The workshop is an international venue aimed at managers and staff of research Core Facilities (microscopy, flow cytometry, genomics, sequencing, proteomics, histology, animal house, etc.), to discuss and develop better ways to manage and run facilities for science, to solve technical, scientific and management problems, and to establish collaborations by networking with peers. Managers, core staff and industrial partners are all invited to participate.

This workshop follows from the first “Core Management Workshop” organized by Nuno Moreno and Rui Gardner, from Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, that took place in July 12-13, 2012. It was attended by many international experts in several core areas, having been highly participative and generating informative and heated discussions on core management. The enthusiasm generated was such that, at the end of the workshop, most participants felt that it would be beneficial to have this meeting annually and taking place in different locations.

Currently, these workshop is informally connected with several organisations related with the technical and management aspects of core facilities, namely ABRF and CTLS. Further alliances are also being considered, such as with Core4Life and EU-LIFE.