Notice

Conflict Wounds - From Biology to Battlefield Solutions: Competition Document

Published 27 January 2026

1. Introduction

This competition is run by UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), previously the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA). Please note that while we undergo a full transition of our online platforms some existing DASA systems will still be live and in use, including the DASA Online Submission Service required for this competition.

This UKDI competition is run on behalf of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Ministry of Defence (MOD) Defence Medical Services (DMS). It is seeking innovations that will improve our understanding of and develop treatment options for conflict wounds. Proposals are invited under two challenges:

• Challenge 1: ‘Modelling conflict wounds’ - improving the availability of biological models in which to study conflict wounding
• Challenge 2: ‘Treating conflict wounds’ - developing logistically light ‘first aid’ treatment options that can be delivered early after injury by medically-trained, non-specialist users in austere operating environments

2. Competition key information

Key Information	Competition Details
Submission deadline	12:00 Midday on 24 March 2026  (GMT)
Total funding available	£1.5 million (excluding VAT) We expect to fund 5 to 7 proposals, in the region of £200,000 to £300,000 each, but we reserve the right to fund proposals at higher and lower values than these amounts.
Technology Readiness Level (TRL)	Challenge 1: Model – Starting from a minimum of TRL 1, ending at maximum of TRL 6. Challenge 2: Treat – Starting from a minimum of TRL 4, ending at a maximum of TRL 8
Contract start month	Aim to start July 2026
Project duration	Equal to or less than 28 months
Cyber Risk Assessment (CRA) number	RAR-WVLYEMW
Feedback release date	10 June 2026
Pre-sift criteria	See Section 8 - Pre-sift Criteria

2.1 Competition Specific Requirements

If your proposed work involves either working with animals or MODREC approval, you should ensure the required information is included in your proposal; see Section 6 - Critical elements to include for details. 

2.2 Where do I submit my proposal?

Via the DASA Online Submission Service where you will need to register for an account. Only proposals submitted through the DASA Online Submission Service will be accepted.

2.3 Public facing information

When submitting your proposal, you will be required to include a title, Proposal Value Proposition Statement (PVPS) and a short abstract. The title, PVPS and abstract you provide will be used by UKDI, and Partners Across Government (PAG), to describe your project and its intended outcomes and benefits. They may also be shared with international allied governments. They may be included at UKDI events in relation to this competition and in documentation such as brochures. As this information can be shared, it should not contain information that may compromise Intellectual Property.

2.4 Further guidance

For further guidance on what to expect during the submission process and how your proposal will be assessed, please see the following GOV.UK pages and forms:

• Submit a proposal
• Assessment process and criteria
• Defence and Security Accelerator: ethical, legal and regulatory guidance
• MODREC Guidance for Suppliers
• Competition Terms and Conditions
• DASA Standard Terms and Conditions
• Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ)
• How to get in touch with your local Innovation Partner

3. Supporting activities

3.1 Launch webinar

10 February 2026  – Launch webinar providing further detail on the problem space and a chance to ask questions in an open forum. If you would like to participate, please register on the UKDI Eventbrite page.

3.2 One-to-Ones

18 & 24 February 2026 – A series of 15 minute one-to-one teleconference sessions, giving you the opportunity to ask specific technical questions to the competition team in a closed forum. Registration for these sessions will be available the day after the launch webinar on 10 February 2026, on the Eventbrite pages below. Booking will be on a first come first served basis, please use the following links to register:

18 February 2026

24 February 2026

Non-technical questions about the competition process should be sent to the UKDI Help Centre, accelerator@dstl.gov.uk.

3.3 Collaboration survey

We encourage collaboration between innovators for this competition. To support this, we have a short survey to collect details of those who wish to explore collaboration possibilities. If you are interested, please complete the collaboration survey.

The information (including personal details) you provide will be circulated among the innovators who have completed the survey. The sharing of details will only be done after an initial screening process has taken place, we reserve the right to not share all details.

All collaboration for proposal submissions is on an innovator-innovator basis. It is the innovators’ responsibility to determine the suitability of collaborators.

Inclusion or absence of collaboration will not affect assessment. The survey will stay open until 3 March 2026.

3.4 Innovation Outline

If you are uncertain of the relevance of your innovation, it is strongly recommended that you contact your local Innovation Partner to discuss your idea. You can initiate this through the submission of a Contact Form by following instructions on the Contact an Innovation Partner page if you do not already have an established relationship with your local Innovation Partner.

Your local Innovation Partner will initially explore the suitability of your idea within the context of the requirements of the competition, with specific interest in the aspects covered within the Competition Scope section.

Your local Innovation Partner will, if required, also advise you on the submission of an Innovation Outline (IO), primarily used to further explore the relevance of your idea to the competition.

Should you submit an IO this must be done through the Submission Service regardless of an established relationship with your local Innovation Partner.

To submit an IO:

• log in to the submission service
• select the service category DASA Innovation Outline
• from the service name select Innovation Outline: Conflict Wounds - From Biology to Battlefield Solutions
• complete the form

Your local Innovation Partner will be able to advise you on the IO content.

Submission of an IO for this competition will allow socialisation of the idea across the competition team, and all elements of the IO will be shared. The competition team is made up of UKDI, Dstl, and DMS staff. You should receive a response within two weeks, confirming whether or not your idea is in scope. The competition closes at 12:00 Midday on 24 March 2026 (GMT). UKDI cannot guarantee a response to any IOs received after 10 March 2026.

All information you provide to us as part of your IO, that is not already available to us from other sources, will be handled in confidence. We will only share the information with those who can establish if your innovation is within scope of the competition. The information will only be used for the purposes for which it is provided to us. It won’t be used for other purposes, without us having obtained the necessary rights and permissions to do so.

Submitting an IO or speaking to your local Innovation Partner is not a mandatory criterion of this competition. It should be used only when unsure as to whether your proposal falls within scope after reading the information available below.

4. Competition scope

4.1 Background

Conflict has always involved a risk of injury to service personnel and increasingly poses a risk to civilians. Wounds sustained in conflict are commonly numerous, severe, and complex, making them difficult to manage and treat. These characteristics mean that conflict wounds often result in significant morbidity, even when the patient has received optimal care.

The type of weaponry used to date predominantly causes wounding via kinetic and thermal effect to tissues, most commonly skin, muscle, and bone. These wounds, and the environments in which they are initially managed, are distinct from those encountered in civilian medicine: the wounds themselves are likely to be numerous, greater in size and severity, with complex geometry, and with higher levels of infection and other contamination. There is also evidence that they are prone to progressive tissue loss after the initial insult. The environment in which care is delivered is likely to be austere, sometimes extremely so, with long delays before patients can be evacuated to substantive healthcare facilities.

Despite advances in surgical and medical practices and capability, conflict wounds remain challenging to manage from point of wounding, throughout the healing and reconstruction process, and into scar management and return to function. Early intervention is particularly important in the context of managing conflict wounds, owing to the progressive nature of tissue loss and infection and protracted care timelines before surgical intervention. A comprehensive understanding of the pathophysiology of these wounds, which will also be important for identifying novel therapeutics, is hampered by the lack of relevant biological models that recapitulate the complexity of conflict wounds / polytrauma. The complex nature and scope of these challenges requires a multidisciplinary approach to achieve high-impact outcomes.

4.2 Scope of Competition

The key problem area in scope for this competition is the ‘complex conflict wound’. Our definition of a ‘wound’ in the context of this competition is an injury to skin, muscle, and / or bone at the extremities (including maxillofacial) or torso. We are not including injury to internal organs, traumatic brain injury, ocular injury or hearing loss. 

Specifically, the problem area can be broken down into 1) the current lack of effective models available in which to study wound aetiology and test novel therapeutics and 2) the urgent need to develop novel treatments that can lead to lower morbidity and improved outcomes in those patients who sustain complex conflict wounds.

The two vignettes below provide representative examples of modern combat injuries and the challenges faced in treating them.

Vignette 1:

A soldier lies injured on the battlefield. The blast shock wave and shrapnel generated by a nearby mortar coupled with a hard landing on a jagged surface have caused extensive damage to the extremities. The soldier has open fractures of both legs, significant soft tissue loss, and the wounds are contaminated with soil and debris. The soldier is aided by a combat medic, but their location means they cannot be extracted for damage control surgery for another 36 hours. The contaminants seed and spread infection throughout the wound and tissue necrosis accelerates.

