Access and Policies

In general, we offer four types of access to our shared research infrastructure:

1) Research projects
2) Full research services
3) Trained user access | user labs
4) Shared technology platform

Typically, these are set but not limited by the offered technology or instrument, and differ in the required user expertise, the usability of a technology, the user’s pre- and postprocessing input, and the underlying operational models.

Research project

Research projects are the equivalent of contract research organizations (CRO). The customer submits the starting material/sample and receives the ready-to-use data for publication. Hence, core facility members are often co-authoring and involved in the entire publication process.

Full research service

The user submits the sample, we perform a pre-defined workflow (incl. QC) and process the raw data. Data interpretation or contributions to publications cannot be offered in this service mode.

Trained user access | User labs

VBCF experts maintain an instrument park and train users to operate it. This requires a certain level of expertise, maturity of the offered technology, a hands-on attitude and reliability from the user.

Shared technology platform | Instrument park

These technologies require expert knowledge to run the offered instruments. Experts are hired by one of the research institutes on the Vienna BioCenter Campus. The experts maintain an instrument park, run the experiments and train other trainers. Machines can only be operated by experts.

The VBCF NGS facility provides full research service and trained user access to smaller instruments (MiSeq, MinIon).
To estimate feasibility and allocable resources, we strongly recommend contacting our team when planning a sequencing experiment. Queuing follows a first come, first served policy.

All relevant information for users (User Guide, Price List, and General Cooperation Conditions) can be found in our sample management interface Forskalle for registered users. Please create an account on https://ngs.vbcf.ac.at/forskalle3/signup if you don't already have one. If your research group is not listed there, contact us to set it up for you.

In general, the VBCF’s general cooperation conditions apply. Please contact the NGS team for further information and to discuss your specific project needs.