The Research Core Unit Genomics
The RCUG is a research-driven service unit. Since its formation in January 2017, the RCUG is open to all departments at the MHH and selected external institutions for the realization of sequencing- and microarray-based projects. The extensive expertise of the personnel (six permanent employees) in the fields of planning, technical execution, analysis, and publication of genome and transcriptome-wide studies is based on many years of research in their respective fields.
Two complementary teams, the "Team Transcriptomics" and the "Team Genomics", are in charge of your respective projects.
As a central research facility for nucleic acid analysis, we offer a wide range of common assays and applications. Due to our scientific background and experience, however, our facility has certain priorities. On the one hand, this includes proven expertise and experience in the field of Transcriptomics, including single-cell analysis, and on the other hand, the analysis of complex metagenomes based on different human tissues and body fluids using optimized laboratory processes and an analysis pipeline developed in-house.
Our exposé provides an overview of us and our provided services. You are cordially invited to review this document or to use any content therein for your research proposal.
Organization
One of our central concerns is to ensure transparent structures and to maintain scientific integrity and independence. For this reason, great care was taken in selecting a suitable organizational concept. By choosing institutional independence and implementing a scientific steering group, we were able to develop an optimally balanced concept. This setup allows us to offer our services to all research groups in the best possible way, i.e. transparent, reliable, efficiently and with high quality.
According to our core task as a research-driven service unit, we follow the recommendations of the European Science Foundation and aim to support your research projects the best possible way. This includes to offer a comprehensive range of consulting services for all questions concerning:
- special technological applications,
- the study design,
- possible pitfalls,
- special challenges,
- data analysis and evaluation,
- your grant application process,
and much more (see Services).
The RCU Transcriptomics emerged from the central project of the SFB566 and can look back on more than 15 years of experience in the field of microarray-based mRNA expression analysis. Some information, especially on microarray technology, can still be found here.
The RCU NGS was formed in 2015 with the aim to bundle expertise and resources around NGS-based technologies and to make them available MHH-wide. Some information, especially about the foundation, focus and strategic orientation, can still be found here.
Guidelines
The main task of the RCUG is to provide all research groups, institutes and departments of the MHH with access to NGS and microarray technology for the realization of their respective research projects.
In this context, the following aspects in particular represent the underlying premises and core tasks:
- Integration and bundling of existing expertise
- Service aspect is central
- Quality assurance
- Constantly growing expertise (avoidance of "knowledge diffusion")
- Openness: Transparent structures and "lean" decision-making processes
Prospects
After completion of the construction measure, the RCUG will move to the Center for Individualized Infection Medicine (CiiM). Along with this, a personnel and infrastructure expansion of the RCUG is planned. A change in the organizational concept of the RCUG is not intended.