Core Facilities are shared resources that provide access to instruments, technologies and services to researchers across the Institute of Biology. They are staffed by scientists with vast experience in their field, ensuring that all researchers can count not only on the latest available technology but expert advice and support in the design of experiments or interpretation of results. Training courses are also available for certain applications and instruments. These facilities generally cover their running costs in the form of user fees that are charged to an investigator's grant or contract. They may also be available on a fee-for-service basis to researchers of other universities or the broader community when the capacity permits.

The IBL has the following Core Facilities:

Analytical Facility

Our analytical facility supports IBL researchers by centralizing major instrumentation under a single management structure within dedicated laboratories. The available equipment includes both liquid and gas chromatography systems, along with a range of advanced mass spectrometry instruments such as Q-ToF, QqQ, and MALDI-ToF. The primary goal of the facility is to maximize the efficient use of all equipment, maintain a high standard of analytical expertise, and ensure the cost-effective operation of these sophisticated instruments. This setup provides researchers with access to analytical tools and methodologies for the detection and quantification of secondary metabolites, with a particular focus microbial and plant systems.

Microscopy Unit

The Microscopy Unit houses, maintains and coordinates most of the microscopy equipment of the IBL. The available equipment ranges from conventional light and fluorescence microscopes, to confocal laser scanning and electron microscopes. In addition, infrastructure is available for histology, including embedding, sectioning and staining. We offer support in automated image analysis for microscopy data. The equipment is housed at two locations: on the 6th floor of the Sylvius building and at the Cell Observatory in the Gorlaeus Laboratory. For an overview of the available equipment go to ‘Equipment’.

Plant Growth Facility

The Plant Growth Facility (PGF) includes a Potting Lab (PL-I), an Arabidopsis Harvesting Lab (ML-I), several washrooms (kitchens), and 50 climate and tissue culture rooms designated for both non-GMO and GMO (PC-I, PCM-I, and PCM-II) research. In these rooms, we carefully regulate temperature, relative humidity, and light settings to create optimal conditions for plant growth and experiments. IBL researchers use the facility to study a wide range of wildtype and transgenic plants, including Arabidopsis, tomato, barley, rice, lettuce, radish, ornamentals, and various trees. Research also involves the interaction between plants and various microorganisms and insects, providing valuable insights into plant biology, development, and ecology.

Cell Observatory

From molecule, to cell, to organism. Research at the Cell Observatory is about visualizing the building blocks of life. The ultimate goal is to understand human health and tackle disease. The aim is to understand these processes at all levels including molecular, cellular and the organ. The studies carried out in the Cell Observatory use various microscopes and imaging methods. These are being used for developing and testing new drugs to treat patients with cancer, atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative disease or tuberculosis.