UK Public Sector Contracts & Tenders

Newcastle Clinical Trials Unit (NCTU) is a UKCRC Registered CTU that works in collaboration with investigators to design and deliver clinical trials and studies answering important clinical questions, whose findings bring substantial impact to patients and the NHS; it has a portfolio across many clinical disciplines and from different funders (public, commercial, and charitable). There are currently over 40 active interventional trials with a total funding value is excess of £30m, these include international trials and a growing portfolio of trials with adaptive designs. Most of the portfolio are regulated by the Medicines for Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). NCTU works in a demanding and constantly evolving ethical, legal, regulatory and scientific landscape, across multiple countries. We seek opportunities for faster, more efficient, cost effective, and better research. NCTU requires systems that ensures robust trial design are conducted in line with MHRA and other legislated regulatory requirements that stand up to international scrutiny. The systems(s) must be suitable for use in academic trials units and ensure they operate in a way which is complaint with applicable legislation. The systems should combine excellent functionality with customisability that will also require the set-up time of trials to be minimised without impacting on staff time needed to develop, test, and deploy trials and studies within the system. Staff move between locations to work, including from NHS Trusts and from home, and thus secure access from any location is needed to both build and manage the systems. The scope is for the supply, implementation and support for a Clinical Data Management System and Randomisation System to be used by all members of the NCTU, and by trial teams across multiple clinical sites, nationally and globally. The requirements are for established cloud-based, off the shelf solutions which are in use within clinical trial environments. The systems must be accessed via a web-based interface. The systems must have different user profiles to support the setting up, management and data removal for statistical analysis. This tender process is divided two lots. Suppliers may submit a bid for one of the lots or both lots. Each Lot will be assessed separately. Lot 1 - Clinical Data Management System and Lot 2 - Randomisation System.

The scope is for the supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of a rack washer and the removal and disposal of the current rack washer. The rack wash system is expected to accommodate IVCs mouse. The IVCs have a horizontal plenum and rat ICs are double decker. Additionally, the washer needs to accommodate various species cages including marmoset and bird cages. A minimum industry expected life length of 15 years for the rack washer is required and customer support to aid in house resolutions of issues. Two years’ comprehensive warranty followed by 3 years maintenance and service cover is to be provided. Please note that prior to submitting a tender response a site survey must be performed following completion of the attached Appendix 1_NDA.

The scope is for the supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of a rack washer and the removal and disposal of the current rack washer. The rack wash system is expected to accommodate IVCs mouse IVC's have a horizontal plenum and rat IC's that are double decker. Additionally, the washer needs to accommodate various species cages including marmoset and bird cages. A minimum industry expected life length of 15 years for the rack washer is required and customer support to aid in house resolutions of issues. Two years' comprehensive warranty followed by 3 years maintenance and service cover is to be provided.

The University requires three fluorescence and brightfield standard tissue culture incubator- based imaging systems for the automated imaging of cells in culture grown in standard tissue culture flasks, dishes and plates. The systems must be able to accommodate and schedule, multiple separate experiments each potentially requiring independent imaging parameters for example imaging frequency, magnification and fluorescence channel(s). The systems will be located and operated by the University’s BioImaging facility at three campus locations. Together they will form a live-cell imaging platform to serve the requirements of researchers at each location. The capabilities of each system or its associated software may need to be tailored depending on the research that it will support (this is outlined in section 3.1.13). The main users of the system will be academic labs across the faculty of medical sciences. The scope of the contract is for the delivery, installation and commissioning of three incubator-based multi-user imaging systems capable of both brightfield and fluorescence imaging modalities (as specified in Section 3). Pricing for warranty, maintenance and after sales service must be provided within Section 4 Pricing Schedule. Ex-demonstration or reconditioned systems will be considered. Please note that the University reserves the right not to make an award of contract. Notification from the MRC will regarding the award of grant funding for the purchase of the systems will be confirmed at the beginning of November. To meet the MRC requirement for delivery, installation and payment the tender process will begin before funding is confirmed.

