I-RED Southeast XLerator Network: Business Fundamentals for Core Facility Directors

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Project Summary Biomedical research is increasingly reliant on sophisticated technology that requires advanced technical skills. This shift in structure of academic research environments demands sufficient resources to perpetuate cutting edge research programs. Therefore, there is an increasing need for highly functional institutionally-based cores providing services with a rate structure that facilitates optimal use of funding sources. While service core facilities are desired in the research landscape, it is widely acknowledged that these operations face many challenges to deliver useful products on a sustained basis. A common institutional deficiency of service core management is lack of consistent development and oversight. Core implementation and maintenance are frequently performed in the absence of formal business and organizational training for the institute, directors, and staff. This gap has highlighted the need for training, and potentially certification, of those engaged with supervision and operations of service cores. This gap could be filled by a curriculum that covers a spectrum of considerations for developing and managing successful cores. Based on this rationale, the central theme of this proposal is to develop a curriculum providing institutional assistance for all offices and individuals associated with service cores to facilitate an enhanced research and related business acumen environment for the hosting institute. The proposed curriculum will be organized to contain the following elements: Element 1. Phases of cores for implementation and sustainability. Element 2. Staff and equipment availability plan. Element 3. Fiscal management. Element 4. User base growth of core facilities. Element 5. Value of cores to the academic mission of the institute. The plan for the implementation of the curriculum is that extensive content will be provided in a visual mode that will facilitate assimilation of the material. After piloting this curriculum with the IDeA States’ core personnel, we intend to develop this into a product to be offered on a continuous basis to personnel in diverse locations.