Utilize Harvard University Core Facilities

Statement of Interest must be submitted by December 10, 2023.

• Submit your statement of interest using this form [applications are now closed].

In the text box provided enter a brief description (<200 words) of the reason for applying. This may focus on:

• General interest (e.g. learn about specific core offerings)
• Technical interest (e.g. want to develop or run high-throughput assay)
• Experiment (e.g. want to perform a specific experiment, use specific equipment)

Upload your professional CV – preferably (but not required) an NIH-style biosketch, and use this naming convention: FirstName_LastName_Biosketch.

If the investigator holds a position other than assistant professor, please provide your supervising PI’s details. A link will be sent to them for verification and confirmation of their support for the proposed work.

• Your statement of interest will be reviewed by Harvard Catalyst for opportunity responsiveness only.
• The statement of interest will not be reviewed for scientific content.
• You will be notified of the results of the review process within one to two days of the close of the application process.
• All applicants with meeting the intent of this opportunity can then proceed to step two.

• All applicants must attend either a Zoom information session with the core directors on December 13, 2023 at 9:00-10:00am or December 15, 2023 at 11:00am-12:00pm, or alternatively, complete a visit to the core facility of interest.
• Applicants may visit more than one core but can only apply for use of one facility.
• Please contact Harvard Catalyst (reactor@catalyst.harvard.edu) if these dates are not feasible. Limited exceptions may be possible.
• Once you have attended a Zoom information session we will email you a link to the core use full application form.
• After you complete your onsite visit to your core facility of interest please email reactor@catalyst.harvard.edu ASAP after your visit so that we can email you the link to the application form.

To be submitted only after attending Zoom information session or visiting a core facility. Use the submission form emailed to you.

Applications must be submitted by January 12, 2024. 

Guidelines for submission.

• Submit your proposal uploaded as a single PDF. Please use this naming convention: FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME_PROPOSAL.
• The structure of the proposal is not specified.
• The total application can range from a paragraph to two pages.
• Provide a narrative description of your reason(s) for requesting support for learning more about a technology or experimental approach, consultation, facilitation, assistance and/or use of the technology at the designated core.
• Detailed information on the scientific background, rationale, or experiments is discouraged.
• Where a specific project or question exists, provide clarity about instruments, procedures and research materials expected to be used and/or desired from the core (descriptions can be brief, see FAQ for examples).
• Include your current view of how this experience will or might be useful beyond the scope of this program.
• The narrative should be reasonably free of complex scientific jargon.

Proposal Format

• Use Arial, black font color, and a font size of 11 point only.
• Applications should be single-spaced, with 0.5 inch margins.
• Appendix material will not be accepted.
• References are not required.
• Any figures or tables must be included in the body of the application and count towards page limits.

Administrative Requirements

• If applicable, list any biological reagents (eg cells, media) or technical equipment or instruments that will be brought to the core.
• Harvard Catalyst is supported by the National Institutes of Health National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NIH/NCATS).  Therefore if investigators will be using materials that in and of themselves require or required IRB or IACUC approval to obtain or use, please upload the approval for our records.
• Please use this naming convention: FirstName_LastName_AdminDocs

Note: Depending on the specific services offered at each core facility, the cost for services ranges from $30-$350 per hour or more. Based on these rates, we estimate that subsidized use/applicant will fall within the range of 3-8 hours. Core staff will work with you to plan and execute a core utilization plan that remains within the core’s allocated budget.

The purpose of this opportunity is to address the perceived gap in investigator knowledge of and access to Harvard core facilities. The separate steps allow us to see what works, what processes and facilitation are still missing, and how people with different needs perceive the value of the core facilities before and after having had some time to work with them. See also “Can you provide more details about the additional information that I will be asked to provide?”

• Multiple submissions are welcome.
• Please use a separate form for each idea.
• Note that only one award will be given.

• All investigators, regardless of your academic field.
• If you’re a lecturer, instructor, research scientist/associate, or postdoc, apply with PI support (form provided).
• Assistant professors, this opportunity is for you too.
• Associate and full professors are a no go, but your lab members can apply.

Examples can include:

• Learning about advanced tissue clearing methods at HCBI to enable the deep imaging of large tissue volumes using their state-of-the-art microscopes.
• Training and use of the nanofabrication facility to manufacture a device that you wished you had to improve your experiments.
• Running high-throughput screens of chemical or RNAi libraries to screen against a therapeutic target that you are interested in evaluating efficiently, but you haven’t been able to access this kind of specialized service.
• Access to specialized next-gen sequencing or library preparation services.

