CoLab Annual Membership
Gain access to a fully equipped lab, expert training, and advanced instrumentation without the cost and maintenance of ownership. Whether you’re exploring new ideas, scaling up experiments, or accessing specialized tools, the CoLab offers flexible membership tiers to fit your research needs and budget. Join a collaborative community, get hands-on experience with specialized technologies, and keep your projects moving forward efficiently.
All memberships include:
- 24/7 access to CoLab facilities and workstations
- Training for instruments and workflows within your tier
- Unlimited access to instruments included in your selected tier
- Tech support from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- General lab consumables
Membership tiers:
Choose the training tier that best fits your research. Fees are annual and charged per researcher. PIs needing multiple memberships receive a discount: 25% off the 2nd, and 50% off each additional.
- Basic ($500/yr): Core equipment training
- Intermediate ($1,000/yr): Adds library prep training
- Advanced ($1,500/year): Expanded training to specialized workflows
- Specialized ($2,000/year): Training on every platform, including single-cell and spatial genomics
- Access Only ($250/year): Lab access with training à la carte
Who needs an annual membership?
Beginning September 2, 2025, all UMN researchers who wish to use the CoLab must purchase an annual membership aligned with the level of training they require.
- Current CoLab users who have already completed training will minimally need an Access Only membership.
- New CoLab users start with a 30-minute orientation to get familiar with the lab and its resources before selecting a membership tier.
- CoLab is open to UMN principal investigators, graduate students, scientists, and technical staff. Undergraduates are eligible for the Intermediate tier or above.
For questions about memberships, please get in touch with Aaron Becker, CoLab Lead, at [email protected].