LIfBi’s Administrative Director, Dr. Stefan Echinger, is pleased that the LIfBi will be able to contribute its expertise to a greater extent in the future: "We have a great deal of experience, especially in demanding and extensive procurement procedures, and can support other Leibniz institutes with our expertise," says Echinger.
This includes experience with handling large-volume awarding procedures within the framework of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): The NEPS is the largest longitudinal study in education science in Germany with 60,000 participants and a further 40,000 reference persons who are regularly surveyed. It was launched in 2009 and has since been supported by an interdisciplinary, Germany-wide network of excellence in which twelve renowned research institutes work together.
"The aim of the LCCP is to 'live community'. Precisely because the Leibniz Association consists of a wide variety of larger and smaller institutes, competence should be bundled and shared for the benefit of all. This was the founding idea of the Competence Centre two years ago and this is how we will continue this at LIfBi," says Thomas Saueracker, Head of Finance, Controlling and Procurement at LIfBi. He is co-founder of the Leibniz Competence Centre Procurement and deputy chairman of the advisory board.
More favorable purchasing conditions, sustainability and legal certainty for all participating institutions of the Leibniz Association are the fundamental goals of the Leibniz Competence Centre for Procurement. It bundles the various needs of several institutes, for example in demanding EU tenders–in order to relieve the institutes administratively, but also to obtain better conditions on the market. Since February 2022, LIfBi has been responsible for the central coordination of joint procurements and framework agreements in the upper threshold range, in which services are put out to tender throughout the EU, and ensures networking and the exchange of knowledge between the participating Leibniz institutes. It also provides tender documents as assistance, answers individual questions and supports the regular exchange event "Procurement Day".
The project is funded by the Leibniz Association's Strategy Fund.