Strategies for Shared Research Resources for Enhancing Research Sustainability: Communicating Between Stakeholders and Managing Expectations to Maximize Value and Impact.

Shared research resources occupy a unique role in the scientific research landscape. Sometimes called core facilities, shared research resources provide instrumentation, services, and expertise to a wide range of researchers. With dedicated staff maintaining instruments, training users, and supporting collaborations, these resources are well situated to churn out reproducible high-quality data, lead research innovation, create efficiencies, and stimulate economic development all while driving down capital costs for institutions. That being said, in the high-paced disciplines of science with limited resources and competing priorities, these resources are often obligated to demonstrate their worth, especially beyond traditional service delivery models. How can shared research resources quantify and communicate their value and impact to stakeholders for optimal support and sustainability? For best approaches towards value proposition, it is important to understand the various stakeholders in the shared research resource ecosystem, including their needs, expectations, and value systems. This will in turn inform models of support and best approaches for planning, positioning, managing, evaluating, and improving shared research resource output to return the most value to all stakeholders involved. It is imperative that communication is tailored for each unique group of stakeholders, and terminology and expectations are managed accordingly. This work attempts to curate and share approaches and best practices toward this effort, gathered through available literature and focused engagement with various shared research resource stakeholders.

A Shift in Our Thinking: Reframing Shared Research Resources as Investments in Education and Innovation, Not Subsidized Science.

For many researchers, Shared Research Resources are often the most cost-effective means of using state-of-the-art (not to mention expensive) instrumentation. Along with access to the instruments themselves, Shared Research Resources also offer individualized training by highly qualified Shared Research Resource staff-again at deeply discounted costs compared to the operational costs of the facilities. Traditionally, this gap in revenue has been termed a subsidy. But, as with many words, connotation matters, and we posit that this language ought to be changed to reframe our thinking and impart the true impact of Shared Research Resources. We argue here that rather than a subsidy, the revenue gap is better described as an investment. Furthermore, investments of Shared Research Resources lead to positive externalities, including education and innovation.

Establishing a national strategy for shared research resources in biomedical sciences.

Contemporary science has become increasingly multi-disciplinary and team-based, resulting in unprecedented growth in biomedical innovation and technology over the last several decades. Collaborative research efforts have enabled investigators to respond to the demands of an increasingly complex 21st century landscape, including pressing scientific challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic. A major contributing factor to the success of team science is the mobilization of core facilities and shared research resources (SRRs), the scientific instrumentation and expertise that exist within research organizations that enable widespread access to advanced technologies for trainees, faculty, and staff. For over 40 years, SRRs have played a key role in accelerating biomedical research discoveries, yet a national strategy that addresses how to leverage these resources to enhance team science and achieve shared scientific goals is noticeably absent. We believe a national strategy for biomedical SRRs-led by the National Institutes of Health-is crucial to advance key national initiatives, enable long-term research efficiency, and provide a solid foundation for the next generation of scientists.