Main Contents:
A. CENTER FOR GENOME INNOVATION (CGI) STAFF
B. LABORATORY ACCESS TO THE CGI – STORRS LOCATION
C. INSTRUMENT ACCESS
D. TRAINING
E. INSTRUMENT RESERVATION
F. FEE-FOR-SERVICE
G. INSTRUMENT ACCESS FEES – STORRS AND UCONN HEALTH LOCATIONS
H. DATA RETURN/DATA STORAGE
I. COLLABORATION/LETTERS OF SUPPORT
J. CITATION OF THE CGI IN GRANT PROPOSALS AND RESULTING PUBLICATIONS
A. Center for Genome Innovation (CGI) Staff
Dr. Rachel O’Neill, Director
Rachel.Oneill@uconn.edu
Dr. Bo Reese, Scientific Director
Bo.Reese@uconn.edu
Jonnelle Konow, Research Assistant III
Jonnelle.Konow@uconn.edu
Lisa LaBelle, Research Assistant III
Lisa.Labelle@uconn.edu
Lu Li, Research Assistant III
Lu.Li@uconn.edu
B. Laboratory access to the CGI – Storrs location
The CGI will be accessible to users during normal working hours (8:30am – 4:00pm daily). CGI staff (Jonnelle Konow, Lisa Labelle and Lu Li) have offices in the main laboratory. Bo Reese’s office is located right outside of the main doors to room 309. The Center will be locked for security purposes when CGI staff is not present.
CGI users can reserve time and bench space to work in the laboratory. These reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance with Bo Reese.
C. Instrument Access
With the appropriate training, anyone can use the most of the instrumentation in the CGI. Depending on the instrumentation, the extent of training can range from a brief, one-on-one informal session to a multi-day workshop. For example, training on the Agilent Bioanalyzer can be done in a one-on-one informal session, while usage of all NextGen sequencing instrumentation requires participation in either a multi-day workshop or one-on-one training. Even after training, users can request supervision if they are not comfortable working independently with the equipment or protocols. Granting unsupervised access to users is at the discretion of CGI staff.
Users will not be allowed to use equipment in the CGI after-hours. Special requests for after-hours access can be made by contacting Bo Reese. However, granting after-hours access is made on a case-by-case basis and permission is granted at the discretion of CGI staff.
D. Training
The CGI will hold hands-on, laboratory training for many applications supported by the Center. Individuals (students, faculty and staff) across all UCONN campuses are eligible to participate in CGI sponsored training. All training fees go directly toward instrument maintenance, service contracts and reagents/consumables for training. Participants can bring samples of their own for training if desired, allowing for meaningful data collection that can be used as preliminary data for grant submissions, etc. Trainings are offered throughout the year based on demand for specific topics and will be advertised via email announcement and on the CGI website.
E. Instrument Reservation
All major equipment in the CGI is accompanied by a Google Calendar for reservations. You can check the reservation schedule online by contacting Bo Reese for read-only access to the Google Calendars. NOTE: UConn Health Center users are asked to contact Isolde Bates to make reservations for equipment located on the UCONN Health campus. Due to high usage volume of most of the equipment, we ask that individuals adhere to the schedules and cancel any reservations if they are no longer needed at least 24 hours in advance. Only CGI staff will be able to make and cancel reservations. Users who routinely make reservations without using the instrumentation will be penalized after 5 occurrences by being charged the instrument’s assisted instrument access fee.
All reservations are made on a first-come first-served basis. There are no restrictions on how far in advance reservations can be made. When reservations are made, the following information must be provided:
• Name of user
• Name of PI
• Department
• Contact information (email or phone number)
• KFS number for instrument access fee billing (if applicable)
• Type of experiment/sequencing run (so that the appropriate number of days can be reserved)
F. Sample Preparation Services
In addition to instrument and laboratory space access, the CGI will offer many NextGen sequencing, array and single cell genomics services. Additional services may be available upon request.
Fee-for-Service Rates:
A full list of services and associated costs can be found by visiting the CGI Service Rates page. Services to non-UCONN scientists are provided, subject to availability, and offered in accordance with service center charges under UCONN Financial Management Policy (**).
