The agency is gauging market interest. No bid is being requested yet — submitting a capabilities statement may put you on the radar for the eventual solicitation.
The NIH needs a small business to provide a new Leica Microsystems Stellaris Microscope System with Confocal, 3DSTED, FLIM, and Spectral Multiplexing imaging capabilities.
Key Details
The NIH lab needs a new microscope system to provide investigators with improved sensitivity, resolution, and advanced imaging modalities for modern cellular and subcellular research. The current Leica SP8 confocal microscope will be traded in as a line-item discount toward the new system. The Stellaris platform is required to enable advanced confocal imaging, three-dimensional STED super-resolution, fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM), and high-plex spectral multiplexing workflows (up to 15 colors) to support spatial-omics-type studies and other complex multi-parameter imaging experiments.
- What exactly do they need?
- A Leica Microsystems Stellaris Microscope System with Confocal, 3DSTED, FLIM, and Spectral Multiplexing imaging capabilities.
- The system must have a white light laser with tunable excitation range 440-790 nm with AOBS system.
- It must have prism-based fluorescence detection with variable emission windows to 850 nm.
- Five Hybrid (HyD) detectors optimized for spectral detection across approximately 400-850 nm are required.
- 3D STED super-resolution, FLIM, and pulse picker capabilities are also needed.
- The system must be able to fast-switch between galvo and resonant scanning to support both high-resolution and high-speed imaging needs.
- Objective correction-collar support for existing lenses and a new Leica 86x water-immersion objective with correction collar are required.
- High-plex spectral multiplexing capability to image of 15 (or more) fluorescent colors per sample is also needed.
- What's the contract structure and timeline?
- The notice doesn't say.
- How will they pick the winner?
- The notice doesn't say.
- When and how do you bid?
- Submit a capability statement to robinsti@mail.nih.gov by June 22, 2026, referencing solicitation # 75N98026R00098. The statement must include the name and telephone number, and email address of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Offers must also be accompanied by descriptive literature, delivery timeframe, warranties, and other information that demonstrates that the offer meets all the foregoing requirements.
Who can apply
- Must be a certified small business, including 8(a) small businesses, small, disadvantaged businesses, woman-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, or HUBZone small businesses.
Heads up — easy to miss
- Capability statements must include the name and telephone number, and email address of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives.
If you're interested, do this first
- Check that your small business certification is still active in SAM.gov.
- Write a capability statement demonstrating your experience, skills, and capability to fulfill the Government's requirements for the Leica Microsystems Stellaris Microscope System with Confocal, 3DSTED, FLIM, and Spectral Multiplexing imaging capabilities.