Everything, everywhere, and all at once: A blueprint for supra-organization of core facilities

Abstract

Core facilities are crucial for cutting-edge scientific research in academic institutions, yet they place a significant financial burden on budgets. The viability of these facilities can be improved through cross-institutional collaborations, although initiating and sustaining such partnerships poses challenges. Insights from Israel's recent nationwide organization of core facilities could offer valuable lessons for fostering similar cooperation elsewhere. Despite the chronic shortfall in public research funding, Israeli research institutions were slow to fully embrace infrastructure sharing. This gap led to the creation of the Israel Research Core Facilities (IRCF) in 2022, which linked core facilities across the country through a bottom-up approach. IRCF facilitated the formation of numerous specialized nation-wide networks for intellectual exchange, and supported training workshops and meetings aimed at core technology providers. These initiatives serve dual purposes: they ensure the ongoing advancement of technological capabilities across facilities, regardless of their size or location, and they strengthen the commitment to the IRCF mission by motivating the maintenance of the IRCF database. As a result, a model of “capacity sharing” emerged, connecting all of Israel's core facility centers. This model enhances infrastructure use, supports strategic planning, and fosters growth. With over 450 core experts offering over 1100 scientific services consolidated into a publicly accessible database, IRCF supports research in universities, hospitals, government, and industry. This strategy could act as a model for creating regional core facility organizations to elevate research quality and ensure efficient infrastructure development.