mean that a proposal that scores less than yours is successful. 

4. Decisions and feedback 

Once the decisions have been agreed, you are informed of the final decision on your application by email. This decision is final and there is no right of appeal. 

Assessor feedback is provided to successful and unsuccessful applicants and is made up of the comments provided by the assessors. Your notification email will state when feedback will be available from if not immediately. 

The assessor feedback is intended to be constructive. Contradiction in your feedback may suggest that your proposal could be clearer or better justified, as well as reflecting the different views of assessors. Your feedback may contain points or comments that you may disagree with. The comments provided will be based on the individual assessors’ interpretation of your project idea. 

No additional feedback will be provided and addressing feedback with the assessors in question is not permitted. 

You may wish to address assessor feedback in a resubmitted application should you be eligible. 

Addressing assessor feedback in a previously submitted application does not guarantee success. The onus is on you to determine whether acting upon feedback will strengthen a decision to resubmit an application. There is no right of appeal against the feedback provided. The UK Space Agency will not enter any discussions or complaints regarding the scientific or technical decision made regarding your application. 

5. Project cost guidance  

As part of your application you must provide a summary of finances for your organisation and any subcontractors working with you. Assessors will judge the application finances in terms of value for money, such as making sure the proposed cost for effort and deliverables reflects a fair market price. 

All costs quoted must reflect actual costs at a ‘fair market value’ and not include profit. 

5.1 Directly incurred costs 

These are costs specific to the project. They are charged to the project as the amount actually spent. They must be fully supported by an audit record in justification of a claim. They include: 

• labour costs for all those contributing to the project broken down by individual 
• material costs (including consumables specific to the project) 
• capital equipment costs 
• sub-contract costs 
• travel and subsistence 
• other costs specifically attributed to the project

5.2 Overhead costs

Overhead costs should be charged in proportion to the amount of effort deployed on the project. Calculate them using your own cost rates. They can include: 

• general office and basic laboratory consumables 
• library services or learning resources 
• administrative tasks 
• finance, personnel, public relations and departmental services 
• central and distributed computing 
• cost of capital employed

Costs that are considered unreasonable will be rejected. 

You could be asked to provide an itemisation of costs and methods of calculation to support your application. 

5.3 Full economic cost calculations (FEC)

Full economic cost calculations are not relevant in this context. 

SBRI is a competitive procurement mechanism and tenders are submitted by a variety of organisations. Whatever calculation you use to arrive at your tender price, your application is assessed against bids from other organisations. You should bear this in mind when calculating your tender price. The assessors will also judge whether it reflects a fair market value. You are entitled to include overheads but remember that this is a competitive tender. 

5.4 VAT 

VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business. Applications must list total costs inclusive of VAT. If you think you are VAT exempt then you may quote without VAT but you will not be able to increase invoice values to cover VAT later on.