Benchling for Academics
A mission to revolutionize research
Since 2012, Benchling has modernized the research process for over 200,000 scientists across 7,500+ universities and institutions. Throughout this time, we’ve always offered our product completely free to academics. That’s because we know that the innovation to transform every aspect of our lives — from the drugs we take to the food we eat — starts in academia.
Watch this overview to learn how academics use Benchling to accelerate scientific discoveries and see a demo of the platform in action.
Academics use Benchling to:
Integrate their lab notebook with sequence analysis
Store biological sequences on the same platform where you store the rest of your data. In Benchling, your tools for sequence design and analysis are seamlessly integrated with your protocols, observations, and experimental results.
Safeguard research and laboratory knowledge
Prevent the loss of laboratory knowledge when members transition, and maintain research continuity with Benchling. Being on the cloud means your data is backed up, timestamped, and accessible with any internet connection.
Streamline data sharing and collaboration
Organize your data with Benchling to navigate through countless experiments and easily share data across your laboratory. Best of all, search for any result — yours or your collaborators' — if it’s in Benchling.
A unified platform for all research needs
Notebook
More than a digital version of paper. Centralize all of your data — spreadsheets, image files, sequences, protocols, and notes. Log your experiments through automatic timestamps and version histories. Create lab templates for experiments to ensure that data collection is always uniform.
Molecular Biology
A modern suite for sequence visualization and design, with 10+ tools on a single interface. Access CRISPR, cloning, alignments, primer design, and auto-annotation tools — built for modern molecular biology workflows. Link your sequences directly to Notebook, or share them with your lab or collaborators.
Projects
Organizations
External file storage
“We constantly use Benchling to share data with other project members and collaborators. It’s an easier way to search notebooks and share sequencing data, plasmids, or protocols.”
“The Benchling developers are pretty aggressive about releasing new features, so you can be confident that you are using cutting-edge features for sequence editing and management.”
“I have my whole lab use Benchling because it’s a revolutionary way to share information about recombinant DNA.”
“Using Benchling means my data and notebook entries are accessible from any computer that I log in from. Alternatives are either expensive or not designed with science in mind.”
“Benchling streamlines my experimental workflow, lab notebook, and data sharing - making me a more effective researcher and collaborator.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, we offer an academic plan free of charge. The academic plan includes the basic building blocks of Benchling and is specifically formulated for academic researchers. You can sign-up here.
Notebook and Molecular Biology are included to help academics accelerate their research.
Our Inventory and Registry products were built for industry requirements, not academic. Much of the functionality assumes that the users will be operating in a structured, consistent, and private environment. That's compared to how many of our academic users shift users frequently, change data formats often, and require unstructured external collaboration, making the industry platform a less-than-ideal fit.
Yes, you can continue using the product, but our industry paid product offers additional power and scale for R&D teams as they grow and their needs get more complex including security, collaboration, and structured data. For teams that are just getting started, you can learn more about Benchling for Startups here.
