Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)

Format project proposal

Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)

Project Proposal (Project budget > EUR 200,000)

Name of requesting
organisation
Name of Dutch applicant
(lead organisation in the
case of a consortium/subcontractors)
Project title
Country
Project number

Date of receipt by EP-Nuffic

Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)

1. Introduction
A project proposal is written on the basis of a project outline formulated by a requesting organisation in one of the NICHE
countries. The project proposal and the supporting documents should contain all the information that the Tender
Evaluation Committee needs in order to select the best bid.
The proposal should describe clearly what the applicant has to offer, how the outcomes formulated by the requesting
organisation will be achieved, what outputs are proposed and what strategies will be adopted in order to achieve
the NICHE country programme outcomes.
Applicants are invited to propose their own approach, which may deviate from the suggestions in the project outline.
Alternative approaches should be concrete and well substantiated.
The project proposal has three main components:

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSAL

II

DESCRIPTION OF THE APPLICANT

III

MANDATORY ANNEXES

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Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)

List of acronyms

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Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)

Table of contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................ 2
List of acronyms................................................................................................................................................ 3
Table of contents............................................................................................................................................... 4
I

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSAL (maximum 16 pages)............................................................................5

1.

Basic data.................................................................................................................................................... 5

3.

Background information............................................................................................................................... 6

4.

Strategy....................................................................................................................................................... 6

II

Description of the applicant......................................................................................................................... 9

5.

Identity......................................................................................................................................................... 9

6.

Description (maximum 3 pages)................................................................................................................10

6.1

When was your organisation founded and when did it start its activities?............................................10

6.2

What is the legal status of your organisation?......................................................................................10

6.3

What are the main activities of your organisation and of the consortium members/sub-contractors (if

applicable) at present?.................................................................................................................................... 10
6.4

What is the management structure of your organisation?.....................................................................10

7.

Capacity to manage and implement projects (maximum 1 page).............................................................10

8.

Consortium members or sub-contractors..................................................................................................10

9.

Declaration by the applicant organisation regarding the acceptance of the NICHE obligations................11

10.
III

Statement by the applicant.................................................................................................................... 12

Mandatory annexes................................................................................................................................... 13

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Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)

I
1

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSAL (maximum 16 pages)

Basic data
1.1

Title:

1.2

Name of requesting organisation:

1.3

Name of Dutch applicant (lead organisation in the case of a consortium or subcontractors):

1.4

Name(s) of the Dutch applicants consortium members or sub-contractors, if applicable:

1.5

Country of the project:

1.6

Proposed starting and finishing dates of the project:

2.

Summary

Please make sure that this table, the logical framework and the budget format correspond with each other.

Programme and project Outcomes

Policy priority (copy the

Outcome(s):

outcomes from project

outline. The outcomes are
not to be modified by the
applicants):
Outcomes of this project

Outcome(s):

(copy the outcomes and the

1.

indicators from outline).

(2.)

The outcomes are not to be

(3.)

Indicators:

modified by the applicants.

Applicants are invited to add
new indicators
Outputs (add new lines if

Outputs:

necessary).

1.1

The following proposed

1.2

outputs will contribute

1.3

Indicators:

directly to achieving the

project outcomes:
2.1
2.2
3.1
Etc.
Target group(s)

Describe the group(s) who will be directly positively affected by the project.

Final beneficiaries

Describe those who will benefit from the project in the medium and long term
(students, sector and/or society at large)

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Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)

3.

Background information

If needed, provide any supplementary information to the project outline to justify the specific approach in your
proposal and the selection of your partners/experts.

4.
4.1

Strategy
Project content

Describe your strategy to meet the expectations of the requesting organisation and achieve the outcomes of this
project (refer to the explanation at the NICHE website):
In particular:

Effectiveness and efficiency:

Describe and defend the strategy you have chosen for achieving the outcome(s) of the project in an effective and
efficient way. Which outputs will be developed and produced by the project in order to achieve the outcome(s)?
Elaborate on how this strategy will contribute to achieving the outcomes of the NICHE programme in the country.
Refer to logical framework and work plan in annex.