Other ideas worth considering:

• You work in a lab that is mostly molecular and you want to consider how different imaging might be applicable to your questions.
• You always wanted to move your research in a direction that requires using specialized instruments or technologies only to find that you couldn’t access them due to prohibitive costs.
• You wish you knew more about some of Harvard’s core facilities, their instruments and expertise, but didn’t know how to approach just for sake of learning or consultation on design.

We are asking you to provide feedback on your experiences during the course of the program because a driving rationale for this program is for Harvard Catalyst to be able to assess any advantages or disadvantages gained from subsidizing access to Harvard cores facilities.

In order to do this:

• We will be asking you to work with one of our project managers who will be an additional resource to facilitate your utilization of your designated core facility.
• You will be asked to provide information on your expectations, experience, and potential impact two to three times during the course of your participation.

We want to know that you know enough to make the best choice of core facility to fit your interests and/or your project.  It’s ok if your project changes as a result of this visit. You may also change your mind and decide that another core is a better fit.

Yes. Please provide us with any IRB or IACUC approvals or determinations that you have received for your project. As this is NIH-funded, we need this for our administrative records.

Additionally, if you need IRB or IACUC approval for your project you must have this in place before your project can start.

The answer is two-fold:

1. In the past, Harvard Catalyst programs have shown that providing investigators access to a core facility and its staff can significantly improve their ability to assess ideas and experimental designs/requirements, test samples, assess ideas, and explore new technologies.
2.  Additionally, this opportunity aims to address a specific roadblock: “the frequent invisibility and difficulty in accessing crucial research resources” that was identified by Harvard Catalyst as a roadblock common to Harvard and its affiliated institutions. This roadblock was identified in response to NIH’s request for each CTSC to recognize and overcome barriers hindering health-related research, as part of Harvard Catalyst’s new funding cycle.

One of the program’s objectives is to provide researchers access to otherwise unavailable or cost-prohibitive facilities. As such, making direct payments to the designated core facility eliminates requirements for subcontracts that would need to be executed with external institutions.

Importantly, this is also an opportunity for us to learn what matters to investigators about such access and how to improve core visibility and utilization for our research community.  This is better done as a centralized process than by 50-100 small awards. This also facilitates the participation of the Cores who would otherwise need to do a lot of work for what may be very transient investigator participation.

After the information session or visit to your designated core facility, we will email you the link to submit your full application.

• As the financial support is provided directly to the core by Harvard Catalyst, there are no F&A costs that weigh on the investigators allotted time assignment.
• Also, no provision is made for investigator salary support, other personnel on the investigator’s team or for supplies or transportation.

Email us at reactor@catalyst.harvard.edu

• Statement of Interest must be submitted by December 10, 2023.
• A review will be conducted by Harvard Catalyst to determine responsiveness.
• Post-information sessions completed applications submitted by January 12, 2024 with all required documents will undergo an administrative review.
• Review will consist of checking for responsiveness to the submission criteria,  compliance with any regulatory issues, and for feasibility.
• If the number of proposals that are complete and appear globally responsive to this RFA exceed the available funds for this study, core access will be awarded using a random number generator approach. An accepted randomization approach will be used to make selections.

All applicants will be notified of the results of their proposal review by late January 2024.

This program will provide up to 50 individuals with three to eight hours of fully funded access to consultations and/or facility use at their selected core facility. The exact hours per award will be assessed based on number of applications received and the costs predicted for the services requested.

• Responsiveness (see FAQs) will be assessed and unresponsive submissions will not be considered.
• No specific dollar request is requested. Anticipated costs (i.e. the costs per hour at an individual core) will be calculated by the core directors and are not a criterion for selection. Each selected applicant will be made aware of the total support being provided (between three to eight hours anticipated).
• No financial award will be made directly to the applicants. Harvard Catalyst will compensate each participating core for their services.
• The use of the award is limited to facilitation, consultation, and use of technology at the designated core.
• Changes in the ratio of consultation to technology use or type of technology used during supported time are expected but must remain responsive to the investigator’s original application.
• Neither subsidized hours nor access to a core facility is transferable to another investigator.
• Unexpended funds cannot be rolled over to a later date.
• The application must be connected to translational research and human health.
• Applications requiring the use of non-human samples/models, addressing basic research questions will not be considered unless there is a clear and direct link to subsequent investigations of human health OR their use facilitates exploratory educational exercises such as learning whether a technology could address a question in future human samples.
• Recipients must complete their use of the core facility by April 30, 2024.