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The fast pace of research demands reliable access to essential lab supplies, small equipment and general, high-volume chemicals. To meet the needs of researchers, a new Lab Stores has opened with support from the Faculties of Science and Engineering and the Provost’s Office.

Located in room 133 in the Arthur N. Bourns Science Building, Lab Stores stocks high volume solvents and chemicals along with lab supplies used daily in research labs. Lab Stores buys supplies in bulk quantities and passes the savings along to researchers, says Chemistry & Chemical Biology professor Alex Adronov who coordinated the project.

Research Lab Manager Darko Ljubic (pictured above), Department Manager Salina Jaffer and Department Chair Gillian Goward. While Chemistry & Chemical Biology spearheaded the project, Lab Stores is open to all researchers across McMaster.

“Lab Stores is essential for researchers,” says Alex, who serves as Director of the Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research. “I strongly believe that a research-intensive university and a department like Chemistry & Chemical Biology cannot properly function without an on-campus Lab Stores. When the previous version of Scientific Stores closed in 2019, researchers began stockpiling solvents and supplies in their labs, which wasn’t space-efficient or safe. The new Stores make our labs safer and our research more efficient. With Lab Stores, researchers won’t run out of critical chemicals or supplies in the middle of experiments, allowing research to progress uninterrupted.”

Part-time coordinator Eli O’Connor is currently filling online orders and making “curbside pickup” ready within hours. While customers are currently not allowed into Lab Stores, researchers will be able to enter, browse the inventory in person and perform self-checkout purchases once pandemic restrictions are lifted.

Principal investigators can set up an account with Lab Stores by emailing labstore@mcmaster.ca with the subject line “registration request”. Once an account is established, students, postdocs, and research staff can quickly join the account and start making purchases.

For more information, visit the McMaster Lab Stores, email labstore@mcmaster.ca or call 905.525.9140 ext. 23315.

McMaster Lab Store Hours
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.