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The power and pitfalls of outsourcing

Nature Biotechnology volume 25, pages 1093–1096 (2007)Cite this article

Outsourcing has been relatively rare in academia until now, but is that beginning to change?

CTPs take advantage of economies of scale to keep their costs of providing the new technologies relatively low and by maintaining a concentration of technical expertise to ensure high quality results. Here, we discuss both the attractions of outsourcing and its costs, offer some suggestions for improving the relationship between CTPs and scientists, and raise the question of how this new relationship will affect the traditional research collaboration.

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Acknowledgements

This manuscript benefited from the comments of A. Pichler and L. Williams.

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  1. Franz B. Pichler & Susan J. Turner are at the School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92-019, Auckland, New Zealand. s.turner@auckland.ac.nz,

    Franz B Pichler & Susan J Turner

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  1. Franz B Pichler
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  2. Susan J Turner
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Pichler, F., Turner, S. The power and pitfalls of outsourcing. Nat Biotechnol 25, 1093–1096 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1007-1093

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