Innovation Lab (iLab)

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Located in the Utrecht Science Park, iLab provides easy access to University of Applied Science Utrecht (UASU, Hogeschool Utrecht (HU) , Lectoraat Innovative Testing in Life Sciences & Chemistry, Institute for Life Sciences & Chemistry (ILC).

At iLab, ideas do not stay on paper – they get built, tested, and proven.

Startups, SMEs, corporates, and public organizations are invited to use iLab as their innovation playground: a place to prototype, experiment, and validate new concepts quickly and safely. With an ISO-certified lab infrastructure and a wide range of advanced equipment, iLab helps reduce development risks and accelerates time to insight.
What truly sets iLab apart is its unique position at the intersection of education, research, and industry. iLab connects external partners directly with the applied expertise of UASU-HU, enabling real-world experimentation, hands-on learning, and meaningful knowledge exchange. Whether you are exploring an early-stage technology, testing a bold new idea, or refining a concept for market readiness, iLab offers the environment to move forward with confidence.
By working at iLab, you gain access not only to state-of-the-art facilities, but also to multidisciplinary teams of researchers and motivated students who bring fresh perspectives and practical skills. Together, we turn challenges into opportunities and innovation into real societal impact.

If you’re ready to experiment, collaborate, and build what’s next – iLab is open to you.

Princess Máxima Center Big Data Core Facility

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The BDC provides support and services in the following areas:

Genomics data analyses: development and maintenance of bioinformatics pipelines for bulk sequencing (WGS, WES, RNA-seq) in tumor and organoid samples, processing of nanopore sequencing samples, and development of custom data analyses for research.

Cloud engineering: development and deployment of end-to-end cloud solutions for bulk sequencing data—integrating a cloud-native data warehouse, portals (e.g. NL-4C), and secure APIs with a centralized governance to accelerate the delivery of genomic insights to researchers, clinicians and benefit patient care.

Dutch Comprehensive Childhood Cancer Commons: or NL-4C is a cloud-based portal developed by the BDC that enables data visualization, exploration and building of virtual datasets of harmonized genomic and clinical data of the children with cancer treated at the Princess Máxima Center.

Data stewardship: coordinating and promoting appropriate data management and stewardship practices for preclinical data, including implementation of the FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability) data principles, to ensure optimal data (re)use.

Medical research ethics committee (MREC) NedMec

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Medical Research Ethics Committee (MREC/METC) NedMec

MREC NedMec, also known in Dutch as a Medisch-Ethische Toetsingscommissie (METC), is accredited by the Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (CCMO) to review medical scientific research with human subjects.

MREC/METC NedMec reviews research that is subject to the Dutch Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Act (WMO), the EU Clinical Trial Regulation (CTR), the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR), and the EU In Vitro Diagnostics Regulation (IVDR).

Through its national scope, MREC/METC NedMec reviews research proposals for researchers, health care organisations, government institutions and other organisations in the health care sector.

UMC Utrecht Biobank Research Ethics Committee (TCBio)

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TCBio reviews procedures that collect and/or use human biological materials for medical scientific research to ensure high quality biomedical research and responsible collection, storage, management and distribution of human tissue, cells and related data. The committee is composed of experts in clinical practice, biomedical research, genetics, methodology, ethics, law and participant experience ensuring compliance with Dutch and European regulations.

Medical Research Ethics Committee (MREC)

Research that falls under the WMO, MDR, IVDR or CTR must be reviewed by an accredited Medical Research Ethics Committee (MREC; Dutch: METC) or the CCMO. If human biological material is stored as part of such a study for a future research question that has not yet been defined, the subsequent research using this material requires additional review by TCBio.

For a more information see: https://tcbio.umcutrecht.nl/en/

Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute: Culture collections and databases

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The Collection and databases facility of WI-KNAW maintains two important collections of microbes: the world-renowned CBS Collection for filamentous fungi and yeasts, founded in 1904 and one of the oldest and largest culture collections for fungi in the world; and the NCCB collection, a historically important collection of wild-type and mutant bacterial strains and phages.

Its holdings cover a broad range of the culturable fungal diversity, with strains originating from various habitats on all continents and in the seas, and over 16 000 type strains that serve as important references for taxonomy. Yearly, 4 000 – 6 000 strains are supplied to requestors in around 50 countries for research and development, and 2 000 – 3 000 new strains are deposited from various origin and substrates. All strains are DNA sequenced for quality control and identification purposes, the fungi mostly by ITS and LSU rDNA, and bacteria by (partial) 16S. New data including on physiology, mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) and other data are continuously generated and linked to the strains. For many strains whole genome sequences are also available.

  • 100 000 strains of filamentous fungi and yeasts in CBS
  • 10 000 strains of bacteria and actinobacteria, and 560 phages in NCCB
  • Strains are preserved in a metabolically inactive state, by lyophilization (freeze-drying) and cryopreservation. A smaller part is also actively kept on agar media.
  • Online databases providing open (meta)data to search strains and to perform analyses
  • Supply of cultures in active state on agar media, as freeze-dried ampoules or genomic DNA extracts
  • Deposit of novel living strains in the public collections (free-of-charge, acceptance pending quality and compliance checks)
  • International Depository under the Budapest Treaty (patent strains, fee charged)
  • Safe deposit service (fee charged periodically)
  • Quality assurance according to ISO 9001

Pathology Research Core

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The Pathology Research Core (PRC) facility offers a broad range of tissue collection, processing and analysis techniques to facilitate biomedical and clinical researchers. We collect preclinical and clinical samples and process them for analyses and storage.

Samples are collected as fresh frozen specimen, processed for formalin-fixing and paraffin embedding (FFPE), or prepared for electron microscopy (EM).

We have a vast range of antibody-based protein expression detection techniques (chromogenic and fluorescent) and chemical procedures for histopathological assessment.

Our facility can also culture and process/analyze patient derived tumor organoid PDO models in specified extracellular matrix (ECM) gels upon request.

We provide high-quality histopathological services to support research into human and non-human (mouse, rat, fish) healthy and diseased tissues

Hubrecht Imaging Center

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Imaging is becoming increasingly important in the biomedical sciences and in research at the Hubrecht Institute. To meet the growing demand for advanced imaging equipment, the Hubrecht Imaging Center (HIC) was established in 2009. In recent years, the Hubrecht Institute has acquired a range of state of the art microscopes, which are now managed by the HIC.

The HIC supports a wide spectrum of imaging needs, from simple phase contrast imaging to high resolution imaging of living tissue. Advanced systems ar available at the HIC include confocal, two photon, TIRF, FRAP, STED and FRET microscopy, including FLIM. We have also spinning disk systems and light sheet microscopes.

The HIC ensures that the Hubrecht Institute’s advanced imaging equipment functions optimally and is used to its full potential. This is achieved through regular system testing and optimization, training new researchers, and providing support for imaging experiments.

Cell Microscopy Core (CMC)

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Cell Microscopy Core (CMC), is an expertise center for microscopy at the subcellular, cellular and tissue level. CMC is specialized in, and internationally renowned for immuno-electron microscopy (immunogold labeling of Tokuyasu cryosections) and correlative light-electron microscopy (CLEM). These methods uniquely allow the study of molecules at the nanoscale, within the ultrastructural context of the cell.

CMC is ratified as the CLEM node within the national Roadmap projects Netherlands Electron Microscopy Infrastructure (NEMI) and NL-BioImaging, as well as the European ESFRI project EuroBioImaging.
The infrastructure of CMC comprises equipment for EM sample preparation of biological specimens, fluorescent microscopy, live-cell imaging, transmission EM, FIB-SEM and CLEM. Together this covers a full range of microscopy methods for integrated studies at the subcellular, cellular and tissue level.

Expert CMC staff provide microscopy training, assistance with experimental design and interpretation, microscopy and imaging analysis courses, and full project service. This effectively allows users to address fundamental and applied research questions that require molecular and ultrastructural information.