Submitting questions
Submission of questions about the PCP is now closed. A summary of all submitted questions and answers is given on this page.
1. Compatibility with other public financing
It is said in the Request for tenders Superflat that “Tenders that receive public funding from other sources will be excluded if this leads to double public financing or an accumulation of different types of public financing that is not permitted by EU legislation, including EU state aid rules.”
However, is it possible to benefit from several public financing on the same topic but that do not concern the same expenses ?
Yes. The rule under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme is that there can be no double funding of the same tasks. In other words, a situation where the same costs for the same activities are funded twice through public financing is prohibited.
In practice this means that a tenderer should be able to distinguish in their activities those elements which are funded by the PCP and those funded by other sources (internal, public or other subsidies). This distinction is also important with regards to the attribution of IP rights.
2. Technical specification
What are the margins on the mechanical area (excluding useful area 500*20mm) and what is the thickness of the final mirror ?
The overall dimension of the final mirror are not specified in the tender document because it is assumed that each contractor will define the most suitable values with respect to their manufacturing tools and process. These dimensions, supported especially for thickness by any suitable calculation note, should figure in the phase 1 report, and will be evaluated by the Superflat team.
Typically, overall length between 520 mm and 600 mm , width between 50 and 70 mm and thickness up to 100 mm are expected.
Is any specific mechanical interface to be provided ?
No specific support or mechanical interface is required. The contractor should indicate in the metrology report of phase 3, how the mirror was supported for the reported measurements, in such way that it can be accurately reproduced by the Superflat team. If a specific interface was used, it should be made available to the Superflat consortium for the duration of the metrology to be performed by the procurers.
Any such support should only be used to ensure a repeatable positioning and support of the mirror (such as supporting at the Bessel points). On no account should the support be used to provide figure correction.
The measurements by the Superflat consortium will measure the mirror variously in a face up or face sideways orientation with the deformation due to gravity being subtracted from the measured surface if required.
3. Administrative section of tender reply
In paragraph 4. Content & format of tenders, it is required from the tenderers that they include an administrative section in their tenders. Could you please describe what it should contain ?
The administrative section of the tender should contain all the information required in the Request for tenders that do not fall into the technical nor the financial sections (i.e. declarations of honour, description of capacity, evidence of compliance with requirements, etc). In particular, the information requested in section 3.3 of the Request for Tender should be included in this section.
4. Intellectual property
Article 7.2.3 of the Framework Agreement states that:
“7.2.3 The Procurers have the right to grant or to require the Contractor to grant — within a reasonable time period specified in a prior written request — non-exclusive licences to third parties to commercially or non-commercially exploit the results related to X-ray Optics, under fair and reasonable conditions, without the right to sub-license and provided that it would not harm legitimate business interests of the Contractor.”
Can you specify what “results related to X-ray Optics” is referring to?
“results related to X-ray Optics” means “foreground” as defined at article 7.1 (i.e. “any tangible or intangible output, such as data, knowledge or information, that is PCP-generated, whatever its form or nature, whether or not it can be protected by IPRs, as well as any rights attached to it, including intellectual property rights (“attached IPRs” or “IPRs attached to the results”).
The Framework Agreement will be updated before its signature to reflect the present clarification: “results related to X-ray Optics” will be replaced by “foreground” at article 7.2.3.
Article 7.3.1 of the Framework Agreement states that:
“7.3.1 Pre-existing rights and sideground are owned by the Contractor. The Contractor shall, within 30 days of the signing of the Framework Agreement, provide the Lead Procurer with a list of the pre-existing rights it holds and/or has access to. To the extent necessary, an updated list must be provided by the Contractor with each bid for the next phase. In case of generation of changes in pre-existing rights and sideground, the Contractor shall inform the Lead Procurer within 60 days from the generation /change.”
Can you clarify what is the level of details required in the list of pre-existing rights that is expected to be provided by the Contractor to the Lead Procurer?
The Contractor will be expected to provide a statement of its current capabilities relevant to the developments within the PCP e.g. for producing optics for other market sectors of similar quality to that required for the PCP challenge for X-ray Optics. The purpose of this declaration is to establish the ‘pre-existing rights’ or ‘background’ of the Contractor. The statement should only include the background which is anticipated to be used in the PCP activities.
The information in the statement will not require the disclosure of any know-how. Any inclusion of relevant know-how in the statement can be restricted to showing the Contractor’s capabilities through results without disclosing how they were achieved.