Public Procurement

Do you have a science background and now stepping into a role that touches public procurement?
Public procurement significantly impacts society. Each year, governments spend billions of euros - not just on basic office supplies but also on major purchases such as construction, ICT, healthcare, public transport, and defense. Procurement practices vary widely within and between countries, ranging from price-focused approaches to strategies that incorporate policy objectives related to sustainability, social inclusion, national security, and economic development (e.g., entrepreneurship, innovation, market growth). This course provides an overview of how to procure, emphasizing its relevance for achieving policy objectives.

Examples of questions explored in this course include:

• How can procurement objectives be achieved efficiently and effectively?
• What methods are successful in integrating policy objectives into public tenders?
• How can governments organize procurement processes to maximize impact?
• How should suppliers respond to public tenders?

The course is designed to deepen your understanding of procurement as a management, environmental, social, and economic issue, primarily from a buyer’s perspective but also considering the supplier’s viewpoint.

This course is part of the master Science & Business Management and specifically designed for participants without a background in the subject matter and with a focus on organizations that operate in (life) science sectors. Participant will be in a mixed classroom with master students.

On completion of the course, you will be able to:

• Understand and analyze strategic procurement decisions made by governments to support policy objectives related to environmental sustainability, social progress, and economic growth.
• Apply theory and develop and analyze a formal supplier selection model, write and evaluate a bid.
• Formulate a relevant research question in the area of public procurement, and analyze data from a large procurement database or conduct a systematic literature review.
• Translate an academic discussion of findings regarding a specific public procurement to recommendations for a wider audience.

This course is aimed at professionals working in healthcare science, with a bachelor’s/master’s degree (or even PhD) in the science field and with an interest in the business side of organizations.

4 weeks, 2 contact moments of 2 hours + 14 hours of work in between per week

This face-to-face course is offered via lectures and tutorials on-campus, which require your physical attendance (mandatory). Only 1 seminar needs to be attended, either choose Seminar 1 or Seminar 2 from the schedule.

Alongside these, participants are expected to dedicate approximately 14 hours per week to self-study, individual assignments and groupwork on projects. Questions on theory and exercises can be posted on the appropriate forum on the university digital learning environment (Brightspace) or asked during the lectures or tutorials. The exam will be on location (i.e. not online).

To enroll in this course, you need to have:

• Dutch residency
• Master Degree in Life Sciences or Natural Sciences, with graduation date <10 years
• No previous formal education or work experience in the course topic

Selection of (open-access) academic articles and book chapters.

Please note that this course is part of an existing program within the Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.) in collaboration with the Graduate School of Life Sciences. Tuitition fees may alter during the year.

General questions

For general questions, please contact:

Content questions

For specific questions about the course content, please contact: