Along with the start-up grant designated for the purchase of equipment and the employment of the required personnel in the early years, until independent grants are obtained, a new faculty at the Technion is also allocated a construction budget. This allocation is intended for the construction of a new laboratory (or for construction adjustments), if required. A construction budget is a central and large component of the academic absorption grant for a new faculty member at the Technion. Here we will address the approval process for the construction budget and the planning stages carried out in collaboration with the academic absorption team.
The process of establishing a new laboratory begins with the allocation of a designated laboratory space by the Faculty Dean, in coordination with the academic absorption committee, and the submission of the lab characterization form. Michal, the construction project coordinator in our team, will be happy to help you through this stage, as per the procedure below.
Here we will detail the stages of working with Michal.
After receiving the approval of the Faculty Dean, you will be contacted by Michal, our construction project coordinator. Michal will contact you after an area has been allocated for your laboratory and your laboratory characterization form is complete.
The role of Michal is to help you translate your research vision into a clear, defined, and detailed construction requirement specification or a construction programme. The establishment of a laboratory involves professionals from several fields: construction, electromechanical systems, air conditioning, electricity, gas, water and more. The programme includes your basic lab requirements that are used by a variety of professionals as the basis for the initial plans and then the detailed design of your laboratory. The work with Michal will take place in several meetings:
First meeting, laboratory activity and research questions. In the first meeting, we will learn about the nature and type of work in each laboratory area according to your research activity and questions. The primary division between workstations and rooms will become clear. In addition, Michal will walk you through the process of preparing the programme and its different aspects.
Second meeting, visit in the designated laboratory area. In the second meeting, Michal will visit the laboratory area designated for you by the Dean. The visit will be held with Michal, you, and the Faculty’s head of administration. The purpose of the visit is to assess the size of the proposed area, verify feasibility and initial adaptation to your requirements and gather other details that may be important to this process.
Continued work with Michal. Additional meetings will be scheduled to verify the requirements for each room, go over the provision schedule for the equipment and the requirements of each station and device. You will also address questions regarding the existing infrastructure and safety matters. Michal will invite to these meetings relevant renovation and safety professionals at the Technion. This process is important to make sure that the programme corresponds to the reality on the ground and the needs you have characterized. Upon completion of the programme, you will be asked to confirm it with your signature. The Dean will add his signature to certify the programme. Michal will submit the signed programme for approval to the Academic absorption Committee.
To sum up, here are the main steps during this stage:
We suggest that you bring along the following materials:
The programme includes the following documents:
The next stage is the laboratory design stage. This is where the Laboratory Construction Department comes into the picture headed by the engineer Assaf Raz. It is recommended to familiarize yourself with all the steps in the process of setting up a new laboratory, as detailed below in a flowchart.
It is important to us that you are familiar with all the stages of the laboratory set up process and the contacts for each stage. To this end, below is a flowchart showing the estimated establishment schedule for a new laboratory, from the date of approval of the equipment budget until the laboratory is complete. The chart shows the order of actions and contacts at each step. Link to flowchart.
The estimated timeline for setting up a new laboratory is 14 months from the date of approval of the programme and the start of planning. You can see the estimated schedule, order of operations and the staff involved in the process of setting up a new laboratory here.
We all (including you) will make every effort to avoid significant changes in the programme or the detailed plans. To this end, we will invest time, thought and patience in the planning stages. That way, when we go into the actual construction stages, the plans are clear and agreed upon. In exceptional cases, if changes are still required, please refer your requests to the Dean. They will forward your changes to the Deputy Senior Vice President for handling.
In principle, changes will be evaluated based on three criteria: budgetary consequences, their significance in terms of the laboratory delivery timeline, and the stage of the project. The later the request arrives, the higher the cost, and the more negative its impact on the delivery timeline, therefore, higher the chances that the requested changes will not be approved. For further details, please see the Academic Absorption Procedure.
