PEER-UC Berkeley Lab

The PEER Lab is located at the Richmond Field Station and has a long history of successfully providing the engineering community testing facilities, the staffing expertise to execute a given project, and the academic background to provide appropriate data analysis, design input and overall project management. The PEER-UC Berkeley Lab is available to write both academic style reports, along with AC156 and IEEE-693 reports submitted to regulatory agencies. 

Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectroscopy Facility

The College of Natural Resources' Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Spectroscopy Facility has a Perkin Elmer 5300 DV optical emission ICP with auto sampler.  The ICP can measure up to at least 21 different elements simultaneously. Users should estimate between 6 and 12 samples per hour plus a half hour warm up of the instrument.  Applications include plant elemental analysis, soil extracts, silicon chip analysis, nanoparticles, rock fusions to name just a few. 

Earth and Planetary Science Lab

The Earth and Planetary Sciences XRD, SEM, and Sample Preparation Labs provide users the opportunity to perform a wide range of analyses on samples including X-ray powder diffraction, SEM imaging, and EBSD textural analysis, EDS chemical analysis as well as all sample preparation required for analysis. 

Equipment includes: 

QB3 Genomics

QB3 Genomics is a partnership between the Vincent J. Coates Genomics Sequencing Lab ( GSL – B206 Stanley Hall), the Functional Genomics Laboratory (FGL – 255 Weill Hall, formerly LSA), and the Computational Genomics Resources Facility (CGRL – 238 Koshland Hall). QB3 Genomics’ mission is to make genomics research tractable and affordable to UC Berkeley and the greater genomics community.

Archaeological Research Facility

The Archaeological Research Facility (ARF) is a hub for archaeologists and archaeology-related research at UC Berkeley. They have field and lab instruments available for on and off-campus researchers on a recharge basis. They also offer workshops on the use of these instruments. Their field instruments include near-surface geophysical sensors (GPR, gradiometry, and resistivity), mapping devices (RTK GNSS, total stations, GIS software, 3d scanners), and photography (UAV, cameras, pole and kite photography systems).

Oxford Research Facility

Greenhouse, growth chamber, lath house, and field space for plant and environmental science research. Resources include mist propagation beds and rooms, work space, supplemental lighting, and biosafety, temperature, and lighting controls. Experienced staff provides horticultural consultation, supplies, plant monitoring and watering, and pest control. The facility is available to UC Berkeley and LBL affiliates and, on a limited basis, to outside users.

College of Chemistry X-ray Crystallography Facility (CheXray)

Provides all services related to the X-ray diffraction of single crystals and powders of small molecule compounds. Typically, X-ray diffraction is used to determine the solid-state molecular structure at the atomic level of crystalline samples, including absolute stereochemistry of chiral compounds. The facility currently houses state-of-the-art single crystal and powder X-ray diffractometers.

Berkeley Seismology Laboratory

The Berkeley Seismological Laboratory conducts essential research on earthquakes and solid earth processes while collecting and delivering high quality geophysical data. We provide robust and real-time earthquake and hazard information on Northern California earthquakes, in collaboration with our partners. We enable the broad consumption of earthquake information by the general public while educating and training students at all levels.

UC Berkeley Drug Discovery Center (UCBDDC)

The UC Berkeley Small Molecule Drug Discovery Center’s main goal is to support translational research by providing access to a library of over 100,000 small molecule and natural product compounds and expertise in assay development. It supports compound storage, dispensing, sample management and execution of screens using a variety of readouts (absorbance, fluorescence, luminescence, imaging-based) for biochemical and cell-based assays as well as automation for following up on interesting hits in dose response to find useful compounds for discovery and human trials.

Cell Culture Facility

The Cell Culture Facility, located in 336 Barker Hall, supports research by providing cell cultures (mammalian and insect), media, supplies and expertise on a recharge basis for more than 70 different laboratories on and off the main campus. The Facility provides cell cultures for researchers to take to their labs for experiments, provides media and materials for checkout, and also allows use of laminar flow hoods, incubators and microscope for researchers who are using cells provided by the Facility, to use on site. We also work with off-site companies.

Gene Targeting Facility

This facility has generated hundreds of transgenic mice and made numerous gene-targeted mice. Recently the facility has shifted to using Cas9/CRISPR-mediated gene targeting as this offers the ability to produce gene-targeted mice with unprecedented speed and ease.

QB3 High Throughput Screening Facility

The High-Throughput Screening Facility (HTSF), located in the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, provides access to cell culturing space, automated liquid handling, automated plate reader and high-throughput, high-content microscopy instrumentation for screening experiments, along with tools for analysis and data visualization. Emphasis is on whole genome and sub-library siRNA screening from various sources but other high-throughput fluidics projects are welcome.