The scope of the contract is for the delivery, installation and commissioning of three incubator-based multi-user imaging systems capable of both brightfield and fluorescence imaging modalities (as specified in Section 3). Pricing for warranty, maintenance and after sales service must be provided within Section 4 Pricing Schedule. Ex-demonstration or reconditioned systems will be considered. Please note that the University reserves the right not to make an award of contract. Notification from the MRC will regarding the award of grant funding for the purchase of the systems will be confirmed at the beginning of November. To meet the MRC requirement for delivery, installation and payment the tender process will begin before funding is confirmed.

The Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS) within Newcastle University conducts significant discovery and clinical research on human tissue (healthy and diseased) as well as tissues from other relevant biological models. As part of an MRC equipment award (potential), the University are seeking to purchase a technology that can measure multiple protein biomarkers on various tissues and cellular samples with single cell spatial resolution. Due to the sheer nature and complexity of the biological/clinical questions, the system must be able to detect a minimum of 150 protein biomarkers on the same tissue/cell sample. Such a platform will underpin existing work by the FMS core technology platforms including flow cytometry, Bio-imaging and single cell technologies. As stated in the above background section, but to reiterate, this tender process is for an analysis platform that is able to detect and measure over 100 protein biomarkers with single-cell level spatial and morphometric resolution in various tissue sections (fixed/frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin embedded – FFPE- samples) as well as immobilised suspension/adherent primary cells and cell lines. The system should be easy to use with set up and walk away features and be able to utilise a range of freely available reagents from various competitive suppliers. It should also be able to be operated in a high-throughput manner with options for multi-slide loading and automated staining/imaging as one unit. The system must also come with dedicated data analysis options to include single cell segmentation, phenotypic exploration and spatial mapping. The system will be operated and supported by the Newcastle Flow Cytometry and Single cell analysis core facility team as a collaboration with the Bio-Imaging Unit. As part of the offer, we are seeking on-site training for a minimum of three people in all aspects of the platform’s operation, including any associated data analysis packages. The offer must include the specified warranty, service and maintenance cover specified in Section 3.2. Please note that the University reserves the right not to make an award of contract. Notification from the MRC about the award of grant funding for the purchase of the platform will be confirmed at the beginning of November. To meet the MRC requirement for delivery, installation and payment the tender process will begin before funding is confirmed.

The Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS) within Newcastle University conducts significant discovery and clinical research on human tissue (healthy and diseased) as well as tissues from other relevant biological models. As part of an MRC equipment award (potential), the University are seeking to purchase a technology that can measure multiple protein biomarkers on various tissues and cellular samples with single cell spatial resolution. Due to the sheer nature and complexity of the biological/clinical questions, the system must be able to detect a minimum of 150 protein biomarkers on the same tissue/cell sample. Such a platform will underpin existing work by the FMS core technology platforms including flow cytometry, Bio-imaging and single cell technologies. As stated in the above background section, but to reiterate, this tender process is for an analysis platform that is able to detect and measure over 100 protein biomarkers with single-cell level spatial and morphometric resolution in various tissue sections (fixed/frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin embedded - FFPE- samples) as well as immobilised suspension/adherent primary cells and cell lines. The system should be easy to use with set up and walk away features and be able to utilise a range of freely available reagents from various competitive suppliers. It should also be able to be operated in a high-throughput manner with options for multi-slide loading and automated staining/imaging as one unit. The system must also come with dedicated data analysis options to include single cell segmentation, phenotypic exploration and spatial mapping. The system will be operated and supported by the Newcastle Flow Cytometry and Single cell analysis core facility team as a collaboration with the Bio-Imaging Unit. As part of the offer, we are seeking on-site training for a minimum of three people in all aspects of the platform's operation, including any associated data analysis packages. The offer must include the specified warranty, service and maintenance cover specified in Section 3.2. Please note that the University reserves the right not to make an award of contract. Notification from the MRC about the award of grant funding for the purchase of the platform will be confirmed at the beginning of November. To meet the MRC requirement for delivery, installation and payment the tender process will begin before funding is confirmed.

