(NU/2062) Supply of an Image-Guided Small Animal Radiation Research System

Description

Image-guided targeted radiotherapy is a cornerstone standard-of-care for cancer. Close-to-clinic modelling of contemporary therapies, using disease-relevant in vivo models, is fundamental to translational advances and their clinical application. Therefore, the Newcastle University would like to procure an image-guided small animal irradiator capable of precisely directing an X-ray beam to the designated target area. Integrating targeted radiotherapy into pre-clinical animal studies is essential for state-of-the-art discovery and translational cancer programmes and our objective to deliver improved patient outcomes. This purchase is being funded by the UK Research and Innovation Medical Research Council (UKRI-MRC). The scope of this contract is for the supply, delivery, installation, and commissioning of the equipment, detailed in Section 3.1 Technical Specification of the ITT, to the University, with after-sales support and a minimum 60-month combined warranty and maintenance. It also includes all training necessary for the system's safe and reliable operation and a complete set of operating and maintenance documents. It is imperative to provide training for a minimum of two operators, followed by two days of annual training sessions for the duration of the service contract. Additionally, we are seeking a supplier who demonstrates a strong commitment to establishing collaborative partnerships and is willing to co-fund the training of a PhD student as part of the project. Suppliers should only respond if they can supply and install the equipment no later than the 15th February 2025. Newcastle University is not classified as a contracting authority and as such is not obliged to comply with Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR), although we may choose to do so if required by a public funding body. For the avoidance of doubt, this opportunity is not being tendered as a regulated procedure under PCR but will follow an equivalent procedure deemed by the University to be fair and transparent.