Lot 1
No lot description published.
Statuscomplete
AwardedFind a Tender · award
Advancing the metabarcoding assay validation framework
Buyer: Natural England →
BuyerNatural England
StatusAwarded
DeadlineNot published
ValueValue not published
Published11 Jul 2025
What is being bought
DNA-based methods have the potential to significantly change how we monitor and assess ecosystems. Natural England has been exploring the use of these methods for environmental monitoring for several years, delivering a series of reports which focus on the development of DNA-based methods with potential in a particular area. These methods are now being used more widely within Natural England, particularly the detection of ecological communities using environmental DNA (eDNA). This is often conducted by employing metabarcoding assays which target specific species assemblages (e.g. fish, mammals) or broader taxonomic groups (e.g. vertebrates, invertebrates, bacteria). The DNA Team aims to operationalise DNA-based methods and produces guidance for using them in monitoring projects. In order to provide sound recommendations, it is important that we understand the limitations of, and uncertainties with, DNA-based methods. Natural England staff need to be able to understand how DNA-derived data can be used, and the confidence they can have in data derived using different DNA-based methods which have been validated to different stages. Natural England previously commissioned the development of a framework to enable end users to assess confidence in metabarcoding assays and results (Pagaling and others, under review; a copy of the framework can be provided by Natural England upon request by emailing monitoring.innovation@naturalengland.org.uk). By using the checklist and levelled scale, end users can appropriately interpret results. It also provides validation and reporting standards for the development of new metabarcoding assays. The framework will enable end-users to determine the recommended scenarios for application of a given assay and improve assay performance with further validation. As part of development, the framework was trialled against five commonly used assays in the eDNA literature, with specific climate and habitat combinations to account for inherent differences in biodiversity between climates and different workflows used across habitats. Due to time and resource, only temperate climates and one or two habitats for each assay were considered, and the number of metabarcoding studies evaluated to assign a level for each assay varied. This project will advance the metabarcoding assay validation framework by expanding upon this trial to conduct a comprehensive literature review and meta-analysis, covering more assays being used for different purposes and in different contexts. Feedback on the framework will be sought from the wider eDNA community and a user guide created for applying the framework.
Lot details
Comparable-procurement analytics
No usable CPV category has been published, so a comparable market set cannot yet be built.
Procurement strategy & market signals
Framework agreementNot published
Dynamic purchasing systemNot published
Competitive procurementNot published
Recurring requirementNot published
Procurement method rationaleNot published
Rationale classificationsNot published
Special regimeNot published
Covered byNot published
Submission policyNot published
Selection criteriaNot published
Risk detailsNot published
Planning & early market engagement
BudgetNot published
No-engagement rationaleNot published
Planning documents0
Planning milestones0
No planning milestones published.
Related procurements
No linked framework, prior procurement or reprocurement published.
Awards
1
Statusactive
SupplierTHE JAMES HUTTON INSTITUTE
Contracts
1
Statusactive
Value£41,574
Documents & submission route
No documents are published in the current source record.
Source data inventory
Diagnostic view. “Not published” means this current release does not provide a value.
| OCID | ocds-h6vhtk-0524a3 |
|---|---|
| Latest release ID | 039190-2025 |
| Latest release timestamp | Fri Jul 11 2025 10:23:24 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) |
| Source | find-a-tender |
| Official notice URL | Not published |
| Tender status | complete |
| Procurement method | open |
| Procurement method details | Below threshold - open competition |
| Main procurement category | Not published |
| Above threshold | Not published |
| Legal basis | 2023/54 |
| Tender period: start | Not published |
| Tender period: end | Not published |
| Expression of interest deadline | Not published |
| Enquiry deadline | Not published |
| Award period: start | Not published |
| Award period: end | Not published |
| Submission method details | Not published |
| Submission languages | Not published |
| Electronic catalogue policy | Not published |
| Total tender value | Not published |
| Tender lots in source | 1 |
| Tender items in source | 0 |
| Tender documents in source | 0 |
| Awards in latest release | 1 |
| Contracts in latest release | 1 |
| Parties in latest release | 2 |
Notice history
| Date | Event | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Jul 2025 | award, contract | 039190-2025 |
| 6 Jun 2025 | tenderUpdate | 030739-2025 |
| 4 Jun 2025 | tenderUpdate | 029886-2025 |
| 27 May 2025 | tenderUpdate | 027852-2025 |
| 23 May 2025 | tender | 027002-2025 |
All source data
Unmodified official OCDS data retained by Tenderline for this procurement process.
Complete current OCDS release JSON
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