During 2020/21 ISG Research Services (RSS) and Systems Biology (CSE) had worked together to understand the potential for combining the expertise in the two areas (service infrastructure in RSS and experience with research image analysis) to potentially expand the current Systems Biology OMERO implementation to a more general University wide service.

Currently Systems Biology operate an OMERO implementation for internal use and also for shared use with some Univeristy partners. RSS had previously operated a pilot OMERO service but lacked the domain specific expertise to progress. With complementary skills available, RSS and Systems Biology examined whether a shared service operated in partnership would benefit groups within the University requiring this type of service. A number of groups within the University have been identified as potentially users of a centralised image file management service.

However, the University does not currently have the framework to support a shared internal service. This includes understanding sharing internal recharging and how that feeds into staffing support. This project is intended to address these issues and develop a shared service model for image file management across the University. Additional project documentation can be found in the project SharePoint area.