Research Facilities
Boston College supports a wide array of cutting edge shared research resources including eight core facilities and three recharge centers. Oversight for these facilities is placed under the Office of the Vice Provost for Research (VPR) and is the primary responsibility of the Executive Director, Research Infrastructure & Operations.
Core Facility News
The BC institutional policy that undergrads are not permitted to work alone unsupervised in a laboratory includes the BC Core Facilities and Scientific Recharge Facilities. More information regarding the requirement for supervision of undergraduates in laboratories can be found in the Boston College Chemical Hygiene Plan.
Animal Care Facility
A facility committed to providing humane care for animals while assisting researchers. Services include procuring animals, animal husbandry, daily health surveillance, equipment provision and maintenance training.
Electron Microscopy
A ultra-high-resolution scanning electron microscope capable of secondary-electron image resolution of 1.2 nm and a transmission electron microscope operating at 200kV with a field-emission gun.
Imaging Facility
The Imaging Facility has five separate spaces for microscopes and houses several workstations for image analysis by facility users. Bench space is available for set up of experiments and a fume hood is present within the facility.
Materials Characterization
The Materials Characterization Center opened in 2022. The facility will include: X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD), and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM).
Center for Isotope Geochemistry
A specialized facility dedicated to high precision analysis of isotopic ratios in geological, marine, environmental, and archaeological materials. Includes a TIMS instrument, an IRMS instrument, and a metal-free clean lab.
Flow Cytometry
Flow cytometry uses fluorescent probes to identify and characterize cells or particles in suspension by virtue of size, granularity and fluorescence.
Magnetic Resonance Center
A high-field nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer facility featuring two 400 MHz NMR spectrometers, two 500 MHz NMR spectrometers, one 600 MHz NMR spectrometer, and computer facilities.
Scientific Instrumentation & Machining Services
SIMS is a service department in the College of Arts and Sciences, set up to assist science department researchers and academic laboratories in solving scientific equipment problems.
Clean Room & Nanofabrication Facility
Comprised of 1,500 square feet of Class 1,000 and Class 10,000 cleanroom spaces, this lab enables highly sensitive materials and devices to be fabricated free from contaminants.
Human Neuroscience Laboratory
Discovering how the brain supports a variety of human cognitive processes by utilizing a variety of cognitive neuroscience techniques, including: TMS, EEG, fNIRS, Psychophysiology, Eye-tracking, & Behavioral measures.
The Mass Spectrometry Center
A full service facility providing high resolution mass spectral data from electrospray, APCI, APPI, MALDI-TOF, and DART.
X-ray Crystallography Center
Fully equipped with several diffractometers, constant temperature rooms for crystal growth, and several VAX and Silicon Graphics computers for investigation of protein and small molecule structure.
Joshua Rappoport, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Research Infrastructure & Operations
Dr. Joshua Z. Rappoport received a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Brown University and then went on to earn a Ph.D. from the Program in Mechanisms of Disease and Therapeutics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine Graduate School of Biological Sciences of New York University. Dr. Rappoport then went on to perform postdoctoral work at The Rockefeller University in New York City in the Laboratory of Cellular Biophysics. Subsequently he was recruited as a faculty member in the School of Biosciences at the University of Birmingham in England.
In 2014 Dr. Rappoport returned to the United States to serve as the Director of the Center for Advanced Microscopy and Nikon Imaging Center at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and as a faculty member in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology. As of March 1st, 2019, Dr. Rappoport is the Executive Director, Research Infrastructure & Operations.
This position in the office of the Vice-Provost for Research focuses upon expanding and improving the shared research resources available to BC faculty, such as core facilities and recharge centers.
Research Infrastructure
Joshua Rappoport, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Research Infrastructure & Operations
Part-Time Faculty, Biology Dept.
rappopoj@bc.edu
617.552.0953
Higgins 644A