The Biomedical Engineering research hub in the School of Engineering, as well as other research groups in the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering and Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University, require X-ray microtomography capabilities to support a wide range of research activities related to Medical Technologies. Therefore, we are looking to purchase an X-ray micro CT scanner that will enable us to develop new biomaterials and technologies for tissue engineering, analyse medical devices and explore new healthcare research frontiers on the microscale. This purchase is being funded by the Wolfson Foundation. The scope of this contract is for the supply, delivery and installation of the equipment as detailed in the ITT to the University, with after-sales support and 12 months warranty and maintenance. Expressions of interest in this project can be made by registering via the University's etendering portal at: https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert/Index?advertId=66b0c1bc-2951-ed11-811a-005056b64545 The contract reference is NU/1811. The deadline for expressing an interest in this tender is Thursday 17th November 2022 at 16:00 hours GMT

The Biomedical Engineering research hub in the School of Engineering, as well as other research groups in the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering and Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University, require X-ray microtomography capabilities to support a wide range of research activities related to Medical Technologies. Therefore, we are looking to purchase an X-ray micro CT scanner that will enable us to develop new biomaterials and technologies for tissue engineering, analyse medical devices and explore new healthcare research frontiers on the microscale. This purchase is being funded by the Wolfson Foundation. The scope of this contract is for the supply, delivery and installation of the equipment as detailed in the ITT to the University, with after-sales support and 12 months warranty and maintenance. Expressions of interest in this project can be made by registering via the University's etendering portal at: https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert/Index?advertId=66b0c1bc-2951-ed11-811a-005056b64545 The contract reference is NU/1811. The deadline for expressing an interest in this tender is Thursday 17th November 2022 at 16:00 hours GMT

Newcastle University's School of Engineering requires a Benchtop mass spectrometer with small footprint (<1m^2) for continuous analysis of gases and vapours (heated capillary inlet) from purity to <1 ppm, at or around ambient pressure, up to ~200C, with <0.5 s response time and option for fast scanning (analysis of transients). Must be compatible with existing Hiden QGA systems. Please supply a fully detailed quotation

Newcastle University's School of Engineering needs to upgrade their existing LaVision PIV System, as per the detail in the RFQ document available on our tender portal at the link below. Your proposal must be compatible with our existing LaVision PIV system. Please provide a detailed quote. https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert?advertId=89189ccf-066c-ed11-811b-9f38301b3091

Newcastle University is looking for a secure, customisable easy to use survey platform to collect and analyse data provided by our colleagues, contingent colleagues and postgraduate students across all Faculties. Data could be gathered through a quick pulse survey or as part of a comprehensive listening strategy with a view to generating actionable insights and identifying opportunities for impact. Newcastle University has in the region of 28,000 students and 6,000 staff. The University requires a licence for approximately 6,500 stakeholders who may use the survey platform as end users. To date various licence agreements have been in place across the University for a range of survey platform providers for use across research, academic and cross-cutting requirements. The lack of consistency in terms of features and capability of these platforms has led to challenges when conducting data gathering exercises across target audiences. Therefore, the University is clear that the need to administer well-designed surveys exceeds the scale and capability of existing provision. The University’s ambition is to provide a positive survey experience for all colleagues and students, enabled by a platform which includes powerful analytics, reporting tools and technical support when needed. The scope of this tender is for the supply and support of a survey platform to be used by all members of the University, including those located in our Branch Campuses in Malaysia and Singapore. Please note that tenders are only invited from bidders who have an existing off the shelf solution, deployed in an educational institutions of comparable size and scale (as detailed in the ITT documentation). We will not consider bespoke solutions. The contract is expected to commence in January 2023 ready to ‘go-live’ in March 2023, but for purposes of licensing will run for an initial 12 months from the go-live date, ending March 2024. If the performance of the successful tenderer fulfils the expectations of the University during the initial 12-month contract period, then a further 12-month contract may be awarded to run from March 2023 until March 2024, subject to mutual agreement. A final 12-month contract may then also be awarded on the same basis, to run from March 2024 to March 2025. Expressions of interest in this project can be made by registering via the University etendering portal at: https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert/Index?advertId=04769952-ff60-ed11-811b-9f38301b3091 The contract reference is NU/1808. The deadline for expressing an interest is Thursday 8th December 2022 at 16:00 BST.

