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TED Ambassador award

Rules of competition

Outline

What is the TED Ambassador award?

The 'TED Ambassador award' is a competition that aims to identify and reward research in the field of public procurement.

High-quality research is crucial for fostering innovation, sustainability and transparency in public procurement.

Applicants are invited to submit essays they have published in this field. The winning essays will receive prize money and will be advertised on the official website for public procurement of the EU, TED (Tenders Electronic Daily). They will also be included in an online catalogue of high-quality studies aimed at fostering knowledge sharing and innovation in public procurement, making it more efficient, greener and more transparent.

The contest is promoted by the Publications Office of the European Union under the Preparatory Action on ‘Transparency in public procurement’.

The Publications Office is the official publisher of EU law, public procurement, publications, open data and research results. It brings together data on public contracts from all EU countries and beyond and publishes them on the TED website.

TED is the online version of the 'Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union', dedicated to public procurement. It publishes 676,000 procurement notices a year, including 258,000 calls for tender, which are worth some € 670 billion. TED brings buyers and bidders together. It is the official gateway to business opportunities in the European Union, the European Economic Area and countries that are members of the Agreement on Government Procurement.

Who can participate?

The competition rules are based on Articles 206 and 207 of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Union. The competition respects the principles of transparency and equal treatment.

The competition is open to applications from public procurement specialists worldwide.

You can submit an article, paper or chapter of a volume. These essays must have been published online. Monographs and theses are excluded from the competition. Maximum length of the essay: 10,000 words. This includes all text. For example, the abstract, footnotes, references and all text in tables, figures and appendices.
Language: English.
We accept both individual and joint essays (co-authored). If you choose to submit a joint essay, please make sure that all authors agree and give their permission to enter the competition.
Each individual author can submit only one essay.
Your essay must have been published between 01/01/2018 and 31/12/2022 in peer-reviewed online journals or in edited volumes with an ISSN and/or ISBN.
Essays that have not yet been published will not be accepted.
Any submitted essay hosted in a publication of which a member of the selection panel is an 'editor' or a 'co-author' will be excluded.
The competition is not open to staff working in the EU institutions, agencies, bodies, offices or to contractors of the Publications Office.

What are the research topics?

The competition focuses on 4 research topics. You can submit an application for one of the following:

Topic 1: 'Transparency in public procurement'

Promoting transparency, efficiency and accountability. For example, tools to monitor transparency in public procurement; public procurement statistics in Member States about the quantity/quality of public procurement above/below the threshold; non-compliance of EU Member States with EU legislation on public procurement, etc.
Topic 2: 'Green procurement'

Analysing current gaps, future challenges and best practice. For example: current context; current policies; tools to identify and monitor green public procurement, etc.
Topic 3: 'Emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in public procurement'

Increasing efficiency, transparency, sustainability and gender equality in public procurement through AI. For example: how AI can facilitate better decisions, lower costs and increased transparency; mapping public entities that use AI technologies for procurement; integrating AI and good public procurement governance, etc.
Topic 4: 'Stimulating innovation through public procurement'
Bringing innovative solutions to the market. For example: the extent to which EU legislation stimulates innovation through public procurement; how pre-commercial procurement could foster innovation in the EU; markets where public authorities have a potential to encourage demand for new technologies; converting new inventions into new products and jobs; promoting globally accepted solutions instead of locally tailored ones, etc.

Competition timeline

Milestones		Deadlines
	Submit your application You must submit your application by filling in the online form. Please include a short bio (max. 250 words), the title of your essay, a valid link to your essay and an electronic copy of your essay published in an online journal or edited volume. Please make sure the URL you provide works properly and that the copy of your essay is accessible. Your application will be rejected if the URL is broken or the content is not accessible.	28 April 2023 23:59 CEST
	Selection phase The selection phase ends and all candidates are notified via email. Only the first 120 essays to be submitted will be evaluated – 30 per research topic. The top three winners per research topic will be announced on the TED website.	May/June 2023
2023	Winners 12 winners will receive prize money (€1,500 per prize).

Evaluation process

Selection

The selection process takes place after the deadline to submit applications for the competition (28 April 2023). During this phase, a selection panel appointed by the Publications Office assesses each application.

Applications are assessed and graded against the selection criteria (table below). For each research topic, the 12 applications that score the highest number of points (i.e. the top 3 per research topic) are selected as the winners.

Selection criteria	Maximum number of points
Relevance to the chosen research topic	10
Clear explanation of concepts for a non-specialist audience (e.g. writing clearly; absence of technical jargon)	10
Relevance of the essay in contemporary debate	10
Innovation and development perspectives (e.g. predicting future trends; promoting further research)	10
Impact on policymaking and/or possible application in technological systems	10
The essay is open access, i.e. fully available for anyone to read at no cost	4

All applicants will be notified via email about the selection results. On request, applicants may also need to provide further information or clarifications about their submitted application for the evaluation.