Vignette 2:

Due to the non-permissive nature of the modern battlefield, another soldier has taken 10 days to reach definitive surgical care. They have a partial amputation of their hand, fragmentation injuries to their face, and an open fracture of their left tibia with extensive skin and muscle loss. During their transfer the volume of casualties at each echelon of care has resulted in the provision of minimal treatment: partial washouts of wounds and temporary stabilisation of the open fracture. Upon reaching definitive surgical care, bacterial colonisation has resulted in the development of multi-drug-resistant infection in the wounds, including in the open fracture. The gold standard of care for this patient would involve tens of hours of operating theatre time, expensive limb salvage kit, extended courses of antibiotics, input from multiple specialist multidisciplinary teams, and months to years of rehabilitation. However, each day the receiving hospital is progressively overwhelmed  by the volume of similar casualties that will continue to increase every day.

These vignettes demonstrate the need for better treatments for conflict wounds, which can be administered as early as possible following injury and before the patient reaches substantive care. To develop these treatments, we also need a better understanding of the tractable mechanisms underpinning conflict wounds. This competition therefore has two linked challenge areas:

• Modelling Conflict Wounds – Relevant models of conflict wounds are essential to advance our understanding of the pathophysiology and infectious aetiology underpinning conflict wounds, and allow us to innovate, develop and test therapeutic and management strategies.

• Treating Conflict Wounds – Treatments to maintain tissue viability and reduce infection during protracted evacuation, where there is prolonged, non-specialist field care, are crucial to improve clinical outcomes; early treatment reduces long-term morbidity and improves functional outcome.

All proposals, for both challenges, must make clear how they accord with the principles of the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs), and how the PREPARE guidelines have been used in planning any animal work. 

4.3 Exploitation

This competition is funded without obligation and there is no guarantee of follow-on funding. Projects yielding positive outcomes are encouraged to seek further support from national and international funders. Funded projects will be allocated a Technical Partner, to provide support to the project and facilitate engagement with MOD and opportunities for exploitation.

5. Competition challenges

This competition has two challenges: Modelling Conflict Wounds and Treating Conflict Wounds. They are intrinsically linked because the availability of appropriate models underpins the development and testing of interventions. We do not expect proposers to address both challenges in a single proposal, however proposals that address both challenges are welcome.

5.1 Challenge 1: Modelling Conflict Wounds

In this challenge we are looking for robust, stand-alone in vitro, in silico, ex vivo, and in vivo models (or any combination of these). The models must be ecologically valid, i.e. accurately reflect real world situations, and able to replicate as many facets as possible that define conflict wounds. This includes the ability to model:

• injury of more than one tissue (of skin, muscle, and bone)
• injury via a relevant mechanism (e.g. blast, shrapnel, thermal, etc.); please demonstrate that the model has potential to be wounded by these means, you do not need to demonstrate that these mechanisms have already been used on your model
• injury coupled with infection of the wound with pathogens of interest (e.g. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus) implicated in multi-drug resistant wound infections and / or other relevant contamination

The model should be capable of providing output over a relevant timeline (days; a minimum of 24 hours) and those that encompass an element of wound deterioration without therapeutic intervention are of particular interest.

Ideally models will be high throughput whilst enabling study of prolonged timelines prior to substantive medical care and the impact of medical intervention during this period.

We are seeking innovations that will start from TRL 1 or above, and which will progress through at least one TRL during the project, up to a maximum of TRL 6 by the end of the project.

5.2 Challenge 2: Treating Conflict Wounds

In this challenge we are seeking the development of approaches that treat or prevent bacterial colonisation / infection, optimise tissue viability, and prevent the progression of necrosis.

Such treatments may include, but are not limited to:

• novel biologics
• pharmaceuticals
• bacteriophages
• devices

Proposals that present novel routes of administration for existing interventions are also within scope (e.g. gels, sprays, foams, etc.) but they must be feasible in austere, pre-hospital settings. Proposals that explore the repurposing of existing licensed approaches are also welcome.

