Financials for BioHack Spaces

[Andrew Gray]

High all,

We are aiming to get our first BioHacker space in Melbourne Australia underway. As such we are looking for any help regarding information on the costs of running a space. We are aware that each space will have it's own specific budget, but we are more curious to examine the flow from revenue and costs. Not specifically how much is needed to run the lab. If anyone has any example budgets they could share or knows of where to find some, I'd very much appreciate it! We have a few start up costs we need to get past but we are making a lot of progress and have already been donated enough equipment to turn any space into a lab! Before we start though, we wan't to ensure we can sustain this initiative while delivering value to our community.

Kind Regards,

-Andrew

[Otto Heringer]

Great thread! I have the same questions Andrew.
What is the main source of revenue do you guys think that will make the biolab economically sustainable!?
Here in Brazil we are betting on membership fees, donations and eventual parties.

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[Andrew Gray]

Well Memberships and courses are going to be the bread and butter as outlined in this awesome website

http://openlab-blueprint.org/

Having said that, you still need to get enough money to cover up front costs including 3 months of running revenue. This includes things like Insurance and other fees for running a facility where you're teaching people things. Down here for example we need to cover council rates, legal fees for becoming a company limited by guarantee, and more.

[Kermit Henson]

I mostly agree with that page.

My two cents, from Barcelona.

0) which is your objetive? As i see, each lab has its own flavour and, due to this, each one is looking for its own way.
You should think in which class of bilolabdo you wish. Something for dna, growth bacteria, bulld hardware?Also, it helps you to classify which hardware/reactives priorize


1) hardware. we need tools (from a screwer to a laser cutter) to build machines. We didnt have money to buy them, so we started at Made Makerspace. This also helped us with some know-how and people helping with some projects. We still there. We are happy and they are happy :)

2) wetlab. We have a small room to run some experiments. Plasticware and glassware are not expensive or hard to find. Reactives can be harder and expensive. There are alternatives, but if you had work on a lab, there are some stuff that imakes things easier (lb medium and pyrex-like bottles).
For hardware lab, start "harvesting" hardware on street or on 2nd hand sites (fridge, microwave). Hardware such thermocyclators or centrifuges depends on your needs and community skills

Sink, gas and window should be a preference for the wetlab


3) financial. Each member contributes with a small monthly fee. This helps to mantain the space and buy stuff.
Internal crowdfunding is an easy way to get money for specific hardware
Courses are a good option to get some money and are not easy to manage.
There are some public grants for cultural associations


4) community. At fab10, thomas told us that community was important. It is. Each member has his own skills and interests, but is also important that they whish to involucrate in the community. Bio, coders and makers are equal important profiles.

We gave some talks in order to recruit people. Meetup helps, but you never now how many people will come for an afternoon free workshop. But is the only way to let people know that you exist. Also, you have to pay. I prefer facebook for this.
Look for specific targets (arquitects) and try to run some workshop for them (growing algae/bacteria).
Faire science are also a good place to reclute people.

Artists are a field very interested in bio stuff. Sometimes, they forget the science part.

5) laws. Look for the bsl1 requisits and chemical security. If you dont have experience in a bio lab, look for someone who has.
Community legal status is important to ask for grants.

6) courses. If you run a free workshop about strawberry and dna, youll get 20 people with very different profiles. If you do some bioreactor course, youll get people with an idea about what can they do with it.
Dont think that both extremes are incompatible, but im a bit bored about strawberries.
How much to pay...it depends. I think that it takes a while to get the right price

[Kermit Henson]

I forgot. I have a budget spreadsheet, which reflects the costs for mount a lab (courses, hardware, plasticware...).

But if you already have all that stuff, dont know what else do you need. Costs to maintain the space will depend on your lab configuration

[Andrew Gray]

Hi Kermit,

Thanks so much for your info! We are discussing some projects and i think we are going to go down Micro, DNA, and a few other projects including working with algae. I would love to get my hands on that spreadsheet so we can see the kinds of things your funds are going to. if thats okay with you, just shoot me an Email! You can check us out at 

www.bioquisitive.org.au