Fiscal Year 2026 Fees
Harvard Center for Biological Imaging
FY26 Fee Schedule
(July 1, 2025 -June 30, 2026)
Base rate: hourly rate for experiments lasting 8 hours or less as determined by the researcher's cumulative hourly usage of HCBI microscopes (excludes Workstations, HOF, FS, and X-Clarity tissue clearing system usage) during the current fiscal year (July 1 -June 30). This is a volume discounting rate structure where hourly fees decrease the more the facility is used.
Time-Lapse Discount: experiments lasting longer than 8 hours will be charged the base rate for hours 0-8; hours thereafter will be billed at the time-lapse discount hourly rate.
TIER 0 Microscopes:
TruLive 3D Lightsheet,
TIER I Microscopes:
Z7 Lightsheet, 2-Photon, LSM confocals (except 700), ELYRA, Nikon and Yokogawa Spinning Disks, STED
TIER II Microscopes:
LSM 700 confocal, Axio Scans, Axio Zoom
Internal Users (requires payment via 33-digit Harvard billing code)
| Tier | Rate (first 70 hours of usage) | Rate (hours 71-140) | Rate (hours>140) | Time-Lapse Discount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | $100.00 | $85.00 | $75.00 | $5.00 |
I | $50.00 | $40.00 | $30.00 | $5.00 |
II | $30.00 | $20.00 | $10.00 | $5.00 |
Users from Harvard Affiliated Institutions & Hospitals
| Tier | Rate (first 70 hours of usage) | Rate (hours 71-140) | Rate (hours>140) | Time-Lapse Discount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | $150.00 | $125.00 | $115.00 | $30.00 |
I | $75.00 | $65.00 | $55.00 | $20.00 |
II | $50.00 | $40.00 | $30.00 | $10.00 |
All External Users
| Tier | Rate (first 70 hours of usage) | Rate (hours 71-140) | Rate (hours>140) | Time-Lapse Discount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | $200.00 | $170.00 | $150.00 | $30.00 |
I | $100.00 | $80.00 | $60.00 | $30.00 |
II | $80.00 | $60.00 | $40.00 | $20.00 |
MERSCOPE Spatial Transcriptomics System
| All Non-Profit Users |
|---|
$150/day |
X-Clarity Tissue Clearing System
| All Users |
|---|
$50/24hrs* |
3-day Workshop
Harvard and Harvard affiliate: $250 |
External Academic and Commercial: $450 |
Cryo Electron Microscopy Equipment
Glacios Cryo-EM
| Internal Users | $50/hr |
|---|---|
Harvard Affiliates | $75/hr |
External Academic and Industry | $100/hr |
Wohlwend High Pressure Freezer
| All Users |
|---|
$175/24hrs |
Leica AFS Freeze substitution
| All Users |
|---|
$50/24hrs |
*includes 1L of ETC solution.
Rates are subject to change as necessary to comply with HU Service Center Policy.
Fees are billed according to reserved time in SPINAL, the login/logout timestamp on the microscope acquisition computer, or a combination thereof (whichever is longer). Reservations can be canceled up to 15 minutes in advance. No-shows are billed at the full rate. Microscope damage/misuse is billable above hourly rates.