Newcastle University is looking for a secure, customisable easy to use survey platform to collect and analyse data provided by our colleagues, contingent colleagues and postgraduate students across all Faculties. Data could be gathered through a quick pulse survey or as part of a comprehensive listening strategy with a view to generating actionable insights and identifying opportunities for impact. Newcastle University has in the region of 28,000 students and 6,000 staff. The University requires a licence for approximately 6,500 stakeholders who may use the survey platform as end users. To date various licence agreements have been in place across the University for a range of survey platform providers for use across research, academic and cross-cutting requirements. The lack of consistency in terms of features and capability of these platforms has led to challenges when conducting data gathering exercises across target audiences. Therefore, the University is clear that the need to administer well-designed surveys exceeds the scale and capability of existing provision. The University's ambition is to provide a positive survey experience for all colleagues and students, enabled by a platform which includes powerful analytics, reporting tools and technical support when needed. The scope of this tender is for the supply and support of a survey platform to be used by all members of the University, including those located in our Branch Campuses in Malaysia and Singapore. Please note that tenders are only invited from bidders who have an existing off the shelf solution, deployed in an educational institutions of comparable size and scale (as detailed in the ITT documentation). We will not consider bespoke solutions. The contract is expected to commence in January 2023 ready to 'go-live' in March 2023, but for purposes of licensing will run for an initial 12 months from the go-live date, ending March 2024. If the performance of the successful tenderer fulfils the expectations of the University during the initial 12-month contract period, then a further 12-month contract may be awarded to run from March 2023 until March 2024, subject to mutual agreement. A final 12-month contract may then also be awarded on the same basis, to run from March 2024 to March 2025. Expressions of interest in this project can be made by registering via the University etendering portal at: https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert/Index?advertId=04769952-ff60-ed11-811b-9f38301b3091 The contract reference is NU/1808. The deadline for expressing an interest is Thursday 8th November 2022 at 16:00 BST.

The scope of this contract is for the supply and installation of an anaerobic cabinet with temperature and humidity control for growth of strict anaerobic bacteria.

The University has a gamma irradiator that was procured in 1994 for various applications in the field of biological sciences. With the advent of x-ray irradiators becoming more effective and flexible, they are now more popular and affordable alternatives than gamma irradiators. Indeed, coupled with inherently lower radiation risks and better safety profiles, several governments around the world, including the UK, have been encouraging the replacement of gamma irradiators with x-ray irradiators. The University seeks a contractor to decommission the irradiator described in Section 2.2 of the ITT, the disposal or recycling of the associated HASS of Cs-137 described in Section 2.3.2 of the ITT, and the disposal or recycling of other sealed sources described in Section 2.3.3. In this respect, the University expects the contractor to remove of the irradiator and the HASS from the University site and take full ownership and responsibility of the HASS thereafter. Similarly, the contractor is expected to remove and take full ownership and responsibility of all sealed sources listed in Appendix 1.

The University seeks a contractor to decommission the irradiator described in Section 2.2 of the ITT, the disposal or recycling of the associated HASS of Cs-137 described in Section 2.3.2 of the ITT, and the disposal or recycling of other sealed sources described in Section 2.3.3. In this respect, the University expects the contractor to remove of the irradiator and the HASS from the University site and take full ownership and responsibility of the HASS thereafter. Similarly, the contractor is expected to remove and take full ownership and responsibility of all sealed sources listed in Appendix 1. The University has a gamma irradiator that was procured in 1994 for various applications in the field of biological sciences. With the advent of x-ray irradiators becoming more effective and flexible, they are now more popular and affordable alternatives than gamma irradiators. Indeed, coupled with inherently lower radiation risks and better safety profiles, several governments around the world, including the UK, have been encouraging the replacement of gamma irradiators with x-ray irradiators. The model of the gamma irradiator is Gammacell 1000 Elite, identified by the serial number 259, and was manufactured by Nordion International Inc. The irradiator was procured by the University in February 1994, and a copy of the Certificate of Measurement is available if required. The irradiator comprises a fire-resistant plastic cabinet surrounding a steel frame, on which a stator and rotor sit. The dimensions of the irradiator are 84 cm wide by 81 cm deep and 160 cm high. It is anticipated that the whole irradiator unit weighs over 1100 kg. The stator contains the radiation source, and the rotor contains the sample chamber. From the control panel, a direct current can be applied to the rotor to rotate the sample chamber into the radiation field in the stator for a prescribed time and return to the “load/unload” position. Access to the sample chamber is gained by opening a door in the cabinet. However, an interlock system prevents operation of the unit when the door is open. A battery backup has been added, which in the event of power lost will return the rotor to the “load/unload” position. Both the rotor and stator are made from lead alloy encased in steel jackets, which also act as the radiation shields. Measured external radiation dose rates in the operating condition showed no greater than 10 µSv/h at 10 cm from the accessible surfaces of the unit. Dose rate measurements are carried out every 6 months. The irradiator is located within the University’s Medical School in a secure ground floor room. The full address can be provided to the contractor. The entirety of the irradiator, including the electrical component of the rotor and stator, as well as the HASS, is to be considered in this tender for decommissioning.