We are seeking proposals outlining treatment strategies that can be delivered as close as possible to the point of injury when rapid evacuation is not possible and the casualty requires prolonged, non-specialist field care. Interventions must be able to be administered by non-specialist medical personnel in austere environments with minimal logistical burden. Of particular interest are solutions that:

• are small and physically easy to carry
• are ruggedised
• require no refrigeration
• have little or no electrical heat signature

Proposers should also consider the need to develop approaches that are easy and cost-effective to produce at scale.

We are interested in proposals to progress interventions that have already demonstrated proof of concept (i.e. that are at TRL 4 or above and have already been validated in a laboratory environment), or to explore the repurposing of existing therapeutics. We are seeking innovations that will start from at least TRL 4, which will progress through at least one TRL during the project, up to a maximum of TRL 8 by the end of the project.

5.3 We are interested in…

We want novel ideas to benefit end-users working in UK defence and security. Your proposal should include evidence of:

• relevance for injury to skin, muscle, and / or bone at the extremities (including maxillofacial) or torso
• the potential for your innovation to be translated into a practical demonstration in the future, whether it be theoretical development, method / technical advancement or proof of concept research
• innovation or a creative approach
• how the proposed work applies to any defence and / or security context

5.4 We are not interested in…

We are not interested in proposals that:

• seek to develop models of simple wounds (e.g. wounding to skin only) or ‘civilian-type’ injuries such as closed fractures or dislocations.
• seek to develop models of or treatments for isolated injuries to internal organs such as the brain, thoracic or abdominal contents
• describe research / models based on chronic wounding related to a comorbidity (such as diabetes), or with a genetic basis (for example muscular dystrophy) without clear theoretical or empirical evidence for how the approach could be applied to a traumatic wound in a healthy individual
• aim to model or treat non compressible haemorrhage (subject of an earlier DASA competition)
• seek to develop haemostatics (including bandages and tamponades, etc.) unless they present a way of delivering therapeutic to the wound
• do not demonstrate accordance with the 3Rs or evidence use of the PREPARE guidelines in planning any work involving animals (regardless of whether this work is performed in the UK or elsewhere)
• do not provide information about the project licence, establishment licence and personal licences for and animal work taking place in the UK (proposals with animal work taking place outside of the UK will need to include the equivalent information)
• include work that requires MOD Research Ethics Committee (MODREC) review but do not account for the time required to achieve favourable opinion in their project timeline (approximately 3 months including mandatory Scientific Assessment Committee review prior to MODREC submission)
• constitute consultancy, paper-based studies or literature reviews, which just summarise the existing literature without any view of future innovation
• are an unsolicited resubmission of a previous DASA bid
• offer demonstrations of off-the-shelf products requiring no experimental development (unless applied in a novel way to the challenge)
• offer no real long-term prospect of integration into defence and security capabilities
• offer no real prospect of out-competing existing technological solutions

6. Critical elements to include

When writing your proposal, ensure you have:

• focused on the Competition requirements but also included a brief (un-costed) outline of the next stages of work required for exploitation
• included a list of other government funding you have received in this area, making it clear how this proposal differs from that work
• included a detailed project plan with clear milestones and deliverables. Deliverables need to be well defined and designed to provide evidence of progress against the project plan. Your deliverables must include a written final report
• planned (and costed) attendance at the following meetings, which, if not virtual, will all be in the UK: a kick-off meeting at the start of the project, regular (at least quarterly) reviews (either via a written report or meeting, with the appointed Technical Partner and Project Manager, as well as a formal yearly written report; the meeting, review and reporting schedule will be agreed at the kick-off meeting), close down meeting at the end of the project, at least one in-person stakeholder event in the UK (in July 2027 or July 2028). These activities may take place virtually. Slides presented at these meetings should be appropriately marked and made available.
• identified any ethical / legal / regulatory factors. Associated risks should have been added to the Risk Register in Step 5 of the submission service along with details of how they will be managed, including break points in the project if approvals are not received

• included information about the project licence, establishment licence and personal licences for any animal work taking place in the UK. For proposals with animal work taking place outside of the UK, you will need to include the equivalent information. For all proposals including work involving animals, you should demonstrate how the work accords with the principles of the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) and use the PREPARE guidelines to plan your work.

