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Coordinated Operating Research Entities or CORE is overseen by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School and realized through close partnership with units across the institution. The University of Maine has an extensive set of major research facilities and resources that are available through CORE to the University research community, as well as to the outside world.

Mission

To serve as UMaine’s central repository for major research equipment and facilities, for the purpose of advancing research and development. CORE enables internal and external users to have easy access to state-of-the-art technology and services delivered by experts on a fee-for-service basis. 

What is CORE?

  • Expertise:  CORE’s equipment and facilities are managed by staff with academic and industry expertise, ready to help you execute unique solutions for your needs and provide hands-on training opportunities.
  • Open Access:  CORE R&D resources are interdisciplinary, open-access, and available to students, faculty, staff, and community members at reduced rates, due in part to institutional subsidies provided by the Office of the Vice President of Research and Dean of the Graduate School.
  • Sustainable:  CORE resource management reduces redundancy and expands the lifecycle of existing equipment with regular maintenance and updates.
  • Convenient:  CORE resources are ready for your activity right away at the Orono campus. Need operator training or vocational upskilling? We do that too.
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CORE Functions

  • Managing major research equipment and facilities that are of broad use to the University research community and to the outside world
  • Connecting users with CORE resources through one-stop convenient access
  • Maintaining technical staff to operate CORE equipment and facilities
  • Providing research equipment training opportunities to internal and external users
  • Establishing professionally managed service rates that are compliant with Federal regulations

For more information about service center policy, please view the University of Maine Service Center Procedure Manual.

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iLab Solutions

The University of Maine CORE program uses iLab Core Facility Management software to manage CORE equipment and services. The iLab platform allows researchers to view a complete listing of CORE equipment and services available, and to schedule access for use of these services.  Researchers can also directly access their Chartfield accounts within iLab and assign service costs to specific grants and other funding sources. 

iLab can be accessed at the UMaine iLab webpage, which requires a one-time registration to setup your account.

For a more information and description on roles and responsibilities for PIs and non-PIs within iLab, please visit the iLab information webpage.