(**) = External Rates: If a service center provides services to individuals or organizations outside of the University, the billing rates must include institutional indirect costs even though these costs are not included in the rates for internal University users. The FY 22-23 rate adds an additional 35% to billable services for all external users. For-profit companies are subject to a 100% indirect charge.
Budgets/Quote Requests:
Formal quotes or detailed budgets (i.e. for internal or external proposals/grants, developing project design within budget limits, etc) for all experiment types can be requested by contacting Bo Reese. PI’s/students/staff can also request quotes for projects that go beyond the number of samples listed in the posted list of standard services. The CGI staff can work with you to develop your budget as well as discuss your experimental design prior to initiating work on CGI equipment.
G. Instrument Access – Storrs and UCONN Health locations
As part of the fee-for-service program, the CGI will charge users an access fee for some of the instruments located in the Center. Usage fees are one-time fees that fall under two categories: “Assisted” or “Unassisted” rates. “Assisted” instrument access fees are incurred when users are not able, or are not cleared by CGI staff, to operate the equipment without the direct supervision of the CGI staff. “Unassisted” instrument access fees are incurred when users have been given clearance by CGI staff to operate the equipment without CGI supervision. The instruments included in this access program are:
• Illumina MiSeq (Storrs and UCONN Health 400 Farmington Ave. locations)
• Illumina NextSeq 550 (^)
• Illumina NovaSeq 6000
• BioRad CFX 96 Real-Time System
• Agilent Tapestation 2200/4200
• BioRad QX200 Digital Droplet PCR System
• 10X Chromium
Instrument access fees are assessed on a per-use basis and internal billing will be compiled into one invoice (per KFS number) at the end of each month.
User-prepared samples/Modified protocols:
Users may prepare their own samples and bring user-supplied reagents/consumables to the CGI. NOTE: Users are responsible for proper quality assessment of their own samples. The CGI is not responsible for poor data quality if experimental failures can be directly attributed to sample-related issues.
Users can perform experiments where self-modified protocols are implemented (i.e. library preparation, sample denaturation and/or sample pooling protocols not supported by the manufacturer). NOTE: If the data generated from these “non-traditional” methods does not meet desired expectations, additional runs and/or troubleshooting may be required by the user.
Instrument Failures:
In case of an instrument failure/malfunction where data is compromised, instrument access fees will not be charged to the user. Troubleshooting the instrument failure will be the sole responsibility of the CGI staff. CGI staff will work with the appropriate vendor to determine root cause of the failure. When applicable, replacement kits/reagents will be requested from the vendor and the sequencing run/genotyping experiment/real-time experiment will be repeated.
H. Data Return/Data Storage
Upon completion of any experiment where data is generated, users are responsible for the backup and storage of their data.
Samples sequenced in-house on the NovaSeq, NextSeq or MiSeq have data delivery via transfer to the Xanadu cluster, Illumina Basespace, Globus or a combination thereof. Please be sure to have an active account on the Xanadu server if you are using this option for storage. Once your data is ready, you will be directed to the path where the data can be collected and copied over. To request an account on the Xanadu cluster, please complete this online request form:
https://bioinformatics.uconn.edu/contact-us/
I. Collaboration/Letters of Support
CGI staff can serve as collaborators on proposals and grants if desired. Similarly, CGI staff is available for consultation on project design, sample requirements, timeline and feasibility, and can draft budgets at no charge. The CGI staff can work with you to develop detailed budgets and experimental design outlines prior to initiating work on CGI equipment (i.e. for internal or external proposals/grants, developing project design within budget limits, etc.) for small as well as large-scale projects.
The CGI can provide letters of support for proposals and grants that require CGI access or services. The CGI can also be included as a supporting facility. Please contact Rachel O’Neill or Bo Reese for letters of support requests and/or text that can be used in proposals and grants describing the facility. Please allow for 3-5 days for letter requests to be processed if possible.
J. Citation of the CGI in grant proposals and resulting publications
Researchers are required to acknowledge the CGI as follows: Center for Genome Innovation, Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut. Citation should be given in grant applications and publications where findings were enabled by the Center’s resources, staff and/or services. Inclusion of the Director and/or specific facility members as co-authors on manuscripts may also be warranted if significant intellectual contributions are made to the resulting work; such collaborations are available through discussion with the CGI Director and staff as needed.