---
title: "Liquid Nitrogen Cryostat - AWARD"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-d956bfe3-4d3d-4ec1-a391-56a8682694dc"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-d956bfe3-4d3d-4ec1-a391-56a8682694dc"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-d956bfe3-4d3d-4ec1-a391-56a8682694dc.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-d956bfe3-4d3d-4ec1-a391-56a8682694dc.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON"
published: "2021-04-23"
---

# Liquid Nitrogen Cryostat - AWARD

Buyer: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-d956bfe3-4d3d-4ec1-a391-56a8682694dc

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## Summary

The University of Southampton is in the process of awarding a contract for the supply of a liquid nitrogen cryostat, valued at approximately £32,000. This procurement, classified under 'Laboratory, optical and precision equipment (excluding glasses)', is part of an open tender process, having concluded its tender period on 17 December 2020. The contract is expected to commence on 1 February 2021 and will run until 31 January 2022. The delivery address for the project is situated in Southampton, Hampshire, UK.

This contract presents significant opportunities for companies operating in the laboratory equipment sector, particularly those that specialise in cryogenic technology and advanced imaging systems. Businesses that can offer innovative solutions in the field of crystallography, as well as those who are capable of meeting the specific requirements for high-quality, timely delivery of laboratory equipment, would be well-positioned to compete for future tenders of this nature. With the National Crystallography Service seeking rapid turnaround and a high level of professionalism, suppliers adept in these areas may find particularly fruitful opportunities for growth.

## Notice

The UK National Crystallography Service (NCS) facility is amongst the most powerful and highest throughput of its type in the world, with its core business being to handle and examine samples that a typical academic crystallography unit cannot. The technique provides structural characterisation at atomic resolution, enabling the molecular and whole solid-state structure to be elucidated. It is based on taking a single crystallite and shining X-rays on it - the mathematical synthesis of the diffracted X-ray beams enables atomic positions to be calculated, hence providing the structure. A single crystal X-ray structure provides an unambiguous answer at an unparalleled resolution and is the gold standard for publishing new compounds and materials - without such a structure many new chemical syntheses simply wouldn't be strongly enough evidenced to publish. Modern synthesis methods and chemistry targets often simply don't produce crystals of a suitable size or quality for conventional apparatus to analyse, hence the significant requirement for recourse to more powerful facilities. The service focusses on the technique of single crystal diffraction applied to samples submitted by UK Chemistry, and related, disciplines. This technique provides the most detailed characterisation possible for solid-state chemicals and the NCS is dedicated to investigating the smallest and most-weakly scattering crystals that challenge the community. The ability to handle the most demanding samples in the Southampton laboratory is a key feature and provides an effective filter for a follow-on service where only the most challenging samples from across the country need to be examined at expensive and in-demand central facilities. The NCS has regular access to the world-leading I19 beamline at Diamond Light Source and facilitates access to the neutron facility, ISIS. In addition to structure determination and characterisation, the NCS also provides a range of highly advanced, structural chemistry research-based crystallographic studies including charge density, variable temperature, high pressure and gas cell techniques. A commercial service for the industrial sector is also available. Professionalism is a trademark of the NCS - it prides itself in exemplary and rigorous processes for sample handling and tracking, data management and publishing, a bespoke user interface and an ability to deliver to a demanding set of Key Performance Indicators. Sample turnaround time is rapid, with >95% samples being turned around within agreed times which are generally acknowledged as faster than most facilities. This means that this facility is often used to progress a research project in real time, as well as providing characterisation data on its final outputs. The NCS has just installed a new single crystal X-ray diffractometer system and requires a suitable open flow cryostat to be added to the system in order for data collections to be performed in the liquid ...

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/a6782c57-2ecc-4d93-925b-dea5af98af09 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 23 Apr 2021 |
| Submission deadline | 17 Dec 2020 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 21 Dec 2020 |
| Contract period | 1 Feb 2021 - 31 Jan 2022 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £32,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £31,832 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON |
| Locality | HAMPSHIRE |
| Post town | Southampton |
| Postcode | SO17 1BJ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ3 Hampshire and Isle of Wight |
| ITL 3 | TLJ32 Southampton |
| Local authority | Southampton |
| Electoral ward | Portswood |
| Westminster constituency | Southampton Test |
| Delivery location | TLJ South East (England) |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | OXFORD CRYOSYSTEMS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 38 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

### Codes

- 38000000 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

## Release History

- 23 Apr 2021 at 09:56 - AwardUpdate - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/a6782c57-2ecc-4d93-925b-dea5af98af09
- 23 Apr 2021 at 06:57 - AwardUpdate - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/a6782c57-2ecc-4d93-925b-dea5af98af09
- 23 Apr 2021 at 06:57 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/a6782c57-2ecc-4d93-925b-dea5af98af09

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/a6782c57-2ecc-4d93-925b-dea5af98af09
  23rd April 2021 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-d956bfe3-4d3d-4ec1-a391-56a8682694dc. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-d956bfe3-4d3d-4ec1-a391-56a8682694dc.json.