Prizes

Each of the 12 winning applications will be awarded prize money of €1,500 under the TED Ambassador award.

The winning essays will be promoted and referenced on the TED website, together with the authors’ biographies, and will form part of an online catalogue of high-quality studies in public procurement. The 12 winners will also benefit from online publicity via social media.

To receive the prize money, the winners are required to submit a feedback report by filling in a survey about the competition.

Place	Award
Top three per research topic	• 12 winner essays will be advertised on the TED website, via a link to the online journal/volume’s page hosting the essay. • Author biographies will be published on the TED website. • Publicity via social media. • Prize money: €1,500 per winning application.
Applicants outside the top 12	Some essays that did not make the top 12 may still be advertised on the TED website (at the discretion of the Publications Office).

Additional information

Questions

If you have any questions about this competition, you can ask us, in writing only, up until 14 April 2023. Email your questions to OP-TED-AMBASSADOR-AWARD@ec.europa.eu.

Awards payments

Awards payments are subject to winners registering their details on the legal entity form and the European Commission's bank account database. We therefore ask winners to provide all the necessary supporting documents – duly signed and stamped – at the latest three weeks after being selected.

Winners must also decide to whom the prize money should be transferred. You can find additional information and links to download templates for the legal entity and bank account forms here. The Publications Office takes no responsibility regarding the distribution of awards among the winners.

Cancellation of the competition

The Publications Office reserves the right to cancel the competition, or to abstain from awarding one or more prizes without any obligation to compensate the teams.

Intellectual property and copyright

The submitted essay will remain the property of the rights holders. The EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies will be allowed to mention, describe and promote any essays submitted to the competition with due reference to the author or authors on their channels (websites, social media, press releases, etc.).

Publicity

The winning applicants will be advertised on the TED website and promoted via social media channels. The biographies and copyright of the authors will be mentioned.

At the discretion of the Publications Office, some essays that do not make the top 12 may also be advertised on the TED website. In such cases, no prize money is granted, nor will there be any publicity coverage through social media.

Processing of personal data

If you participate in the competition, your personal data will be processed by us according to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 on the processing of personal data by the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. We will process your data only as needed in connection with organising and following up the competition, although we may send it to certain bodies responsible for monitoring or inspection, as laid down in European Union legislation.

You may at any time ask us to view your personal data, or ask us to correct it or remove it from our systems. Please note that removing your data will cancel your participation in the competition. For more information about the processing of your personal data, please check the TED privacy policy and terms of use.

Sole liability of the teams

If there are any claims relating to the activities carried out as part of the competition, applicants are solely liable. The Publications Office cannot be held responsible for any claim relating to the activities carried out by applicants as part of the competition.

The Publications Office cannot be held liable for any damages caused or sustained by any of the applicants, including any damages caused to third parties because of or during the implementation of activities related to the competition.

Applicable law and competent jurisdiction

The competition is governed by the applicable EU law. The General Court or, on appeal, the Court of Justice of the European Union, will have sole jurisdiction to hear any dispute between the EU and any applicant in relation to the competition, if such a dispute cannot be settled amicably.

Applicants can refer to the European Ombudsman if they consider that any of the EU institutions:

• fail to act according to the law or the principles of good administration;

• violate human rights.

Exclusion criteria and administrative sanctions

By submitting their essays, candidates declare that they are not in one of the situations mentioned in Article 136(1) of the Financial Regulation. Candidates who are in any of those situations or fall into other categories indicated in Article 141 of the Financial Regulation will be rejected from participating and from being awarded a prize in the competition.

The rejection does not affect any decision to exclude candidates from participating in award procedures governed by the Financial Regulation, or the application of financial penalties (Articles 136-140 of the Financial Regulation).

Early detection and exclusion system

If participants are in one of the exclusion situations stated above, their personal data may be registered in the early detection and exclusion system (EDES) in line with Articles 135, 142, 143 and 144 of the Financial Regulation. For more information, see the privacy statement for EDES.

Suspension of the competition, cancellation of the award and reduction of the prize

If the award procedure is found to have been subject to irregularities or fraud, the Publications Office will apply the measures referred to in Article 131 of the Financial Regulation.

Checks, audits and investigations

The winners accept that the European Commission, the European Anti-Fraud Office, the Court of Auditors and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office are allowed to perform any required checks, audits or investigations in relation to the competition and the prize received.