Genomics cores
Take sequencing requests with sample sheets, follow each sample through QC, library prep, and sequencing, book the QC and PCR instruments, and report throughput for funding.
Who it is for
A genomics core runs on samples: they arrive with a request and a sample sheet, pass QC, become libraries, are sequenced, and go back as data, while researchers book the QC and PCR instruments themselves. ConductCommons keeps each request with its samples, stages, staff time, reagents, and bill, and counts the core’s throughput for its funding reports.
What the core runs
Add any instrument your core shares. These are common examples.
Short-read and long-read sequencers
Run by staff for sequencing requests, with maintenance washes on the calendar
Fragment analyzers, fluorometers, and spectrophotometers
Booked by researchers for their own QC, or used by staff for requests
qPCR, digital PCR, and thermal cyclers
Booked by trained researchers, with yearly block checks
Single-cell systems, liquid handlers, and sonicators
Booked after training, or run by staff for library prep
How it fits genomics work
Researchers request library prep and sequencing, single-cell work, Sanger sequencing, or sample QC, answer the questions you set, such as library type and reads per sample, and list their samples: typed, pasted, or uploaded as a CSV or Excel sample sheet with its columns matched and every row checked.
Core plan
Each service has its stages, such as received, sample QC, library prep, sequencing, data processing, and delivered, with a target in days. Staff mark each stage with its date, a sample can sit at its own stage or be marked failed, and researchers see where their samples are and when the work should be done.
Core plan
Requests and samples completed, failed samples, average and median turnaround, the share finished within target, and the people and PIs served, for each service by month or quarter. Download the table as CSV for funding reports and annual reviews.
Core plan
Give staff the staff role in the genomics facility and they see and work its requests, log their time by day and stage, and bill data analysis help by the hour from the time logged, without being workspace managers.
Core plan
Each service lists the kits and reagents it uses per sample or per request. Completing a request takes them from stock, oldest expiry first, and managers are emailed when an item reaches its reorder point.
Core plan
Price each service per sample, per hour, or per request for each price group, send estimates the researcher accepts, and bill completed requests on one monthly statement per project or account, with a journal file for the finance office.
Core plan
Researchers book the fragment analyzer, fluorometer, PCR instruments, and single-cell system after training, and the live status board shows each instrument in use, free until the next booking, or down. Sequencers start with approval required.
Plans for maintenance washes, ladder checks, calibration standards, block temperature checks, and yearly service visits remind managers when each comes due. A problem report emails the managers, and downtime blocks the calendar.
Choose Genomics when you set up the core: sequencers, a long-read sequencer, a single-cell system, QC and PCR instruments, a liquid handler, and a sonicator open with their rules, along with six services with their stages and the maintenance plans. Change anything later.
Questions
Yes. A CSV or Excel (.xlsx) file is matched to the service’s sample columns by name, in any order, and every row is checked before the request is sent, so a missing concentration or volume is caught before the samples arrive. Each service has a template to download.
For each service and in total: requests completed, samples completed and failed, average and median turnaround from request to completion, the share finished within the service’s turnaround, and the number of people and PIs served. The report builder groups the same numbers by month, quarter, PI, project, or price group.
Staff mark a sample failed on its request. The throughput report counts failed samples apart from completed ones, so the samples you report are the ones that went through.
Yes. The fragment analyzer, fluorometer, and PCR instruments are booked on the calendar with training checks and the rates you set, and each session is billed to the researcher’s project or account.
Completed requests and sessions go on a monthly statement for each project or account, locked once final. The journal file lists each finalized line against the payer’s account and your revenue account, for the business office to post.
Other kinds of core: flow cytometry, light microscopy, NMR, histology, core facilities, and behavior cores. How requests and throughput reports work: Take and run service requests.
Every new workspace includes the Core plan for 30 days. After that, booking stays free; rates, invoices, and service requests need the Core plan.