Overview

Generate revenue by allowing external users (industry, other institutions) fee-based access to specialized research equipment or facilities ("Research Equipment Sharing Economy").

Core Concept

This initiative involves formally establishing and marketing fee-based access to the university's specialized research equipment, instrumentation, laboratories, cleanrooms, animal facilities, or other unique resources (often organized as "core facilities"). 

Access is provided to external users—such as industry partners, researchers from other academic institutions, government labs, and startups—who need these capabilities but may lack in-house resources. Revenue generated is structured to cover the full costs of providing access (operations, maintenance, technical support, consumables, depreciation, administrative overhead, and university F&A), with any surplus contributing to facility upgrades, sustainability, or supporting the host department/center.

Implementation Strategy & Key Steps

• Phase 1: Planning & Setup:
  • Inventory & Assessment: Identify core facilities or specific high-value equipment with available capacity and external market demand. Assess the condition and maintenance status of resources.
    
    
  • Management Structure: Define operational oversight – centralized (e.g., an Office of Research Cores) or decentralized (managed by departments/centers hosting the facilities).
    
    
  • Policy Development: Create clear policies governing external user eligibility, access priority (internal users typically first), required safety training, data handling, liability, and IP (usually user retains data from fee-for-service access).
    
    
  • Pricing Model: Develop a tiered rate structure (e.g., internal academic, external academic, industry/commercial) based on meticulous full cost-recovery calculations (including technician time, service contracts, consumables, depreciation, administrative overhead, and applicable F&A rates).
    
    
  • Legal Framework: Draft standardized access agreements, service contracts, liability waivers, and confidentiality agreements with Legal Counsel input.
    
    
  • Compliance Check: Ensure processes comply with relevant regulations (e.g., safety, environmental, export controls if applicable to technology or users).
    
    
• Phase 2: Launch & Operations:
  • Marketing & Outreach: Create a web presence showcasing available resources, capabilities, and rates. Promote services through university industry liaisons, research park networks, relevant conferences, and targeted outreach.
    
    
  • Systems Implementation: Deploy online systems for scheduling, equipment reservation, user management, and billing (e.g., iLab, FOM, or similar platforms).
    
    
  • Onboarding & Training: Establish clear procedures for registering external users, verifying credentials/insurance, providing mandatory safety training, and specific equipment training.
    
    
  • Pilot Phase: Begin with a limited number of external users to test workflows, scheduling, billing, and support processes.
    
    
• Phase 3: Scaling & Sustainability:
  • Refine & Expand: Optimize processes based on pilot feedback and operational data. Gradually expand marketing to attract more users if capacity allows.
    
    
  • Relationship Management: Build ongoing relationships with frequent external users.
    
    
  • Performance Monitoring: Regularly review utilization rates, revenue generation, cost recovery, and user satisfaction. Adjust pricing and service offerings as needed.
    
    
  • Reinvestment Strategy: Develop a plan for using any generated surplus for equipment maintenance, upgrades, or replacement to ensure long-term viability.
    
    

Key Stakeholders & Roles

• Internal:
  • Core Facility Managers/Directors: Oversee day-to-day operations, manage staff, ensure equipment maintenance, implement policies, manage budgets.
    
    
  • Core Facility Technical Staff: Operate equipment, maintain instruments, train internal/external users, provide technical assistance.
    
    
  • Department Chairs/Center Directors: Provide strategic oversight for facilities within their units, advocate for resources.
    
    
  • Office of Research: May provide central coordination, policy development, compliance oversight, and support for core facilities.
    
    
  • Environmental Health & Safety (EHS): Develops and enforces safety protocols, approves safety training programs for external users.
    
    
  • Legal Counsel: Reviews and approves agreements, advises on liability and IP issues.
    
    
  • Finance Office: Manages billing system integration, invoicing, payment collection, revenue accounting, ensures correct F&A application.
    
    
  • Principal Investigators/Internal Users: Primary users of the facilities; stakeholders in ensuring access policies are fair.
    
    
• External:
  • Industry R&D Departments: Need access for specific analyses, testing, prototyping.
    
    
  • Startup Companies: Lack capital for expensive equipment, need access for product development.
    
    
  • Researchers (Other Universities/Govt Labs): Need access to unique capabilities not available at their home institution.
    
    
  • Consulting Firms: May use facilities on behalf of their clients.
    
    

Resource Requirements

• Personnel: Primarily leverages existing core facility managers and technical staff. May require increased staff time or additional hires if external demand significantly increases administrative or operational workload. Business development/marketing effort.
  
  
• Financial: Relies on the substantial prior investment in the equipment and facilities. Ongoing budget needed for maintenance contracts (crucial), repairs, consumables, utilities, technician salaries, administrative support systems (scheduling/billing software), and marketing. External user fees must be set to cover these comprehensive costs.
  
  
• Infrastructure/Technology: The specialized research equipment and laboratory facilities themselves. Robust scheduling, reservation, user management, and billing software platform. Secure facility access control systems.
  
  
• Policy/Administrative: Comprehensive policies governing external access, safety, liability, IP, data management, and pricing. Standardized legal agreements. Efficient administrative processes for onboarding, scheduling, and billing external users.

Potential Challenges & Mitigation

• Internal vs. External Access Conflicts: External use limiting access for university researchers, especially on high-demand instruments.
  • Mitigation: Implement clear scheduling rules prioritizing internal academic use (e.g., specific time blocks, advance booking limits for external users); use tiered pricing reflecting priority; ensure transparency via online calendars; monitor usage patterns to adjust policies.
    
    
• Increased Wear & Tear / Maintenance Burden: Higher usage accelerating equipment degradation and increasing maintenance costs/downtime.
  • Mitigation: Factor costs of comprehensive service contracts, preventative maintenance, and eventual replacement (depreciation) into external rates; enforce rigorous user training and operating protocols; potentially require staff operation for sensitive equipment used by external clients.
    
    
• Safety & Liability Risks: Untrained external users causing accidents, damaging equipment, or violating safety protocols.
  • Mitigation: Mandate comprehensive, documented safety training specific to the facility/equipment; require proof of liability insurance from external organizations; use clear liability waivers/agreements; ensure adequate staff supervision, especially initially.
    
    
• Protecting External User Confidentiality: Industry users need assurance that their proprietary work is protected.
  • Mitigation: Utilize formal confidentiality agreements; train staff on maintaining confidentiality; provide secure data handling procedures if necessary; structure facility layout to minimize incidental observation if feasible.
    
    
• Achieving Full Cost Recovery: Difficulty in accurately calculating all associated costs (especially indirect/overhead, depreciation, staff time) and setting rates that cover them while remaining competitive.
  • Mitigation: Conduct detailed activity-based costing analysis; adhere to university policies on F&A application for service centers; benchmark rates transparently; clearly articulate the value (access to unique tech/expertise).
    
    
• Administrative Complexity: Managing contracts, training verification, scheduling, billing, and compliance for numerous external users.
  • Mitigation: Invest in robust core facility management software; standardize all agreements and procedures; centralize administrative tasks where efficient; ensure pricing covers administrative overhead.

Success Metrics & Evaluation

• Financial: Total external revenue generated; % cost recovery achieved (compared to full costs); net revenue or surplus generated; contribution to service contract funding or equipment reserves.
  
  
• Utilization: Equipment hours used by external clients; % of available capacity utilized externally; number and diversity of external organizations served.
  
  
• Operational: Instrument uptime/reliability; user satisfaction survey results (both internal and external users); turnaround time for services (if applicable).
  
  
• Strategic Impact: New industry partnerships formed through facility use; contribution to the facility's long-term financial sustainability.
  
  
• Evaluation: Annual review by facility management, advisory committees (including user representatives), and relevant university offices (Research, Finance). Analysis of financial reports, utilization data, user feedback. Comparison against internal goals and external benchmarks.

University Policy Considerations

• Service Center / Core Facility Policy: University-wide rules for establishing, operating, managing finances (costing, rate setting, billing), and decommissioning core facilities.
  
  
• External Sales / Service Activity Policy: Rules governing provision of services to external entities.
  
  
• External User Access Policy: Specific terms for non-university users accessing facilities (eligibility, priority, training, insurance).
  
  
• Environmental Health & Safety Policies: Mandatory compliance by all users, including specific training requirements.
  
  
• Liability & Risk Management Policies: Requirements for insurance, waivers, indemnification.
  
  
• Intellectual Property Policy: Confirmation that fee-for-service usage typically means the user owns the data/results generated directly from the service (distinct from collaborative research).
  
  
• Data Management & Confidentiality Policies: Guidelines for handling external user data.
  
  
• F&A (Indirect Cost) Policy: Application of appropriate F&A rates to external service center revenue.
  
  
• Financial Policies: Rate setting approval process, billing procedures, revenue management.
  
  
• Export Control Regulations: Compliance required if technology or users are subject to these controls.