VIB Core Facilities: at the heart of tech enablement
Making tech expertise accessible
March 8, 2023
This blog post is part of the VIB Technologies campaign.
Debuting in early 2023, VIB Technologies fosters technological innovation at VIB through two orchestrators: Tech Watch and Core Facilities. “Bringing these two programs under one ‘roof’ and assigning them a dedicated cross-ecosystem coordination team helps spark a vision of true collaborations across multiple domains of inquiry,” enthuses Sofie Coelus, Business Development Manager at VIB Technologies. “Core Facilities are at the heart of this process because they make the tech and its related expertise accessible – to benefit our scientists and the broader life sciences industry.”
VIB Core Facilities ensure that VIB scientists – and the wider life sciences research and industry ecosystem – can access the latest proven technology and expertise.
In life sciences, research-supporting technologies can be incredibly expensive, often valued in the millions of euros. That’s a major investment, even for a large biotech or pharma firm – not to mention a startup.
“What VIB Technologies does is offer access to technologies that are cutting edge in life sciences research. Since day one, and also through Tech Watch, VIB Core Facilities have been validating and implementing novel technologies,” explains Sofie. “External companies have a keen interest in using the newest approaches to answer their pressing research questions, but not necessarily the budgets to support the equipment and expertise needed – which is why the Core Facilities program is so valuable.”
“External companies have a keen interest in using the newest approaches to answer their pressing research questions, but not necessarily the budgets to support the equipment and expertise needed – which is why the Core Facilities program is so valuable.”
- Sofie Coelus, Business Development Manager at VIB Technologies
Beyond making top technology accessible internally and externally, Core Facilities offer another important benefit. “Unlike in research groups, where there is a big in- and outflow of scientific expertise every 4-6 years based on project and funding cycles, the expertise provided through the Core Facilities is relatively permanent and continuously growing.”
One name, one overarching purpose
Under the wings of VIB Technologies, the Core Facilities still retain their familiar names and logos – but they are not considered separate ‘brands’.
“When they were individually established around their respective domains, each Core was a sort of island,” elaborates Sofie. “Today, we’ve pulled all our technological expertise under one roof. Cores form a crucial element of our broader VIB tech ecosystem and must intermesh closely with Tech Watch, VIB’s research centers and labs, and our brand-new tech training hub."
Sofie is certain that the closely aligned tech ecosystem that VIB offers is unique. “We provide the entire tech pipeline to our customers, with a dedicated team responsible for valorizing technologies and making them accessible. With VIB Technologies, we can offer companies and institutes end-to-end collaborations around technologies that can catalyze breakthroughs.”
Another unique aspect of VIB Technologies is its career track. “Most other institutes aren’t set up in such a way that technological expertise can be a long-term vocation. That’s exactly what we’re doing here – we’re transforming tech expertise and service provision into a profession.”
Prioritizing industry accessibility
Although Sofie worked for a short period with VIB through a collaboration with Ghent University, she is still relatively new to her role at VIB Technologies.
“I started in December 2021 – and I just flew into it!” she enthuses. “And as soon as I arrived, I saw a lot of things that we could get to work on immediately.”
Although her background is in research, Sofie has maintained a strong connection with industry throughout her career. “In my last position, I was responsible for ensuring the visibility of life sciences research services toward the market, and it’s something that I am also passionate about doing for VIB Core Facilities. On one hand, we must stay in sync with our internal community of researchers and experts, but on the other hand, we also need to make strong connections with biotech companies.”
Industry collaborations bring VIB an important resource stream. “The income generated by these collaborations empowers us to purchase new tech and offer ever-smoother access to it in a self-perpetuating cycle,” Sofie goes on to say. “Ensuring the right visibility is a balance that we have to strike, also to maintain all of our equipment. Based on their research areas, some Cores get more attention from large industrial companies, while others are relied on by internal groups and peer institutions.”
Another crucial asset that industry partnerships provide to VIB: knowledge. “We learn a lot from industry projects,” Sofie continues. “Through these collaborations, we build additional expertise and gain experience with the ‘real life’ challenges that the life sciences industry faces. This serves to maintain the vibrant link between bringing research to the market and ensuring strong connections – opening the path to valorization.”
Putting Flanders firmly on the European life sciences map
In addition to the big names in pharma and biotech, many companies that approach Core Facilities for tech access and expertise are actually VIB startups.
“VIB-sparked biotech companies maintain connections to every advantage that VIB provides, from the Core network to the research community.”
- Sofie Coelus, Business Development Manager at VIB Technologies
“Because young biotech companies have limited tech and related expertise in house, we have put a dedicated support structure in place to ensure the success of the startups that we spin off,” Sofie elaborates. “VIB-sparked biotech companies maintain connections to every advantage that VIB provides, from the Core network to the research community.
“As a result, there are numerous successful VIB biotech startups and spinoffs and they are highly visible, which makes Flanders a prominent life sciences hub in Europe.”
No VIB Core Facility is an island
Plenty of companies from diverse life sciences domains have called upon VIB Core Facility services. Even large companies with high-impact research questions often don’t have millions of euros to spend on, for example, extremely specialized microscopes or single-cell exploratory technologies. Other companies have highly dedicated budgets, but also need access to research fast tracks.
“Yet even when they do have the staffing, funding and infrastructure to support their research initiatives, they come to VIB Core Facilities to obtain a completely new perspective,” Sofie explains. “You’d be surprised at how often this happens – and the feedback I’ve heard is that the VIB perspective enhances the quality of their industrial research outcomes.”
“Now that companies are learning about the interconnections and synergies among the Core Facilities and other elements of our broad VIB Technologies ecosystem, they see their research horizons open up! The interest we’re generating is phenomenal and the possibilities for collaboration are very rich.”
- Sofie Coelus, Business Development Manager at VIB Technologies
Historically, industry players have generally been familiar with what one specific Core Facility could offer. However, this is changing rapidly, and Sofie intends to accelerate this change.
Sofie: “Now that they are learning about the interconnections between and complementarity of the Core Facilities and other elements of our broad VIB Technologies ecosystem, companies see their research horizons open up! The interest we’re generating is phenomenal and the possibilities for collaboration are very rich.”
Learn more about VIB Technologies or have a look at our VIB Technologies campaign.
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