GovWire

Guidance: Submit a proposal

Defence Science Technology Laboratory

January 11
11:04 2024

Before submitting a proposal, you should ensure you have fully read and understood the relevant competition document. You can access the competition document by clicking on the relevant competition on the Apply for funding page.

We would also recommend you read all our other guidance material before submitting a proposal.

Contact DASA Form

If you have an idea or innovation you believe is suitable for a defence or security challenge, we want to hear from you. We have an Outreach Team of DASA Innovation Partners physically located in the Devolved Nations, The English Economic Regions and covering non-UK applications. Please follow this link and submit a Contact DASA Form to be connected with your DASA Innovation Partner

Get started

The only way to submit a research proposal to the Defence and Security Accelerator is online via the DASA online submission service

We recommend you use a Google Chrome browser when accessing the DASA online submission service.

Register for a DASA online submission service account here.

If you already have a DASA online submission service account log in here.

Once you have logged in to the DASA online submission service, you will be taken to your supplier dashboard where you can begin new proposals as well as track the progress of your draft and submitted proposals.

All proposals through our DASA online submission service must be completed in accordance with our acceptable use policy.

You must not submit any information classified above Official. If you wish to add supporting information which might be Official-Sensitive or Secret you should contact DASA in advance and we will discuss solutions with you, please email accelerator@dstl.gov.uk.

Ensure your adherence to cyber resilience

When submitting a proposal, you may be required to prove adherence to cyber resilience. Check the competition document to see if this is a requirement.

If cyber resilience is required, you will need to complete a Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ), using the DASA Risk Assessment Reference (RAR) shown in the competition details.

If your proposal is to be funded, your Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ) will be evaluated against the Cyber Risk Assessment (CRA) for the competition, and it will be put it into one of the following categories:

  1. Compliant no further action

  2. Not compliant you will be required to complete a Cyber Implementation Plan (CIP) before the contract is placed which will need to be reviewed and agreed with the relevant project manager or, a Cyber Essentials Certification (CEC) must be held before contract can be awarded.

Further information and guidance on obtaining a CEC can be found here: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberessentials/overview

Submitting a proposal

From your supplier dashboard, click on Start now and you will be taken to a page where you can begin your submission to the relevant competition.

There are six overall steps to complete, as outlined below. As you progress through the various steps, you will have the ability to save your work in order to return to it later. We recommend you save your application form regularly. In addition, once you have started a proposal you will receive email alerts notifying you of how much time remains before the competition close date.

Proposal attachments are limited to .png / .jpeg / Excel files only. Please provide full answers on the (Desirable/Feasible/Viable) criteria for your Innovation in the boxes provided. Proposals received with Desirable/Feasible/Viable answers provided as attachments will be considered non-compliant and sifted out of the competition.

Step 1 - Service

Firstly, you should select the competition type you are submitting to from the list.

If you select Themed Competition, you will then be given the option to choose the specific Themed Competition you are entering. Once you have selected your competition, some options will appear under the heading Challenge. Select those challenges which are relevant to your proposal. If there are no challenges then you should select the box which states there are no specific challenges for this competition.

If you select Open Call for Innovation, you will be given the option under the Challenge heading to identify which Open Call category you wish to submit to. Choose one from Defence Rapid Impact, Security Rapid Impact and Innovation Focus Areas. Further details on these can be found in the Open Call competition document. You will be asked for brief details about any interaction you have had with your DASA Innovation Partner.

You will be asked to state whether the proposal is a new one or a resubmission of an earlier proposal. You will also be asked to confirm you have read and accepted the Defence and Security Accelerator terms and conditions.

Step 2 - Summary

You will then progress to the summary page. A unique proposal identification code beginning ACC will be automatically generated for you. Please use this code in any correspondence with DASA regarding your proposal.

In this step we require you to include a brief Proposal Value Proposition Statement (PVPS) and abstract or summary of your proposal. The information you provide here is used to help us identify suitable assessors to look at your proposal. The PVPS will also help identify potential end users of your innovation.

Next we ask you to provide a commercial point of contact in your organisation. This person will be contacted if your proposal is successful to arrange the placement of the contract.

You will then need to indicate the current Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of your idea, and expected TRL at the close of the contract.

Finally, you will be asked to select the technology areas that are relevant to your proposal. This is an additional tool to allow us to identify suitable assessors.

Step 3 - Innovation details

In this step, we ask for the detail about what you are proposing to do, how you propose to do it, and what the benefits are to our customers.

You will be required to complete a series of text entry boxes (associated word limits will be shown under each box). Associated with each text box is some supporting guidance on what should be included. The requirements may be specific to the competition you are entering, and full details will be available in the associated competition document.

Associated with each text box, you will have the opportunity to upload image and/or tables files in support. Attachments are limited to .png / .jpeg / Excel files only. Please provide full answers on the (Desirable/Feasible/Viable) criteria for your Innovation in the boxes provided. Proposals received with Desirable/Feasible/Viable answers provided as attachments will be considered non-compliant and sifted out of the competition.

Within this step you will be asked to confirm your acceptance of the Intellectual Property condition of the competition. If your innovation relies on Background or Third Party information, you are asked to provide further details.

Step 3 is where you will need to input your SAQ details if they are requested for the competition.

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