Answers · Updated 2026-09-04

Who actually buys in an academic lab, the PI or the lab manager?

For purchases under roughly $50,000, the lab manager or core facility director handles vendors, compares quotes, and places the order. The PI approves. Outbound to lab managers gets read; outbound to PIs with no context gets deleted.

Sequences that reference the lab's recent publication and the model it implies land. Timing matters too: outreach converts in the months after grant notices go out, when the money is real and the timeline is short.

Answered by Kristen Coughlin, Chief Operating Officer