two women in lab

Core facilities make specialized research technology and expertise available to the entire local research community, often for a fee. They are traditionally associated with expensive scientific instrumentation (microscopes, NMR, flow cytometry facilities, etc.) Here at MSU, core facilities are overseen by MSU’s Office of Research rather than by individual academic departments.

When you use one of MSU’s core facilities, you are collaborating with professionals who specialize in helping you obtain, analyze, and interpret high quality research data. You are also investing in the local economy and partnering with us to train the next generation of researchers.

We recommend reaching out to the core you want to work with to schedule an intake meeting where you can discuss your project needs.

Yes! Core staff are experts in their research areas and can guide you through this process.

The initial intake meeting is a great opportunity to discuss whether you can walk into the facility or need to sign up for usage in advance.

Most of our cores are able to accept samples via mail. Please check with them during the intake meeting.

Many cores offer trainings for using their instrumentation. Please reach out to the core you want to work with, and they can help you schedule training. MSU also requires that external users who want to come to campus and use any MSU space or equipment themselves must sign a facilities use agreement (FUA) which protects the university in case of damage to our equipment. An FUA is not required if you are simply hiring our staff to operate core equipment on your behalf.

Depending upon the scope of your project, you will likely need to sign either a testing services or research agreement. Project work can only begin once there is a signed agreement in place.

User fees are unique to each core and are posted on their individual websites. Core staff can help you estimate project costs as needed.

Instructions for payment are located on the invoices that you will receive from the core you work with. We are able to receive payment by check, and, in some cases, via credit card.

Many of our cores offer an external academic/non-profit/government rate for their services.

Absolutely. Our core staff would be happy to provide you with suggested language to include in your manuscripts.

Even if we do not have the exact capabilities you are looking for, our core staff may be able to point you towards resources located elsewhere, or even arrange special collaborations (i.e. collecting data at a neighboring institution and analyzing the data in-house). Please also feel free to leave us a comment to suggest how we can improve our core program.