Renaud, OliverAulner, NathalieSalles, AudreyHalidi, NadiaBrunstein, MaiaMallet, AdelineAumayr, KarinTerjung, StefanLevy, DanielLippens, SaskiaVerbavatz, Jean-MarcHeuser, ThomasSantarella-Mellwig, RachelTinevez, Jean-YvesWoller, TatianaBotzki, AlexanderCawthorne, ChristopherCore4Life ConsortiumMunck, Sebastian2024-09-042024-09-042024Renaud O, Aulner N, Salles A, Halidi N, Brunstein M, Mallet A, et al. Staying on track - Keeping things running in a high-end scientific imaging core facility. J Microsc. 2024 Jun;294(3):276-94. DOI: 10.1111/jmi.133040022-2720http://hdl.handle.net/10230/61001Modern life science research is a collaborative effort. Few research groups can single-handedly support the necessary equipment, expertise and personnel needed for the ever-expanding portfolio of technologies that are required across multiple disciplines in today's life science endeavours. Thus, research institutes are increasingly setting up scientific core facilities to provide access and specialised support for cutting-edge technologies. Maintaining the momentum needed to carry out leading research while ensuring high-quality daily operations is an ongoing challenge, regardless of the resources allocated to establish such facilities. Here, we outline and discuss the range of activities required to keep things running once a scientific imaging core facility has been established. These include managing a wide range of equipment and users, handling repairs and service contracts, planning for equipment upgrades, renewals, or decommissioning, and continuously upskilling while balancing innovation and consolidation.application/pdfeng© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Microscopy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Microscopical Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jmi.13304Core facilityDevice managementDevice monitoringInnovationQuality managementTraininginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess