Seeding Labs is quite literally the only organization in the world dedicated to putting the tools of modern science into the hands of scientists in the developing world and to elevate the contributions of low and middle countries to the scientific community. The problem of how to effectively provide such highly specialized material aid to scientists at scale is intensely difficult. The belief that seeding institutions with equipment could change development outcomes was met with skepticism. Unti Seeding Labs came along, many thought that it couldn’t be done. They are filling a critical gap in research capacity development efforts that nobody else in the world is trying to address at scale and have more than a decade’s worth of hard-won implementation expertise. Their core program, Instrumental Access, is designed to be the first step in a continuum of services to help advance scientific discoveries and innovations. In addition to enabling research, Instrumental Access equipment enables STEM education, giving critical hands-on experience to the next generation and ensuring that scientific talent does not go to waste anywhere.

Seeding Labs tracks impact across three categories:

1. Education – at least 26,000 undergraduate students per year can do practical hands-on research and experiments in their STEM courses because of Seeding Labs’ donations and more than 1,800 post-graduate students have used Instrumental Access equipment to complete thesis or dissertation research
2. Research – Instrumental Access equipment has helped research in many countries: launched the nation’s first research center focused on infectious diseases in the Dominican Republic, enabled disease surveillance to be conducted in the wake of Cyclone Idai in Malawi, and launched a national genome project in Armenia
3. Sustainability/Leveraged Resources – a small sample of 14 Seeding Lab awardee institutions reported that the enhanced equipment allowed them to win more than $3.4 million in new research funding

Seeding Labs is innovative in delivering physical and intellectual property resources to underserved areas across the world through its research backing, sophisticated delivery model, and strategic partnerships. Seeding Labs maintains a repository of data, it connects recipients of equipment to mentors and research opportunities, and it has formed alliances with customs agencies and universities to ensure delivery of equipment. They work closely with each university and an army of freight forwarders and clearing agents to navigate the complicated logistics of transcontinental shipping to 36 different countries. To ensure a steady supply of donated equipment that meets the diverse research and teaching needs, Seeding Labs has had to engage in a complementary set of collaborations with equipment donors, including multinational corporations, hospitals, schools, research institutes, and biotech startups.

Seeding Labs’ model for social change is heavily dependent upon collaborative relationships with educational institutions, partnerships with other scientists, and channels within its delivery system. Beyond material aid, Seeding Labs has lessons to share about building coalitions within and across sectors (both private and public) that can be useful to many types of social sector organizations. They have organized the sharing of their approach into a new platform, their Corporate Consortium, which facilitates the distribution of knowledge and best practices around the life science industry’s efforts to build research capacity. The Consortium brought together several leaders from their biggest corporate partners and can function as a vehicle for bringing the sector together to build research capacity. With a decade of learning under their belt, and a way to share it with many through the Corporate Consortium, Seeding Labs aims to sustainably grow Instrumental Access and address inequities in resources other than equipment.