COSINC Snapshot: Who We Serve and How We Grow
COSINC by the Numbers
FY25 users’ affiliations, demonstrating the COSINC users base, predominantly from CU Boulder/system, followed by industry and external non-profit user.
A data-driven approach is essential to guiding COSINC’s operations and demonstrating its impact—both of which are key to long-term sustainability and continued institutional support. As a result, COSINC actively tracks several operational metrics, including:
- Total number of users
- Diversity of user backgrounds
- Number of principal investigators (PIs) supported
- Training sessions conducted
In addition to these internal metrics, COSINC also monitors the external research funding enabled through its facilities and services over the course of each year.
These metrics help quantify COSINC’s value to the research community and inform strategic planning for future growth and resource allocation.
A selection of key COSINC metrics that provide snapshots of the users ad PIs served in FY25, cumulative users/PIs FY23-25, including the training sessions provided.
Outreach & Training Highlights
COSINC continues to offer a wide range of workshops and outreach activities to engage the research community and support technical development. From June to October 2024, the following workshops were conducted:
- Electron Beam Lithography (EBL)
- X-ray Diffraction (XRD)
- Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS)
In June, COSINC also launched its first EBL User Meeting, aimed at introducing the new EBL capability scheduled for full deployment by September 2025. The meeting provided a platform to gather user input on technical requirements for nanoscale patterning.
Planning is currently underway for the inaugural COSINC Networking Event, scheduled for November 2025. More details will be shared in the coming weeks.
In addition, a Beamer workshop—focused on proximity effect correction for nanoscale patterning—is tentatively scheduled for November 2025. Beamer is a powerful software tool used in conjunction with EBL systems to optimize pattern fidelity.
Looking ahead, COSINC is actively developing new training programs, courses, and workshops. One exciting initiative is the planning of an undergraduate/graduate course that will include hands-on experience in the future NQN cleanroom. This course will also leverage existing COSINC capabilities for lab sections, providing students with practical exposure to advanced nanofabrication tools and techniques.