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The research core facilities seek to enable research by providing access to equipment, technologies too expensive for single labs to operate and expertise to researchers needing it.

In the context of multidisciplinary and team-based science, research core facilities are essential to facilitate the use of technologies and approaches outside of the researchers’ expertise. Research core facilities have been defined as “a collaborator that will not say ‘no’ unless there are technical feasibilities concerns.”

Research core facilities offer potential benefits such as:

• Increased utilization of the infrastructure and broader access to state-of-the-art services, facilities and technologies offered by centralizing its management and operation.
• The strategic development of proposals, with a focus on the promotion of interdisciplinary collaborations, while avoiding duplication of infrastructure.
• A better utilization of resources through economies of scale and cost savings, and reduced duplication of efforts.
• Enhanced training for students, staff and faculty which leads to greater availability of technical expertise.
• Enhanced attraction and capacity to work with external users.
• An improved capacity to sustain the research infrastructure over its useful lifetime.

Currently SDSU has four active research core facilities:

Functional Genomics Core Facility

Located in Edgar S. McFadden Biostress Lab building.

This facility provides access to high-end light microscopy and some general molecular biology equipment. This facility is a self-service facility, where users are trained in the use of the equipment and reserve time for each equipment. Users are charged an hourly fee. The facility has a faculty director/coordinator and a full-time research scientist supported by the South ��ֱ���� Agricultural Experiment Station.

Mass Spectroscopy Core Facility

Located in the Avera Health and Science Center.

The facility provides access to mass spectroscopy analytical equipment. This facility is a hybrid facility where users can be trained and then reserve and use the equipment with an hourly use fee; users can also request their samples to be analyzed by the research associate supporting the facility. The facility has a faculty director/coordinator and a full-time research scientist, supported by the College of Natural Sciences and also helps develop isolation methods for compounds of interest.

Genomics Sequencing Facility

Located in the Young Brothers Seed Technology Building.

This facility provides nucleic acid sequencing services. The facility is full-service where users submit their samples for sequencing and are charged a fee based on the runs of the instrumentation and supplies used. In addition to a faculty director, the facility is supported by a postdoctoral scientist supported by grants and a research associate supported equally from grants and the South ��ֱ���� Agricultural Experiment Station.

High-Performance Computing

This facility is part of the Division for Information Technologies and provides access to computing clusters and high-end servers for research computing. The facility also provides support by installing new software and helping optimize run performance.

There are opportunities to develop other research core facilities including one or more housing equipment and expertise in materials characterization and microfabrication.

A research core facility should have a faculty director/coordinator (approximately 20% dedication) leading the technical expertise and financial management of the facility resources; depending on the mode of operation, each facility should have one or more technicians to train users, maintain equipment and process samples.

Some management recommendations include:

• To protect the facilities directors from negative impacts in promotion and tenure processes, a specific annual review should be included in the faculty’s promotion/tenure dossier.
• Develop clear best financial practices for facility directors to follow and consider unifying invoicing practices under a common management software.
• Consider acquiring/subscribing common facility management software for equipment reservations, used monitoring and invoicing.
• To ensure proper recognition, we should develop acknowledgment and authorship guidelines for facility personnel.
• To better capture facilities impact and improve success in future equipment funding opportunities, a manuscript and grant proposal reporting system should be developed with corresponding policy clearly explained to faculty and researchers.

This is a five-year development plan with the overall goals of:

• Improving awareness and trust in the research core facilities among campus stakeholders.
• Having an established mechanism of support for research core facilities.
• Integrating research core facilities in the educational, training and outreach offerings of the university.

Year 1 goals:

• Have one to two research core facilities with a higher user base.

Year 2 goals:

• Have one to two facilities with higher use.
• Update webpages regularly to highlight research applications made possible by each research core facility.
• Make regular presentations/seminars to colleges and departments.
• Have established one to two additional high-priority research core facilities.
• One of these facilities will be a material characterization research core facility.
• Develop a feedback mechanism to gather information on potential new research core facilities and new instrumentation/applications.
• Have established a plan for support and continuity of research core facilities.
• Develop a budget plan to present to associate deans for research, deans, provost and president.
• Have started integration of research core facilities in internal education and training.
• Develop one training workshop per research core facility.
• Work with Graduate School on a pathway to validate those workshops as credits.

Year 5 goals:

• Have established three additional high-priority research core facilities.
• Have all research core facilities at higher use.
• Have the research core facilities integrated in internal and external educational, training and outreach opportunities.