Award

Custom Electrophysiology System

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Summary of the contracting process

The University of Edinburgh recently completed a public procurement process for a Custom Electrophysiology System. This bespoke system was procured through a limited award procedure without prior publication to support ongoing research and collaboration efforts within the Education sector. The system was designed to integrate seamlessly with existing research equipment, ensuring continuity and compatibility to conduct critical experiments accurately. The contract, with a total value of £96,976.44 GBP, was signed on 25th November 2022 at the University's premises in Chambers Street, Edinburgh.

This tender presents a unique business opportunity for suppliers specializing in highly specialised scientific instruments, particularly those experienced in supplying to educational and research institutions. The successful supplier, Scientifica, demonstrated expertise in providing tailored solutions for academic research purposes. Businesses proficient in complex instrumentation integration and meeting specific technical requirements would be well-suited to compete for similar tailored procurement opportunities within the education and scientific research sectors.

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Notice Title

Custom Electrophysiology System

Notice Description

Supply & installation of of a highly specialised electrophysiology instrument used to study current / voltage changes across cell membranes.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Supply & installation of a highly specialised electrophysiology instrument used to study current / voltage changes across cell membranes. The instrument will be used by Dyson RAD Dementia Research Acceleration Project team within the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences to further their research. This system is being procured to accelerate research already underway and complements existing systems used by the research group and their partners

Options: The University retains the option to obtain additional or extended warranty from the manufacturer.

Procurement Information

This system is being procured to accelerate research already underway and complements existing systems used by the research group and their partners. Any risks to the consistency of this research based on altering established workflows and by introducing system interfaces between differing manufacturers needs to be removed. Specifically, matching the parts on this electrophysiology rig with those on an existing multiphoton microscope used by the researchers means experiments that require to combine information from both high resolution microscopy and electrophysiology can be conducted in the same environment, using an identical set up and key components which is crucial for enabling accuracy and translatability between the two systems. In addition, the research group collaborates in their work and associated experiments with another research body who also use this system. Continuity is a key issue given switching between manufacturers would introduce too much variability in the data as such experiments are highly sensitive to even small changes in protocol and would require experimental protocols to be re-designed and optimised from scratch. This would be an enormous waste of valuable experimental time, grant money, and rare biological tissue such as human brain samples. This system is further compatible with another unique piece of equipment, a multi-electrode array system, and has been developed to ensure optimal performance of both systems together, including avoidance of electrical noise, vibrations and software integration, and resources such as perfusion, drug injection systems and microscopes are interchangeable.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-r6ebe6-0000720067
Publication Source
Public Contracts Scotland
Latest Notice
https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JAN469341
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
PCS Notice - Website Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Goods
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

33 - Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals and personal care products


CPV Codes

33100000 - Medical equipments

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£96,976 Under £100K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
24 Jan 20233 years ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
25 Nov 20223 years ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Active

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
Contact Name
Tim Higgins
Contact Email
tim.higgins@ed.ac.uk
Contact Phone
+44 1316502508

Buyer Location

Locality
EDINBURGH
Postcode
EH1 1HT
Post Town
Edinburgh
Country
Scotland

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM1 East Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM13 City of Edinburgh
Delivery Location
TLM75 City of Edinburgh

Local Authority
City of Edinburgh
Electoral Ward
City Centre
Westminster Constituency
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

SCIENTIFICA

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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