Instruments include:

DNA Sequencing - Sanger Sequencing of DNA Samples

Serves all UC affiliated laboratories, government agencies and businesses providing Sanger sequencing, genotyping, high-throughput nucleic acid purification/quantification, PCR reaction cleanup, PCR products size selection, human cell line authentication, and free consultation services. Open access instruments include: BioRad CFX96 Touch Real Time PCR system, BioRad QX200 Droplet Digital PCR System, and 150L New Brunswick BioFlo Fermentor.

Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory

The Marvell NanoLab, located in the CITRIS headquarters building, Sutardja Dai Hall, includes more than 15,000 sq feet of Class100 and Class1000 cleanroom. The Marvell NanoLab is a shared research center providing more than 100 Principal Investigators and over 500 academic and industrial researchers a complete set of micro- and nano-fabrication tools. Please contact us if you are an academic or industrial researcher interested in the capabilities of the Marvell NanoLab.

Cal-Cryo@QB3

The Cal-Cryo facility, housed in the basement of Stanley Hall, is led by Professors Eva Nogales and James Hurley and began operations in February 2018. Our facility is used to collect image data of biological or soft material samples before it is processed using single particle or tomographic reconstruction methods Our staff offer consultation and training in specimen preparation, microscope operation, image acquisition, and data analysis. The facility’s instrumentation features automated data collection. Both single-particle micrographs and tomography tilt series can be collected.

Biological Imaging Facility

A state-of-the-art light microscopy facility specializing in live and fixed cell imaging. Specializes in Widefield, Spinning-Disk Confocal, Laser Scanning Confocal, Deconvolution and Super-Resolution fluorescence microscopy. Also advanced software for image analysis and presentation (Imaris, HuygensPro), as well as microtechnique (both paraffin/plastic and cryotomy) equipment and training.

Brain Imaging Center

The Brain Imaging Center's MRI facility houses an actively-shielded 3 Tesla Siemens TIM/Trio scanner. The 32-channel console is equipped with 12- and 32-channel receive-only head coils as well as a custom-made birdcage coil. The scanner is capable of high-performance EPI for fMRI, diffusion imaging, perfusion imaging, high resolution anatomical scanning and a wide range of standard clinical sequences.

Electron Microscope Laboratory

Provides EM services to the Berkeley campus and the academic community at large. The EML houses both TEMs and SEMs and provides three types of service: (1) education and training, (2) equipment for trained users, and (3) full service microscopy for pilot studies. The EML specializes in cryopreservation via HPF/FS. All services are available to anyone with an interest in electron microscopy: graduate and undergraduate students, post-doctoral researchers, faculty, staff, and non-UC users.

CRL Molecular Imaging Center

A state-of-the-art light microscopy facility specializing in imaging live cell and live small model organisms (zebrafish, drosophila, c. elegans, etc.), laser-scanning and spinning disk confocal microscopy, multi-photon microscopy, fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM), super resolution (AiryScan and Fast Airyscan), light-sheet microscopy (SPIM), holographic patterned illumination for optogenetic studies, and slide scanning with histological stains and fluorescence.

Flow Cytometry

The Flow Cytometry provides UC Berkeley and local researchers with access to cutting-edge High-Dimensional Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (Hi-D FACS) and analysis. The facility also provides flow cytometry instruments and expertise.

College of Chemistry NMR Facility

Provides routine access for liquid- and solid-state NMR experiments, and is primarily used for determining critical aspects of molecular structure and for studying reaction mechanisms qualitatively, as well as quantitatively. Instruments are available at field strengths 300 MHz to 700 MHz with probes to study a broad-band of nuclei (1H-19F and 31P-103Rh).

QB3 Vincent J. Coates Proteomics/Mass Spectrometry Laboratory

Provides comprehensive proteomics services using mass spectrometry, determining the protein contents of samples as simple as gel bands or as complicated as whole cell extracts. The facility provides identification of post-translational modifications and relative quantitation as well as consultation regarding sample preparation and experimental design.

The facility provides proteomics services principally through mass spectrometry.  Currently we have two Thermo LTQ XL linear ion trap mass spectrometers and a Thermo Fusion Lumos mass spectrometer.

QB3 Chemistry Mass Spectrometry Facility

Provides routine acquisition of mass spectra and accurate mass measurements of biological, organic, and inorganic compounds, as well as mass measurements of intact proteins, lipids, oligosaccharides, and non-covalent protein-protein and protein-ligand complexes and supramolecular coordination clusters. The facility also provides advanced proteomics analysis and operates an open access laboratory.