Request for Proposal: UK-East Asia University-Industry Scoping Study

The British Council would like to invite UK institutions to submit a proposal for the following.

Introduction and Background to the Project 

This scoping study will inform the British Council East Asia regional programme on UK-East Asia Higher Education Partnerships which aims to create university level collaboration between UK and East Asia (EA) countries to strengthen the UK’s position as a significant partner in the ambitious education reform in East Asia countries, driving the move towards a knowledge economy. This regional Programme aims to provide the UK sector with greater access to the higher education market in East Asia, position the UK as preferred education and research partner and further strengthen the UK’s reputation in East Asian countries as world leader in higher education. It will cover the EA countries of China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

Objectives

The British Council is looking for a UK-based sector consultant in the higher education, research innovation and industry engagement to conduct a scoping study which aims to:

1. Provide an overview of university-industry links in East Asia and analysis of key national policies and priorities as well as challenges.
2. Provide an overview of UK Higher Education sector engagement with industry and business enterprise, its systems, structures and advantages to foster technology transfer, innovation and economic growth. This should include current Government funding support and future planned initiatives.
3. Map out key university-business enterprise or knowledge exchange models in the UK; identifying how these models work and their corresponding challenges; and providing an analysis of what models might work best in the East Asia context.
4. Identify opportunities and collaborative models where UK Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) can partner with EA governments and HEIs, with the support of British Council, to deepen connections with industry and business enterprise.

Outputs

The UK consultant is expected to undertake the scoping study that will address the objectives set above and produce a scoping report that will cover the following areas (but not limited to):

I. Overview of university-industry links in EA
a. National Higher Education and industrial strategies, policies and infrastructure support
b. Drivers, barriers and challenges

II. Overview of university-industry links in the UK
a. Policy environment, systems, structures and funding support
b. UK university-industry collaboration/business enterprise models/knowledge exchange models- description and challenges
c. Analysis of key UK models and what will likely to work in EA context

III. Internationalisation partnership opportunities and collaborative models for UK-EA governments and HEIs to deepen connections with industry and business enterprise
a. Opportunities and areas for UK-EA partnership with industry and business enterprise
b. Models and platforms for collaborations

IV. Recommendations on how British Council can best facilitate the deepening of UK-EA HEIs linkages with industry and business enterprise

The consultant is expected to produce a final report and recommendations which will include the following sections:

• Executive Summary: As part of the comprehensive report, a clear three to five-page summary bringing out the major findings and recommendations from the report.
• Main report
• Conclusion and Recommendations: Prioritised list of recommendations and recommended action plan.
• Annexes: shall include definitions, data sources, and other necessary documents to support the findings of the study.
• Digital file of the camera-ready report layout

The purpose and scope of this RFP and supporting documents is to explain in further detail the requirements of the British Council and the procurement process for submitting a tender proposal.