UMass Boston

UMass campuses are home to more than 100 research core facilities that provide scientists in Massachusetts access to the most advanced instrumentation to conduct research, create prototypes, develop products and processes, and explore solutions for complex problems. These facilities offer tremendous value to a diverse range of researchers and product developers across the state from UMass, companies, organizations, and other universities. To ensure broad access, the state offers an Innovation Voucher Program for eligible small and medium-sized businesses who leverage the UMass core facilities. 

“The core facilities are an important, essential vehicle for us to more constructively, strategically, and impactfully interact with the diverse communities we serve,” UMass Boston Provost Joseph Berger said as he kicked off the recent 2023 UMass Five-Campus Research Core Facilities Annual Meeting. “Coming together is a moment to pause and think about the transformations going on for all of us on UMass campuses. We are entering a new territory in terms of the evolution of higher education and its relationship with our external communities and our partners both in academia and outside of academia.”

UMass Boston hosted the annual meeting for research core facilities directors and staff from all UMass campuses. The core facility colleagues came together to share ways to support researchers from across the state, offer training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, and to update each other on the activities and new instrumentation and resources available on each campus.

Attendees also toured the research core facilities on the UMass Boston campus to get a first-hand look at the leading-edge equipment such as the Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), Circular dichrosim (CD) and LD spectroscopy, 10X Genomics Single Cell Sequencing, Orbitrap Fusion Lumos Tribird Mass Spectrometer, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS), Zeiss FESEM, Data Center for machine learning and data imaging, and Bluefors cryogen-free refrigerator system for characterization of quantum devices. The instrumentation on the campus is used by scientists across a broad spectrum of fields such as artificial intelligence, bluetech, greentech, quantum computing, proteomics, genomics, and others.

Companies headquartered in Massachusetts interested in using the UMass research core facilities may qualify for the Massachusetts Innovation Voucher Program (MIVP). A program sponsored by the state legislature, MIVP makes it possible for businesses with 50 or less full-time employees to access the university’s cores facilities at reduced rates. During 2022-2023, the voucher program awarded 1,470 vouchers, continuing the annual increase in vouchers since the program’s launch in 2019.

Core facilities play a special role in the world of research, and the UMass system is uniquely positioned to house research core facilities for a variety of reasons. The universities have professional staff, faculty, and graduate students who are subject matter experts able to provide essential support and guidance to researchers. Core facilities staff can train researchers on how to use specialized equipment and can recommend methodologies for research studies and product R&D.

The core facilities also provide access to costly, cutting-edge scientific equipment which individual researchers or labs might not be able to afford, and they offer a way to share resources throughout the UMass community and beyond to have the greatest impact. Researchers from UMass departments and labs, and external companies—such as startups developing products—use resources in the core facilities. This model maximizes the use of costly instrumentation and on-campus expertise, while fostering interdisciplinary and community collaboration.

Learn more about:

UMass Boston’s research core facilities at umb.edu/core-facilities and UMass’s 100+ research core facilities and the Massachusetts Innovation Voucher Program at massachusetts.edu/research/core-facilities.