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The 3Rs Collaborative’s MPS Initiative is the premier expert working group for stakeholders across the industry – but especially commercial developers – working to advance the adoption and acceptance of MPS. Below are frequently asked questions about our initiative as well as information about how to join.
The 3RC MPS Initiative is an industry group of MPS professionals and end-users that strives to increase the adoption of MPS technologies through stakeholder engagement. To learn more about our group, visit our website and view our charter.
Our initiative is comprised primarily of developers of commercially available MPS technologies. In fact, we have over 28 unique technology providers in our group already. Additionally, we include enabling technology providers and end-users to participate in the group. We work across North America and Europe to increase our impact and recognize the global nature of the field.
Beyond group membership, our MPS initiative exists in a wider organization that recognizes the value and necessity of animal research. 3RC is a non-profit dedicated to the advancement of all 3Rs of animal research: refinement, reduction & replacement.
Generally, membership is restricted to commercially available technology providers of MPS systems, MPS–enabling technology providers (who have a core mission focused on MPS), MPS end-users, MPS regulatory members, MPS consultants, etc.
Commercial developers must meet the below criteria for inclusion in the technology hub:
As of 2023, it is required for institutions to contribute a minimum of $1000 per institution per year per paid 3RsC initiative. An institution is welcome to have multiple members join. This fee covers inclusion in our Technology Hub for providers. It also covers all the project management aspects of the initiative.
Some institutions choose to become a higher-level member of the 3RsC to help support our wider mission of advancing better science – for both people and animals and gain additional visibility. Find out more about general membership by clicking here.
We expect an active contribution from at least one member per institution to the various outputs of our initiative. At minimum, we requires a timely response to email requests for key information about your company and opinions on consensus documents. Additionally, we host at least one meeting a quarter (currently on third Thursdays at 12pm EST) and a few hours of additional work a month. Tasks may include providing info for the tech hub, responding to email requests, contributing to our context of use document, etc.
However, we also recognize that there are phases of the year where you may be able to be more or less active. We don’t expect a continuously high contribution (although it is appreciated). Some of our companies may contribute more for a few months and then less for another few. We also allow companies to have multiple members representing them in the group and so these contributions can be rotated/spread across several individuals in one institution.
After being approved by our membership committee we will send you an invoice for your membership fee. Once your invoice is paid, our staff will reach out to ask you which members of your company want to be involved in our group and which subgroups they’d like to be a part of. We will send those individuals meeting invitations, an invitation to our MS Teams working space, and add them to our contact list. Additionally, we will ask for your company’s information for our Tech Hub, upcoming conference participation, etc. Finally, we will share our formal membership expectations, MOU with the IQ-MPS, and communication guidelines.