Official UK procurement notice
5085.SH.JN - Advanced Nano-Mechanical Characterisation System with Integrated Fluorescence
Authority: University of Sheffield (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionBackground
The University of Sheffield is seeking information from suppliers of advanced nano-mechanical characterisation systems capable of measuring the mechanical properties of biological and soft materials whilst simultaneously providing optical and fluorescence imaging capabilities.
This notice forms part of a pre-market engagement exercise and does not constitute a commitment to commence a procurement process. The University wishes to understand the range of technologies available within the marketplace, identify potential suppliers, and gather information on solutions capable of meeting the requirements outlined below.
Facility Context
The instrument will be housed within a multidisciplinary biological imaging facility that supports researchers from across the Faculties of Science, Engineering, and Health.
The facility provides access to advanced microscopy and image analysis technologies and supports a diverse user base including cell biologists, biomedical researchers, biomaterials scientists, tissue engineers, and translational medicine researchers.
The proposed system will form part of a broader suite of imaging technologies and will be made available to multiple research groups through a shared-access facility model.
Intended Applications
The University is interested in systems capable of supporting research in areas including:
●Cellular and sub-cellular biomechanics
●Mechanobiology
●Biomaterials characterisation
●Tissue engineering
●Cell-material interactions
●Cancer biology
●Developmental biology
●Regenerative medicine
Typical experiments may involve the measurement of mechanical properties of:
●Living cells
●Cell-derived matrices
●Biological tissues
●Engineered biomaterials
Researchers may also wish to correlate mechanical measurements with fluorescence-labelled cellular structures and biological processes.
Technical Requirements
The University is interested in solutions that provide:
Nano-mechanical Characterisation
●Quantitative measurement of force-displacement relationships.
●Measurement of elastic and viscoelastic properties of soft materials.
●High force sensitivity suitable for biological samples.
●Capability to perform indentation-based mechanical measurements.
●Support for force mapping and spatially resolved mechanical measurements.
Optical Imaging
●Integrated optical microscopy suitable for sample visualisation during measurements.
●High-quality transmitted light imaging.
●Precise co-registration between imaging and mechanical measurements.
Fluorescence Imaging
●Integrated fluorescence imaging capability.
●Support for commonly used biological fluorophores.
●Ability to visualise fluorescently labelled structures before, during, or after mechanical measurements.
●Software support for image acquisition and analysis.
Environmental Control
●Compatibility with live biological samples.
●Temperature-controlled measurements.
●Suitable environmental conditions for maintaining cell viability during experiments.
Software and Data Analysis
●User-friendly software suitable for a multi-user research environment.
●Data export capabilities.
●Quantitative analysis tools.
●Support for image and mechanical data correlation.
Facility Operation
The system should be suitable for operation within a shared university research facility and support:
●Multiple users with varying levels of expertise.
●Robust operation and reproducible measurements.
●Training and access control workflows.
●Long-term service and maintenance support.
Information Requested from Suppliers
Suppliers are invited to provide information regarding:
●Relevant systems currently available.
●Technical specifications.
●Unique capabilities and differentiating features.
●Typical installation requirements.
●Training and support arrangements.
●Service and maintenance options.
●Indicative lead times.
●Indicative pricing structures.
Future Procurement
Information gathered through this exercise will be used to inform the University's understanding of the market and may contribute to the development of a future procurement process. Participation in this engagement exercise will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any subsequent procurement activity.
The University welcomes responses from all suppliers capable of providing systems that meet, or substantially meet, the requirements outlined above.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the eSourcing portal at:
neupc.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Sheffi… ↗
To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
CPV: Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How University of Sheffield buys Laboratory, optical and precision (CPV 38), and who usually turns up
University of Sheffield’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Laboratory, optical and precision (CPV 38) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Here, local means registered in Yorkshire and the Humber.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Yorkshire and the Humber.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 18 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid57% / 39%
2–343% / 48%
4–60% / 9%
7+0% / 4%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate13% / 29%
Within ±2%25% / 24%
Above estimate63% / 48%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1Published estimate£349k
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 23 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid39%
2–348%
4–69%
7+4%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 19 Jun 2026, 14:51 BST
- Last source update
- 19 Jun 2026, 14:51 BST
- Authority reference
5085.SH.JN- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-058170- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06b955Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
19 Jun 2026 → 3 Aug 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published124 days ago19 Jun 2026, 14:51 BST
- Market engagement112 days ago30 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
The engagement deadline is 30/06/2026 at 12 noon (UK time). Please see our Delta tendering portal for submissions of interest.
- Contract starts79 days ago3 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published19 Jun 2026, 14:51 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender