ACTION Innovation Network - UMass Lowell Core Research Facilities Offers Massachusetts Innovation Voucher Program with Discounted Rates for Startups

UMass Lowell Core Research Facilities Offers Massachusetts Innovation Voucher Program with Discounted Rates for Startups

font size decrease font size increase font size
Print
Email

February 06, 2019

For several years, ACTION Innovation Network has been an industry partner with UMass Lowell's Core Research Facilities (CRF), providing discounted fees to startups for highly specialized equipment use on campus. The CRF is a valuable resource for technology companies, providing them with access to faculty and direct access to training and self-use of specialized instruments, in addition to research testing services.

A new state voucher program funded by the Massachusetts legislature, the Massachusetts Innovation Voucher Program (MIVP) gives small and medium-sized, MA-based businesses (<50 FTEs) access to the UMass system’s leading-edge research facilities with up to 75 percent off standard rates. More than 90 core facilities across all University of Massachusetts campuses are available for use with the voucher program, with a multitude of research instruments and services available to academic, government and industry researchers.

Eight professionally-staffed core research facilities (CRF) at UMass Lowell, with technologies including materials characterization, flow cytometry, DNA sequencing, NMR, robotics testing, and a clean room nanofabrication facility are all available for use with the voucher program.

Companies interested in working at Core Facilities at UMass Lowell can sign up for an account and be authorized to reserve equipment at https://crf.uml.edu. Companies interested in the MIVP need to apply to participate in the Program. Applications will be accepted until all funding is depleted.

Several companies participating in the program have offered the following comments.

“We have made great progress in our biosensors during the MIVP period. We previously were making our biosensors by sending them to U of Iowa to finish processing. Now we are making our biosensors completely in Lowell”.

“We are using the UMASS core for RNA-seq analysis, and as you may know, this is a particularly expensive analysis, especially for the number of samples we need to analyze to get meaningful data for our projects. So the voucher program has allowed us, a smaller company with a somewhat limited budget, to take some exploratory risks with this type of analysis”.

If you are interested in learning more about utilizing the Massachusetts Innovation Voucher Program, please contact Karen Hamlin, Executive Director of UMass Lowell Core Research Facilities, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .