University College Dublin and the University of Limerick tendered collaboratively for their requirements. Both institutions will evaluated proposals separately. This specification described the minimum technical requirements and minimum acceptable performance standards for an advanced materials/surface characterization system including XPS /AES /SIMS for the analysis of a broad range of materials. This System will be located in the Nano Imaging and Material analysis Centre (NIMAC), University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland. This system will be used by NIMAC personnel to analyse the samples provided by research groups from UCD and other Universities as well as external industrial customers. This instrument will be placed in a multiple user facility and must provide ease of operation and safety to those in the facility. The specification for Lot 2 describes the minimum technical requirements and minimum acceptable performance standards for an imaging X-ray photoelectron Spectrometer (iXPS) for the analysis of a broad range of materials in support of research within the Materials and Surface Science Institute (MSSI) at the University of Limerick (UL), Ireland. The iXPS instrument will be installed by the contractor at the MSSI. This system will be used by MSSI personnel to analyse the samples provided by research groups from UL and other Universities as well as external industrial customers. The iXPS instrument will be placed in a multiple user facility and must provide ease of operation and safety to those in the facility.