TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR

CONSULTANCY ON MARKET RESEARCH ANALYSIS

Accelerating Higher Education Expansion and Development (AHEAD) operation

AHEAD Innovation Commercialization Enhancement (ICE) Grant
Center for Sustainability,
Department of Forestry & Environmental Science
Faculty of Applied Sciences
University of Sri Jayewardenepura
PAT No: (AHEAD/RA3/ICE/SJP/SCI/CON/TOR 03)

1. BACKGROUND
The development of the higher education sector is of central importance to enable Sri Lanka to make the
transition from a Lower-Middle Income Country (LMIC) to an Upper Middle-Income Country (UMIC).
Recognizing this, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the World Bank have agreed, to support the
higher education sector through a Bank funded Accelerating Higher Education Expansion and
Development (AHEAD) operation.

2. THE OPERATION
Accelerating Higher Education Expansion and Development (AHEAD) operation is organized into two
components. The first is a Program Component that supports the national Higher Education Development
Program. The second is a systems strengthening, capacity building and technical assistance component
that will assist GoSL to strengthen the higher education sector and achieve the objectives of the AHEAD
program component. This second will also cover monitoring and evaluation, policy analyses, program
coordination and communication.
The implementing agency is the Ministry of Higher Education and Highways (MHEH). The University
Grants Commission (UGC) will coordinate the activities of the universities. There will be an Operations
Monitoring and Support Team (OMST) which will coordinate and support all AHEAD activities between
the MHEH, UGC, and the universities.
AHEAD has three Results Areas:
Results Area 1: Increasing Enrollment in Priority Disciplines for Economic Development
Results Area 2: Improving the Quality of Higher Education
Results Area 3: Promoting Research, Development and Innovation

3. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE CONSULTANCY.

Market Research analysis of the commercializable products under AHEAD ICE Grant Center for
Sustainability

4. SCOPE OF THE CONSULTANCY.

Center for Sustainability, Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Sri
Jayewardenepura unleash vast amount of new products and services per year. Therefore, market
information is crucial to commercialize these products effectively. In this context, consultancy for the
NEED Analysis is an essential fact.
Key activities and contents for this consultancy includes,
 Preparation and improvement of Market Research Questionnaires for the new products.
 Conducting of Market Researches through surveys with focused groups.
 Data analysis of the Market Research Questionnaires.
  Delivering of potential product commercialization methods in related to the results of Market
Research Questionnaires.

5. KEY TASKS AND RELATED ACTIVITIES.

The main duties and responsibilities of the consultant will be able to

Key Tasks Required Deliverable Time frame

(After
signing the
1. Improvement of the Market contract)
Research Questionnaires. Improvement of the existing Market Research
Questionnaires related to the products.
 Facial scrub 1 Week
 Water purification probe.

2. Preparation of the Market Preparation of Market Research Questionnaires

Research Questionnaires. for two products. 2 Weeks

3. Conducting of Market
Sampling should be done with the range of 75-
Researches through surveys with
100 per each product. Handling of surveys for all 4 Months
focused groups.
four products are required.

4. Submission of analyzed data

.
and delivering of potential Analyzed data should be submitted as the final
product commercializing methods output of the survey.
At the end of
including the raw data.
6 months

5. Submission of Final Reports Delivering of soft copies and hardcopies

6. DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT.

The contract will run for 6 months from the date of signing the contract.

7. MODE OF PAYMENT.
Total payment for the above consultancy is Sri Lankan Rupees Rs.100,000 which will be disbursed
according to the following schedule.
a.20% of total consultancy fee will be paid at the signing of the Consultancy Agreement and on
acceptance of Work Plan.
b.20% of total consultancy fee will be paid at the Submission of prepared Market Research
Questionnaires.
c.30% of total consultancy fee will be paid at the end of the Key Task 3 that is conducting of Market
Researches through surveys with focused groups.
 d.30% of total consultancy fee will be paid on the submission and acceptance of the final analyzed
data with potential commercializable methods.

8. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE.

Minimum experience of 4 years in the relevant sector.

9. METHOD OF APPOINTMENT.
IC-C: Individual Consultancies Competitive basis (evaluating 3 CVs/company profiles).

10. REPORTING THE DELIVERABLES

The consultant shall closely coordinate and report to ICE grant coordinator Dr. Daham Jayawardana.

11. REQUIRED PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES

 Degree level Qualifications related to statistics.

 Good sound knowledge in statistics and data analysis.
 High level of IT literacy
 Strong communication and good interpersonal relations
 High level of proficiency in written and spoken English

12. OWNERSHIP OF THE ASSIGNMENT

This assignment is funded by the Ministry of Higher Education via AHEAD-OMST under the program
component of AHEAD. As such, the University shall be the owner of the assignment and will reserves
the Intellectual Property Rights for all deliverable of the assignment under the terms and conditions
given in the IP policy of the University. The Consultant will have no right of claim to the assignment
or its outputs once it is completed and no rights to use Data and Information gathered through the
assignment for other purposes without written permission from the Vice Chancellor. Any Reports/
Data/ Information produced as a part of this assignment shall be handed over to the Client in soft and
hard forms.