BUGSS Membership Levels

Community membership – be a part of the community and contribute 5 volunteer hours per month.
Power membership – use the communal lab space without engaging with the community or providing volunteer hours.
Your Lab Bench Entrepreneur membership – for those looking to rent their own lab bench and equipment.

If you are interested in learning more about our facilities, instruments and resources, visit the Lab Resources and Lab Safety pages.

About Your Lab Bench (YLB) Entrepreneur Membership

Start Your Biotech Journey Today

Launching a biotceh startup is challenging and costly enough- finding and equiping a lab shouldn’t be. Your Laboratory Bench (YLB) is an affordable laboratory space for entry-stage biotech innovators.

Unlock Access to Facilities and Equipment Without the Overhead

YLB membership offers dedicated a bench and equipment, 24/7 access to core lab equipment and other resources, with flexible rental terms in a relaxed environment. YLB members receive a 2 ft x 5 ft lab bench with a set of micropipettes (used set; P10, P20, P200, P1000), mini incubator, microcentrifuge (used), and under-counter refrigerator.

Join a Thriving Community

Be a part of this burgeoning collaborative ecosystem as you grow your own projects. Cross-pollinate with other entrepreneurs, researchers and thoughtful citizen scientists.

Benefits at BUGSS for YLB Members:

Month-to-month fee with no long term lease
24/7 access to the BUGSS laboratory and facilities
Use of BUGSS business mailing address
On-site technical assistance at no charge
No equity stake required
Dedicated dry, refrigerated and freezer (-20°C, -70°C) storage space
Established vendor accounts for supply ordering
Free biohazard waste disposal
Use of common lab equipment (see list at right)
On-site fitness center
Secure parking lot

Safety

BUGSS is currently a BSL-1 facility. Members may work with preapproved organisms and chemicals. Work with new organisms or chemicals, or requests to work with BSL-2 organisms, requires pre-approval, which can by completing the Safety approval form.

Facilities and Equipment available at the lab (more details here):

Shared tissue culture hood, CO₂ incubator, inverted microscope, and media refrigerator.
Variable temperature incubators, shakers and Sartorius bioreactors
PCR machines (BioRad C1000 and GeneAmp)
96-well Real-time PCR machine (Applied Biosystems 7500)
Beckman Coulter DU530 UV/Vis spectrophotometer and NanoDrop N1000 spectrophotometer
Eppendorf 5415C microcentrifuges and tabletop centrifuge
Equipment for horizontal and vertical gel electrophoresis and visualization
Scales, pH meter, water baths, vortexes, hot plates, pipet-aids, micropipettes
Biosafety containment hood, ductless fume hood, and autoclaves
Opentrons OT-2 Robot
Compound, dissecting, and fluorescent microscopes
Multi-Mode Microplate Reader
Eppendorf Electroporator

Optional add-on to our YLB Membership: Associate’s Membership at Harbor Launch

BUGSS has joined forces with Harbor Launch at IMET (The Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology), a startup incubator located at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Members of both Harbor Launch and BUGSS receive special rates of $150 per month for each membership ($300 monthly for both memberships); joint membership provides access to the wet lab space at BUGSS and also membership in Harbor Launch’s affiliates program which provides business advising. You can read more about it here: https://technical.ly/baltimore/2018/03/20/two-baltimore-biotech-hubs-partnering-help-scientist-entrpreneurs/ or visit the Harbor Launch website to learn more about their affiliates program.

Become a YLB Entrepreneur Member!

To join us as a YLB member, you need to:

Sign up for a recurring membership using the appropriate link below, which will redirect you to the corresponding PayPal page.
Send the following materials to Executive Director Lisa Scheifele (lscheifele@bugssonline.org)
1. A completed copy of the membership agreement
2. A request to set up a New Member Orientation and safety training
3. If you are planning to conduct your own experiments:
  - 1-2 paragraph description of your project (we may request additional information)
  - If you want to use any chemical or biological materials that are not already approved for use at BUGSS (see Inventory List), then you must follow the instructions to complete the Safety approval form.

Ready to join?

Select your preferred membership type and payment frequency.

Entrepreneur Membership with dedicated lab space

$500/ mo

$6000 / yr

All the Benefits of a BUGSS Power Membership listed above
Dedicated lab space that includes 2 ft x 5 ft lab bench with a set of used micropipettes (P20, P200, P1000), used microcentrifuge, and under-counter refrigerator.

Joint Entrepreneur and Harbor Launch Membership with dedicated lab space

$600/ mo

$7200 / yr

All the Benefits of a BUGSS Power Membership listed above
All the Benefits of a Harbor Launch Affiliate
Dedicated lab space that includes 2 ft x 5 ft lab bench with a set of used micropipettes (P20, P200, P1000), used microcentrifuge, and under-counter refrigerator.