Biomedical Research Core Facilities

Closely aligned with the development of research programs at Westlake, the BRCF has installed a series of technological platforms, establishing a comprehensive research support system empowering diverse programs from analysis of biological macromolecules to studies of population health. As one of the earliest core facilities in operation at Westlake, the BRCF is currently consisted of eleven facilities, including the CryoEM, Data, Flow Cytometry, General Equipment & Autoclave Service, Genomics, High-throughput, Mass Spectrometry & Metabolomics, Microscopy, Phenotypic Analysis, and Protein Characterization and Crystallography Core Facilities, as well as the Radioisotope Lab and Biobank. The BRCF laboratories are mainly located in Building No. 1 and Building No. 3 at the Yunqi Campus, with a total space of over 2600 m2. At present, the BRCF is equipped with more than 400 scientific instruments, with a total asset close to CNY 400 million. It has a professional staff of 22 full-time technicians, all have advanced degrees and five with Ph. D. degrees. At the Yungu Campus, where the BRCF facilities will be relocated in 2021, the allotted space for the BRCF is over 3000 m2. Its staff will expand to over 50 technical experts by 2025.

Laboratory Animal Resources Center

The Laboratory Animal Resources Center (LARC) provides intellectual and technical services for Westlake University and non-Westlake-University investigators. These services include optimized animal care and welfare, rederivation, generation of genetically modified mice, speed expansion or strain rescue via in vitro fertilization and/or embryo transfer, mouse line cryopreservation and resuscitation, animal model development and professional support in the broad field of laboratory animal science. LARC interacts closely with the IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) to satisfy guidelines for the care and use of animals used in research.

At Westlake University, Yungu Campus, LARC has 8,200 m2 of space devoted to animal breeding, holding and experiments. LARC will be highly involved in research, teaching and training, and oversee the care and use of laboratory animals. The missions of LARC are to provide quality care for all animals used at Westlake University, to assist investigators in achieving their research goals, and to maintain the highest standards of humane care of animals used in research.

High-Performance Computing Center

Westlake University High-Performance Computing Center provides advanced computing and data analysis service for cutting-edge scientific and engineering research at Westlake University. Founded in June 2019, Westlake University High-Performance Computing Center now hosts one CPU cluster of 4080 CPU cores and a 1.1PB parallel storage with 56Gbps inter-nodes connection. GPU cluster equipped with NVidia Tesla V100 is now fully functional. The total computational power is 200Tflop/s for CPU and 2.8Pflop/s for GPU. Frequently used software and production environments have been set up on the clusters, including but not limited to RELION, GROMACS, GATK, Guassian, VASP, Tensorflow, PyTorch, gcc/g++, gfortran, Intel compiler, java, openmpi, python, perl, and others. The computational resources in the center support multiple areas of research including biology, medical science, pharmaceutical sciences, physics, mathematics, chemistry, engineering, artificial intelligence and other related areas, and are open to all Westlake University faculty, students, and staff.