Basic Science Resources

Basic and translational researchers often access a wide range of resources to support their work. Here are some commonly used resources among our researchers. 

Laboratory Safety and Setup

Principal Investigators are responsible for all activities and personnel who work in their laboratories. The University of Rochester's Laboratory Safety Unit provides information you need to: (1) Set up your lab safely and efficiently (2) Find required information on Safety Training for Laboratory Personnel (3) Access Chematix, a chemical management software (4) Policies and Procedures and more.

Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)

If your research uses DNA, Pathogens, or Human Tissues/Fluids, you will need IBC approval. The University of Rochester's Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) is a University-wide committee responsible for reviewing and approving recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules and biohazard research projects in fulfillment of its mission. The committee is composed of faculty investigators with expertise in recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules and biohazard research, staff from Environmental Health & Safety including the Biosafety Officer, and non-affiliated or community members.

Animal Resource Center

The Animal Resource is a centralized resource facility with staff and programs that support the research and educational uses of laboratory animals. These facilities are fully accredited by AAALAC, International, assured by NIH, registered with USDA APHIS, licensed by NYS and in compliance with state law, federal statute and NIH policy. Support is provided for research with all major animal species from zebrafish to nonhuman primates.

The Animal Resource website provides information on (1) Policies and Procedures (2) Information for new researchers (3) Animal-Resource-Vertebrate Section for Grants (4) Information on Animal Purchases, Imports and Exports (5) Services (6) Charges, Billing and more. 

Shared Resource Labs and Facilities – Center for Advanced Research Technologies

The Center for Advanced Research Technologies (CART) is a collection of 9 shared resources that serve the biomedical research community, providing equipment, personnel and analysis to move your research forward.

Available facilities include (1) Biological Supply Center (2) Biosafety Level 3 (3) Center for Advanced Microscopy & Nanoscopy (4) Cold Storage Core (5) Electron Microscopy Resource (6) Flow Cytometry Resource (7) Genomics Resource Center (8) Mass Spectrometry Resource and (9) Metabolomics. 

Working with CART helps researchers in 3 ways:

1. Providing state-of-the-art equipment that would be expensive for an individual lab to purchase and operate on its own due to initial equipment costs, ongoing service contract, and the extensive training needed to get the most from every instrument
2. Collaborating with PI’s on experiment design – this allows researchers to get more out of their limited samples, while minimizing waster
3. Conducting expert analysis on results. Because we work with our respective technologies daily, we are able to dive deep into data and images to find important detail that can often be overlooked. 

Visit the CART website for information on proper core facility acknowledgment protocols, laboratory RRID numbers and equipment grants. 

UR Ventures

URVentures is the technology transfer office at the University of Rochester. URVentures protects, develops, and commercializes the intellectual property resulting from the cutting-edge research being conducted by the world-class scientists, faculty, and staff here at the University of Rochester and the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Data Management

The Office of the Vice President for Research has compiled resources about research data management, including anticipated changes related to external data authorities.

Included on their website is information on the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy, including if it applies to your research, how to write a DMSP, how to budget, selecting a data repository and more.

Data De-Identification Service

The Office of the Vice President for Research, in conjunction with the UR CTSI, are excited to announce a new data de-identification service, available to the University research community. This service can help with the removal or masking of elements in research data sets that contain Protected Health Information (PHI) prior to publicly sharing or publishing data, as required by certain funding agencies or journals. To schedule a consultation or learn more about the service, see the Data De-Identification Service Center.

Data Storage Solutions

IT Security has developed new guidance on data storage for the University's research community, centrally located for easy access by faculty, researchers, and students. This guidance is also a good reference for work data that's not related to research. Refer to these resources to choose a solution that works best for your needs.

Research IT Services

The Office of Research IT offers many service offerings to facilitate the unique needs of researchers at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, including information on Software Licensing, Research Data Storage, REDCap and more.

URMC Miner Library - NIH Public Access: Home

The NIH Public Access policy mandates public access to the results of NIH funded research in order to advance science and improve human health. URMC's Edward G. Miner Library provides NIH Public Access information on (1) Policies (2) Article Submission and Compliance Management (3) Managing Non-Compliant Articles and (4) NIH Biosketch/SciENcv.

Office of Research and Project Administration (ORPA)

The Office of Research and Project Administration (ORPA) offers a variety of training and education tools for researchers and research administrators, including resources on proposal development, award management, form, training, policies and compliance.

In the Department of Medicine, we have DOM Research Administrative staff assigned to pre- and post-award who supports each of our divisions by partnering with faculty. Additionally, each division has an assigned ORPA Research Administrator that they will work with.

Are you submitting a proposal, receiving a sponsored research award, or initiating an unfunded agreement (i.e., Material Transfer, Data Use and Confidentiality Agreements)? Integrated Online Research Administration (IORA) is the University’s comprehensive suite of web based software solutions capable of managing various research functions, from proposal development, review, routing and approval through award administration and closeout.

We encourage our investigators to allow their respective division research admin to liaison with ORPA.

Grant Writing

Grant writing is both a skill and an art. At UR CTSI, we have compiled courses, how-to guides and tip sheets from URMC, NIH and beyond to help you write winning grants.

DOM NIH Pre-Award Toolkit

The Department of Medicine is committed to the submission of high quality grant applications and providing support to both research administrative staff and investigators in compiling appropriate documents, to help streamline the process and increase quality and success of applications. Our NIH Pre-Award Toolkit is currently tailored to NIH Grant Submissions, focusing on R Series, K Series and F Series applications.

BioRender Premium Software

The University of Rochester has acquired an institution-wide license for this software that creates scientific illustrations, posters, and presentations. To create your login and start using these tools, visit the UR BioRender portal. An introductory video is available, "5 Minute Crash Course – Getting Started with BioRender." Please reach out to Stefanie Fingler with any questions.

Commonly Used External Resources 

NIH RePORTER is an electronic tool that allows users to search a database of NIH-funded research projects and access publications and patents resulting from NIH funding.

PubMed is a comprehensive database of biomedical literature, PubMed provides access to millions of citations and abstracts from biomedical and life sciences journals.

External Funding Agencies and Grants

Researchers often rely on funding from government agencies, private foundations, and industry sponsors to support their research activities. Below are several common funding agencies.

• National Science Foundation
• National Institutes of Health
• Department of Defense
• New York State
• American Heart Association
• Centers for Disease and Control Prevention