• included a deliverable named ‘Gain MODREC Approval’, if this is required for any of the planned work; you should clearly identify whether your work packages rely on MODREC approval or not, and any that do should be scheduled after the Gain MODREC Approval deliverable. The Gain MODREC Approval deliverable should account for the time required to achieve favourable MODREC opinion (approximately 3 months including mandatory Scientific Assessment Committee review prior to MODREC submission).

• included any requirements for access to Government Furnished X (GFX). GFX is the preferred nondescript term for anything that the Government provides in which the ‘X’ could be artefacts such as information or equipment. UKDI cannot guarantee that GFX will be made available. You should have included an alternative plan in your proposal in case it is not available.

7. Accelerating and exploiting your innovation

Ensure your deliverables are designed with the aim of making it as easy as possible for assessors to recognise expected development in technology maturity of the potential solution over the lifetime of the project. Specifically, how this demonstrates improved capability against the current known (or presumed) solutions.

Over the lifetime of UKDI awarded projects, ideas may mature and accelerate under the guidance of appropriate stakeholders, toward being functional capabilities. How long this takes, and how far towards a deployable capability the innovations progress, will depend on any future exploitation after the completion of the UKDI project.

Low TRL research and development may not be able to articulate exploitation in great detail, but it should be clear that there is credible advantage to be gained from the technology development.

7.1 Exploitation beyond your project plan

Include the following information within the Desirability question within the DASA Online Submission Service application form to help the assessors understand your exploitation intentions:

• expected additional work required beyond the end of the contract to develop an operationally deployable commercial product (for example, ‘scaling up’ for manufacture, cyber security, integration with existing technologies, environmental operating conditions)
• additional future applications and wider markets for exploitation
• wider collaborations and networks you have already developed or any additional relationships you see as a requirement to support exploitation
• how your product could be tested in a representative environment in later phases
• any specific legal, ethical, commercial or regulatory considerations for exploitation

8. Pre-sift Criteria

Before your proposal is assessed, all proposals will be checked for compliance with the pre-sift criteria. Proposals will be rejected before full assessment if they do not comply.

For more information on how your proposal will be assessed please read Assessment process and criteria.

Conflict Wounds - From Biology to Battlefield Solutions pre-sift criteria are as follows:

Criteria	Measure - Within scope (Pass) / Out of scope (Fail)
The proposal outlines how it meets the scope of the competition	Pass / Fail
The proposal explains how it meets the DASA criteria (Desirability, Feasibility, and Viability) in the relevant questions in Step 3 of the submission service	Pass / Fail
The proposal contains a financial plan, a project plan and a resourcing plan which demonstrate how the work proposed will be completed	Pass / Fail
The delivery schedule within your proposal includes evidence of a written final report	Pass / Fail
The final deliverable month indicated is less than or equal to 28 months from T0 where T0 is the project start date agreed by both parties	Pass / Fail
The proposal value does not exceed £1.5 million (excluding VAT); the funding available for the competition	Pass / Fail
For Challenge 1: Modelling Conflict Wounds, the innovation starts at minimum TRL 1 and ends at maximum TRL 6, progressing through at least one TRL during the project.
For Challenge 2: Treating Conflict Wounds, the innovation starts at minimum TRL 4 and ends at maximum TRL 8, progressing through at least one TRL during the project.	Pass / Fail
The proposal does not contain attachments that have been used for additional text data over the stated word counts in Desirability, Feasibility, Viability and Additional Information	Pass / Fail
If the proposal is a resubmission of a previous proposal, it adheres to the resubmission guidelines	Pass / Fail

9. How your proposal will be assessed

Proposals that are compliant will be assessed against the standard DASA assessment criteria (Desirability, Feasibility and Viability) by subject matter experts from the MOD (including Dstl), PAG and the front-line military commands. You will not have the opportunity to view or comment on assessors’ recommendations.

UKDI reserves the right to disclose on a confidential basis any information it receives from innovators during the procurement process, which includes the full proposal, to any third party engaged by UKDI for the specific purpose of evaluating or assisting UKDI in the evaluation of your proposal. In providing such information you consent to such disclosure. Appropriate confidentiality agreements will be put in place.

After assessment, proposals will be discussed at a Decision Conference where funding decisions are made based on the assessments, budget and wider strategic considerations.

Innovators are not permitted to attend the Decision Conference.

10. Terms and Conditions

Please read the Terms and Conditions which contain important information for innovators. For this competition we will be using the Innovation Standard Contract (ISC),  Terms and Conditions. Information on the relevant DEFCONs can be found by registering on the Knowledge in Defence site.

We require unqualified acceptance of the Terms and Conditions. Where innovator organisations have a commercial department they will need to provide acceptance.

We will use deliverables from UKDI contracts in accordance with our rights detailed in the contract Terms and Conditions.

10.1 Feedback

Proposals that are unsuccessful will receive feedback in the form of bullet points and a couple of short paragraphs after the Decision Conference.

Where a proposal meets the fundable requirements for a competition, but is not funded, UKDI will continue to seek funding and shall consider your proposal fundable for 12 months from the date of the feedback release.

We will share the abstract, Proposal Value Proposition Statement (PVPS) and title of your proposal with partners across His Majesty’s Government that may express an interest in funding the proposal through UKDI, in accordance with the competition document. We may also share this information on our cross-government Ideas Marketplace platform to foster collaboration and attempt to elicit funding. If partners across His Majesty’s Government wish to read the full proposal to decide if they will fund it, we will share the full proposal with them without seeking your permission if it is within 60 days of the feedback release date. If it is over 60 days since the feedback release date we will seek your permission before sharing the full proposal with them.

For other potential funders, we will seek your permission before sharing the full proposal regardless of the number of days since the feedback release date.

In the event that funding becomes available, UKDI may ask whether you would still be prepared to undertake the work outlined in your proposal under the same terms. Your official UKDI feedback will indicate if your proposal was deemed fundable, but not awarded funding at the time.

11. If your proposal is recommended for funding

Funded projects will be allocated a Project Manager (to monitor the project) and a Technical Partner (as a technical point of contact). In addition, the UKDI team may work with an innovator to support delivery and exploitation including, when appropriate, introductions to end-users and business support to help develop their business.

11.1 Cyber Security Model

The Cyber Security Model (CSM) is how Defence builds cyber security into its supply chain.

On receipt of a FUND decision, successful innovators (and their sub-contractors) must prove cyber resilience before the contract is awarded. The start of this process is the submission of a Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQ allows innovators to demonstrate compliance with the specified risk level and the corresponding profile in Def Stan 05-138, and the level of control required will depend on this risk level.

To expedite the contracting time of successful innovators we ask all innovators to complete the SAQ before they submit their proposal (this is not mandated). The SAQ must be completed using the Risk Assessment number RAR-WVLYEMW.

The SAQ will be automatically scored against the Cyber Risk Profile (CRP) and you will be immediately informed of the outcome, compliant or not compliant.

If non-compliant, you will be required to complete a Cyber Improvement Plan (CIP) before the contract is placed which will need to be reviewed and agreed with the relevant project manager. The CIP template can be found here.

Before you start your SAQ you will need:

• the Risk Assessment Reference (RAR) RAR-WVLYEMW
• a D-U-N-S number (a unique identifier for your organisation)
• a GOV.UK One Login

11.2 Export control for overseas partners

All relevant export control regulations will apply if a company ultimately wants to sell a developed solution to a foreign entity. All innovators must ensure that they can obtain, if required, the necessary export licences for their proposals and developments, such that they can be supplied to the UK and other countries. If you cannot confirm you can obtain the necessary licences as part of your proposal, you will be required to provide this information prior to contract award, should your proposal be selected for funding.

12. Points of Contact

During the competition phase all correspondence must be via the UKDI Points of Contact detailed below.

While all reasonable efforts will be made to answer queries, UKDI reserves the right to impose management controls if volumes of queries restrict fair access of information to all potential innovators.

12.1 Innovation Partner

UKDI has a team of locally based Innovation Partners that can provide support in working with us. It is strongly recommended that you contact your local Innovation Partner to discuss your idea for any aspect of this competition.

You can initiate this through the submission of a Contact Form by following instructions on the Contact an Innovation Partner page if you do not already have an established relationship with your local Innovation Partner.

12.2 UKDI Help Centre

Competition queries including on process, application, commercial, technical and intellectual property aspects should be sent to the UKDI Help Centre at accelerator@dstl.gov.uk, quoting the competition title. UKDI cannot guarantee a response to a query after the 3 March 2025, 3 weeks before the competitions closes.