Access Policy To Research Infrastructure
National University Complex for Biomedical and Translational Research (NUCBTR)
National University Complex for Biomedical and Translational Research is a publicly funded national research infrastructure (RI), including core facilities and laboratory complexes of Medical University of Sofia and Medical University of Plovdiv, offering access to modern equipment, new technologies and expertise to research groups, companies and individual researchers, involved in biomedical and translational research.
The access to the RI and all specialised laboratory and expert services, offered by the organisations participating in NUCBTR is regulated according to the European Charter and Guidelines for Access to Research Infrastructures1.
The Medical Universities hosting the RI have clear, publically available policies outlining how the access to the RI will be granted and prioritised.
The host organization of RI provides written answer to the applicant, and the reasons for refusing access are based on objective grounds and recorded as part of the access process approval procedure.
Appealing in case of refused access is possible at the RI Host institution.
Access policies may differ between host institutions and even within a host institution depending on the Research Infrastructure involved.
RI may be used by “internal” structures and research groups, in the Medical Universities of Sofia and Plovdiv, as well as by “external” users, engaged with research and innovation, nationally and internationally, companies, individual researchers and clients.
The access to the specialised equipment and expert services of NUCBTR for “internal” users, as well as for collaborators on national and international projects is free of charge, and is regulated on the basis of the contract with the funding agency, the agreements between the principal investigator and the heads of the corresponding infrastructure core facility, as well as the internal operational rules of the RI.
Each of the services offered by NUCBTR in the frame of joint research projects is executed when all required laboratory consumables, reagents, and other type of research expenses are covered by the corresponding research project or the host organisation.
Where applicable, the expenses covering the personnel cost for the corresponding specialist executing the laboratory research and specialised analysis are included in the budget of the project.
All specialised laboratory and expert services in NUCBTR can be used also by external organisations/individual clients in the form of paid services, after signing a contract with the host organisation of the corresponding core facility of the RI. The specific prices and terms for offering particular services are negotiated individually in the contracts.
Paid services at the NUCBTR can be offered to Industry, and the costs recovered at full commercial rates.
Medical Diagnostic services are offered by medical diagnostic laboratories, officially registered according to the relevant national legislation and the Law on Medical Institutions.
Paid services and access costs to different types of Research Infrastructure are approved by the host organization of the RI, in case they are compliant with all relevant EU and national funding terms and conditions and competition legislation; they are calculated according the following principles: to be auditable, traceable to the performed work, maintaining appropriate records, usage data etc.
Irrespective of the type of the service, the client/collaborator is contacting the responsible person at the corresponding sector/core facility at NUCBTR.
All needed tests and analysis are performed following written order form and whenever prior agreement has been achieved between the corresponding institutions and people, based on the work schedules and the equipment load.
The use of the services is accomplished through dedicated lab technicians and specialists. involved in the maintenance of the biobank, operation of the equipment and performing the analysis.
External users of the corresponding sector of NUCBTR do not have direct access to the specialised equipment, collections of biological samples and databases. These restrictions are needed for the private data protection of the donors of the biobank, as well as due to the complexity of the “omics” studies, requiring a specialised training, qualifications and experience to work with the equipment.
Special care is taken for the rules of working with biological samples and clinical data, gathered at NUCBTR, according to the National and International laws.
Inclusion of new materials is possible only after written informed consent is received from the donor of biological material, patient or control.
All projects involving the work with human biological material need prior approval by the respective IRB, Ethics Committees at Medical University of Sofia and Plovdiv.
Copy of all project documents, including the project proposal, contract with the funding organisation, as well as financial documents, audits and final reports are kept by the corresponding host organisation for the project, which is partner in the NUCBTR and available for audits.
The research infrastructure can offer training in highly specialised laboratory techniques and research, both for internal and external researchers, through specialised courses and training in the frame of postgraduate studies.
Access to RI is facilitated by the establishment of a RI specific web page, linked to the Host institutions web pages, providing all relevant and contact information.
(1) https://ec.europa.eu/research/infrastructures/pdf/2016_charterforaccessto-ris.pdf