Oxford Nanopore Technologies opened registration for early access to the MinIon nanopore sequencer last week and provided additional details about the program.
According to a company spokesperson, the response to the program so far has been "robust and diverse." Oxford Nano first announced its early access plans in October.
Registration will be open "through the holiday period" until early 2014, and no preference will be given to those applying early. Applications are made by individuals, and there is no limit on the number of applications an institution can submit.
Researchers from any country can apply in principle, but "initial shipping limitations for a small number of countries" may exist, and in certain countries, participation "may be prohibited by law," the firm said.
After registration closes, Oxford Nanopore will invite "a number" of applicants to join the program and provide them with terms and conditions. Participants join the program by agreeing to these terms and paying a $1,000 refundable deposit and shipping charges.
Oxford Nano said each applicant can ask for up to 50 MinIon access program packages, which include the MinIon device, flow cells, preparation kits, run software, and base calling software. However, the company may allocate fewer packages, "subject to availability."
The firm will be "requesting little information about your intentions" for participating and plans to select "a broad range of applicants" for the program, "with some element of fairly-applied random allocation."
Participants "can anticipate being allowed to develop [sequencing] applications under a permissive license" and are "free to publish their results and share their experience after a compulsory burn-in period specified in the licensing terms."
Not surprisingly, competitors are excluded from participation in the program and "need not apply," Oxford Nano said.