DDCB has a central advisory panel including the node PIs (the steering group) and other senior researchers at the units. The central advisory panel meets 2-3 times per year to discuss joint strategies, projects and current issues and developments in the units. Often, user projects involve more than one DDCB unit, e.g. virtual screening carried out by the Drug Design and Synthesis Laboratory (Biocenter Kuopio) and top hits cherry-picked at FIMM High Throughput Biomedicine Unit (HiLIFE) in assay-ready format, and assaying carried out by the unit with relevant expertise. Users can access our services either by contacting directly individual nodes or through the central advisory panel.
Because the nature of projects within DDCB can vary a lot, the cost from one project to another are highly variable. Cost estimates will be provided to the user after initial discussions with the consortium or service providing unit. Host institution support allows us to subsidize some of the service costs. The user pays for material and reagent costs, for access to the specialty equipment and materials (such as compound libraries) and personnel costs when applicable. Advice and guidance in the development and progression of projects is a cornerstone of the DDCB services and is free of cost.