Holistic approach to capacity development:

Elaborate on your approach to strengthen the capabilities of the requesting organisation. Explain in what way the
strategy will integrate individual, organisational and institutional forms of capacity development and relate to the
5C analysis provided in the call for subsidy tenders. Please remember to integrate gender and labour market.

Ownership:
What will be the roles of all partners involved? How will ownership of the requesting organisation be achieved by
your proposed strategy?

Cross-cutting themes:
Within NICHE there are two cross-cutting themes: equal opportunities for women and men and the link between
capacity development and the needs of the labour market, including entrepreneurship. This means that all NICHE
projects should respond to gender and local labour market needs. This should be mainstreamed in your strategy
and reflected in the project management and organisation.

Coordination and harmonization with other initiatives:

Explain how this project will relate to other existing initiatives in the same sector and across sectors, in particular
to other NICHE projects, to achieve synergies and realise the outcomes of the NICHE Country Programme.

Organisational learning:
Explain how your proposed strategy will facilitate learning, within the project and the requesting organisation as
well as between various projects/organisations who operate within the same policy priority or system.

Sustainability:
Describe how you propose to help ensure that the project outputs and outcomes will be sustained after
completion of the project. Please distinguish between organisational, academic, financial and technical
sustainability factors.
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Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)

Feasibility and critical factors:

Elaborate on your views regarding the feasibility of the proposed intervention. Present your approach to mitigate
the risks mentioned in the outline, and other possible threats which, in your opinion, could jeopardise the
implementation of this project and the sustainability of its outputs and outcomes.
4.2

Expertise

Elaborate on your selection of (consortium) partner organisations or sub-contractors and experts for this project,
and on the division of tasks and responsibilities between them. Estimate the time contribution of each individual
expert as a percentage of the total expert time proposed (100%).
Expert team
No.

Name

M/F

Tasks/responsibilities

Output

Time

Fee per

No.

contribution

day

to the team
(%)
1

Project director

Project coordinator

Principal expert

4
5
6
Etc.
100%
4.3

Project management and monitoring & evaluation

Elaborate on the competence and experience of the project management team, also with regard to the crosscutting themes; describe the governance and organisation of the project, including its system of monitoring and
evaluation, risk management and conflict resolution. Explain your approach to ensure that the project will be
strongly embedded in the requesting organisation(s). The proposed project management should reflect what has
been described earlier under strategy (e.g. ownership, cross cutting themes, etc.). Please remember that mid
and end term evaluations are mandatory.
4.4

Budget

Please indicate the percentage of the total budget which you propose to allocate to each output. If necessary,
provide an explanation.
We remind you that no monetary amounts may be mentioned in this document. The detailed budget should
be included as an annex in a separate sealed envelope (annex 8).

Outputs:

Percentage of
total budget:

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Outcome 1

Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)

1.1
1.2

Outcome 3

Outcome 2

1.3
2.1
2.2
3.1
Etc.
Management and contingencies
Total

100%

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Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)

II

Description of the applicant

5.

Identity

Full legal name of the organisation:

Legal status:
Registration ID (with Chamber of Commerce, or professional association):
Acronym (if applicable):
Official address:
Postal address:
Website:
Legal representative:
Name:
Position:
Organisational entity:
Official address:
Postal address:
Email address:
Project Director:
Name:
Position:
Organisational entity:
Official address:
Postal address:
Email address:
Telephone number:
Project Coordinator:
Name:
Position:
Organisational entity:
Official address:
Postal address:
Email address:
Telephone number:

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6.

Description (maximum 3 pages)

6.1

When was your organisation founded and when did it start its activities?

If applicable: what is the composition of the consortium, when was it established, what is its track record?
6.2

What is the legal status of your organisation?

Is the organisation legally registered and if so, how? (For example, as a foundation/non-profit organisation, or as
a limited company, etc.). Is it subject to official recognition by a professional association? Does it have an
independent system of quality assurance?
6.3

What are the main activities of your organisation and of the consortium members/sub-contractors (if

applicable) at present?
6.4

What is the management structure of your organisation?

Please give a brief description of the roles and responsibilities of the various divisions and units within the
organisation.
In the case of a consortium or when hiring sub-contractors, attach a signed and dated consortium agreement,
specifying the responsibilities of the tendering organisation and of the partners in the consortium and/or subcontractors, and indicating clearly which member is the lead organisation and therefore bears responsibility for
the grant (Annex 7).

7.

Capacity to manage and implement projects (maximum 1 page)

Give a concise description of the various resources (staff and other resources) at the disposal of your
organisation/consortium for implementing and managing the project. In annexes 5 and 6, please give an
overview of experience in capacity development of post-secondary education and training, relevant for the sector
and subject areas and for the country in question / other developing countries (a maximum of five examples per
partner) and an overview of any additional experience and/or knowledge that are relevant for the project in
question (maximum page per partner).

8.

Consortium members or sub-contractors

This section must be completed for each organisation that will be a consortium partner or sub-contractor to
conduct the project together with the lead organisation. This table may be edited to allow entries for more
organisations.
Organisation 1

Organisation 2

Full legal name of organisation

Legal status
Registration ID
Official address
Website
Legal representative

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Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)

Contact person
Telephone number
Fax number
Email address
Number of staff members (specify
permanent and non-permanent)
Record of collaboration with the
applicant organisation
Role and involvement in
preparing the proposed project
Role and involvement in
implementing the proposed
project
Important: This form must be accompanied by a signed and dated consortium agreement or sub-supply
agreement, specifying the responsibilities of the lead organisation and of the other organisations. However, the
consortium partners and/or sub-contractors should be aware that during the implementation of the project,
changes in the project planning may be necessary. The consortium agreement or sub-supply agreement should
allow for enough flexibility to remain demand-driven. The consortium agreement and/or sub-supply agreements
should be attached as Annex 7.

9.

Declaration by the applicant organisation regarding the acceptance of the

NICHE obligations

I, the undersigned, being the legal representative of the applicant, certify that:
I have read the obligations for NICHE project implementation and know what my organisation's obligations will be
(see for obligations the NICHE Handbook and the example grant award letter).
The organisation which I represent accepts all the obligations as specified in the NICHE Handbook and grant
award letter.
Name:
Position:
Signature:
Date and place:

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Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)

10.

Statement by the applicant

I, the undersigned, being the legal representative of the applicant, certify that:

any team member proposed in this tender who for some reason is unable to perform their project duties
will be replaced, at no extra cost, by equally or better qualified experts;

the applicant is not bankrupt or being wound up, is not having its affairs administered by the courts, has
not entered into an arrangement with creditors, has not suspended its activities, and is not affected by
any other legal procedure of this type;

the applicant and/or its consortium partners and/or sub-contractors are familiar with the OECD
guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and will act accordingly (http://www.oecdguidelines.nl/);

the applicant is not acting as an intermediary, but is directly responsible for the preparation and
management of the project;

the information supplied in this tender is correct and complete; and

the applicant meets the requirements specified in Section 3.1. of the tender document and is thus
eligible;

the bank details of the applicant (as stated in Annex 8) for the financial transactions of the project are:

Bank:
IBAN / Bank account number:
BIC:
In name of:

Name:
Position:
Signature:
Date and place:

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III

Mandatory annexes
1.

Logical framework, see mandatory format;

2.

Work plan; see suggested format;

3.

Curricula vitae and individual, signed statements of availability, exclusivity and expertise of all the
proposed team members, see mandatory format;

4.

Organisational diagram of the project;

5.

Overview of experience in capacity development of post-secondary education and training, relevant for
the sector and subject areas and for the country in question / other developing countries (a maximum of
five examples per partner);

6.

Overview of any additional experience and/or knowledge that are relevant for the project in question
(maximum page per partner);

7.

Consortium agreement or sub-supply agreement (if applicable);

8.

Bank statement of the applicant, no more than 6 months old.

In a separate sealed envelope:

9.

Proposed budget, see mandatory financial format.

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