There is a large and growing number of research groups from multiple schools across the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering at Newcastle University which would benefit from the rapid and cost-efficient prototyping capabilities of a maskless aligner for optical lithography. Therefore, we are looking to purchase a maskless aligner for optical lithography to meet this growing need. Such a system will enable us to rapidly and cost-efficiently fabricate electronic, photonic, and mechanical devices with microscale precision, high throughput, and superior reliability, thereby accelerating our University's research productivity and allowing us to explore new research frontiers on the microscale. The scope of this contract is for the supply, delivery and help in installation of the equipment detailed in Invitation to Tender document to the University, with after-sales support and 24 months warranty and maintenance. Expressions of interest in this project can be made by registering via the University's etendering portal at: https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert/Index?advertId=d605e381-2564-ed11-811b-9f38301b3091 The contract reference is NU/1833. The deadline for expressing an interest in this tender is Monday 12th December 2022 at 16:00 hours GMT

There is a large and growing number of research groups from multiple schools across the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering at Newcastle University which would benefit from the rapid and cost-efficient prototyping capabilities of a maskless aligner for optical lithography. Therefore, we are looking to purchase a maskless aligner for optical lithography to meet this growing need. Such a system will enable us to rapidly and cost-efficiently fabricate electronic, photonic, and mechanical devices with microscale precision, high throughput, and superior reliability, thereby accelerating our University’s research productivity and allowing us to explore new research frontiers on the microscale. The scope of this contract is for the supply, delivery and help in installation of the equipment detailed in Invitation to Tender document to the University, with after-sales support and 24 months warranty and maintenance. Expressions of interest in this project can be made by registering via the University's etendering portal at: https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert/Index?advertId=d605e381-2564-ed11-811b-9f38301b3091 The contract reference is NU/1833. The deadline for expressing an interest in this tender is Monday 12th December 2022 at 16:00 hours GMT

Newcastle University is looking for a secure, customisable easy to use survey platform to collect and analyse data provided by our colleagues, contingent colleagues and postgraduate students across all Faculties. Data could be gathered through a quick pulse survey or as part of a comprehensive listening strategy with a view to generating actionable insights and identifying opportunities for impact. Newcastle University has in the region of 28,000 students and 6,000 staff. The University requires a licence for approximately 6,500 stakeholders who may use the survey platform as end users. To date various licence agreements have been in place across the University for a range of survey platform providers for use across research, academic and cross-cutting requirements. The lack of consistency in terms of features and capability of these platforms has led to challenges when conducting data gathering exercises across target audiences. Therefore, the University is clear that the need to administer well-designed surveys exceeds the scale and capability of existing provision. The University's ambition is to provide a positive survey experience for all colleagues and students, enabled by a platform which includes powerful analytics, reporting tools and technical support when needed. The scope of this tender is for the supply and support of a survey platform to be used by all members of the University, including those located in our Branch Campuses in Malaysia and Singapore. Please note that tenders are only invited from bidders who have an existing off the shelf solution, deployed in an educational institutions of comparable size and scale (as detailed in the ITT documentation). We will not consider bespoke solutions. The contract is expected to commence in January 2023 ready to 'go-live' in March 2023, but for purposes of licensing will run for an initial 12 months from the go-live date, ending March 2024. If the performance of the successful tenderer fulfils the expectations of the University during the initial 12-month contract period, then a further 12-month contract may be awarded to run from March 2023 until March 2024, subject to mutual agreement. A final 12-month contract may then also be awarded on the same basis, to run from March 2024 to March 2025. Expressions of interest in this project can be made by registering via the University etendering portal at: https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert/Index?advertId=04769952-ff60-ed11-811b-9f38301b3091 The contract reference is NU/1808. The deadline for expressing an interest is Thursday 15th November 2022 at 16:00 BST.