core4u is led by the Vice President for Research and Early Career Academics. Operational responsibility lies with the project team, which is currently organizing the concrete implementation together with the pilot core facilites and three task forces. The core4u Advisory Board advises both the Vice President and the project team and provides support with strategic decisions.
The core team is responsible for the project management of core4u. It ensures the conceptual and operational implementation of the project goals and acts as an interface between the Vice President and the stakeholders. The team communicates core4u’s activities within and outside JGU and ensures networking.
Project management
The Advisory Board advises the Vice President and the core team in an advisory capacity on the strategic, conceptual and operational development of the CF management concept. The Advisory Board is made up of members from the subjects of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Medicine, the central administration and the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB).
Three task forces work primarily on important topics:
Accounting
- Tax & state aid law
- Requirements from funding guidelines
- Cost accounting & price calculation
- Settlement of accounts
- Refinancing
IT & Operation
- Operational utilization management
- Booking management software
Governance
- Management & Leadership
- Origin, development and end
- Involvement of CF in appointment negotiations
The pilot core facilities support the development and implementation of new processes and standards for the operation and use of core facilities. These pilot projects allow the necessary processes to be defined and evaluated, which can later be transferred to other facilities.
Research-relevant infrastructure refers to devices and organizational units that
- are necessary for conducting research at JGU,
- are available for use by more than one research group (or similar unit),
- are also used to a not inconsiderable extent in this sense and
- are not only temporarily available.
They are divided into five classes: Large Research Infrastructure (LRI ), Core Facility (CF), Shared Technology (ST), Technical Facility (TF) and General Services (GS).
Definitions
Large Research Infrastructures (LRI) are large organizational units in which several departments may even be jointly employed to maintain the operation of this infrastructure. At the same time, cooperation with other research institutions that extends well beyond the campus is part of regular operations. Examples include TRIGA, MOGON (as part of the ZDV) and TARC.
A core facility (CF) provides state-of-the-art, professionally supervised, research-relevant and strategically important infrastructure as a transparent and cost-efficient service to all JGU researchers on the basis of uniform CF usage regulations. It is distinguished from other types of research-relevant infrastructure primarily by its high degree of organizational independence (clearly defined organizational unit, full-time staff, space and finances at its own disposal), its commitment to the JGU-wide CF regulations and common governance. The CF is therefore not dependent on a single professorship. It offers its services by passing on (at least a proportion of) the costs and invoicing them in line with third-party funding. In particular, (cutting-edge) technologies that are likely to generate a high number of scientific results with high visibility and at the same time underline the strategic orientation of JGU are particularly suitable for CF.
Standardized services, which may even be available more cheaply on the open market, should only be offered by CF if there is clear scientific or economic added value (e.g. use of free capacity on research equipment). The equipment and services offered in CF are therefore clearly not to be classified as basic equipment as defined by the DFG. Instead, central CF equipment is generally eligible for funding as large-scale research equipment in accordance with Art. 91b GG. Only significant utilization by several work groups justifies the institution of a CF.
Management, administrative organization and financial responsibility lie with the operators.
The Shared Technologies (ST) group includes shared research-relevant infrastructures (e.g. equipment or laboratories) that are operated outside of CF and LRI. These can be assigned to individual research groups, institutes or departments. The operators can open up the service to others and thus increase utilization. The operating units can organize the use at their own discretion. However, STs can benefit from the JGU CF rules for cost calculation, billing and usage management. STs are also suitable for provision via the OpenIRIS resource management platform.
One Like the CF, the Technical Facility (TF) is an organizationally and commercially separate unit that offers research-relevant technical services that are necessary for the implementation of research projects. However, its services are not usually scientific research results. Equipment and machines of a TF are generally not recognized as research equipment and are counted as basic equipment by the DFG. TFs pass on the costs to the researchers on an order-related basis. TFs can benefit from the CF regulations, as the billing of internal services for third-party funding is also important for TFs.
General services (GS) comprise services that can be clearly assigned to basic equipment as defined by the DFG. This includes all tasks related to building services, cleaning and maintenance of basic infrastructure (e.g. ice machines, gas supply). It is often not possible or sensible to bill the services provided on an order-related basis. General services can benefit from the OpenIRIS management platform, as it can also provide resources (e.g. individual devices, meeting rooms, etc.). (This also applies to infrastructure that is not considered relevant to research). The organization of these areas is entirely the responsibility of the faculties and institutes.
The publication of the Framework Usage Regulations represents an important milestone for core4u. It defines for CF operators and other persons who wish to share research infrastructures the regulation of their relationship with their users. The Framework Usage Regulations are supplemented by CF-specific Usage Regulations.
OpenIRIS in Mainz is an innovative platform that aims to make JGU’s core facilities and shared infrastructures visible and networked at the location and across locations.
OpenIRIS warrants fast and uniform visibility of research resources and services, facilitates efficient management by operators and promotes an open and cooperative research environment. This transparency facilitates collaboration not only within JGU, but also with external partners.
Anyone interested can search publicly visible research resources without registration. University members can log in using single sign-on, interested external parties can register at any time and set up an account to manage requests and bookings.
Core facilities appear as providers on the platform. Researchers or other persons who wish to share their infrastructures can also obtain a provider on request. Core4u supports them with the initial setup.
Core facilities and their resources are publicly visible worldwide. Other infrastructure providers can choose the visibility of their resources and thus make them visible to different groups of people.
