Official UK procurement notice
Autonomous vehicle PHD research
Authority: Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionAs autonomous vehicle (AV) technologies progress toward real-world deployment, regulatory agencies face the pressing challenge of ensuring that these systems operate safely and in compliance with the driving standards.
There is currently a lack of robust, interpretable methodologies for evaluating AV behaviour in both real and simulated environments—particularly in edge-case scenarios that pose the greatest risk to public safety. To address this gap, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is requesting to co-funding a PhD studentship titled Digital Commentary Driving for Regulatory Compliance and Risk Assessment in Autonomous Vehicles, which aims to develop novel, evidence-based methods for AV validation.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Below threshold - without competition
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 12 Jan 2026, 13:44 GMT
- Last source update
- 12 Jan 2026, 13:44 GMT
- Authority reference
T280022987- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-002281- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0603b8Find a Tender
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Contract details notice published12 Jan 2026, 13:44 GMTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Surrey | £47,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · University of Surrey
- Signed
- 23 Dec 2025
- Value
- £47,000
- Period
- 1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2029
- Status
- active
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- University of SurreyAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender