How an engagement with MatGen works.
Computational services and scientific software are our foremost focus, so we have made sure that working with MatGen is as smooth as possible from a logistical perspective. Below is an overview of how a collaboration begins, and of the principles that hold throughout it.
Flexible data science with MatGen.
Working with our experts gives you access to advanced data science capabilities without adding permanent headcount. The following hold on every engagement, whichever model it takes.
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Dedicated resources
A MatGen expert is embedded in your team for the time we agree on, not shuffled between projects from week to week.
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Collaborative approach
Our expert sets up regular meetings with their team in your organization, so that your feedback is quickly integrated and iterated upon.
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Agile efficiency
We employ agile project principles to drive rapid iteration and sustained progress, working in increments you can review as they are produced.
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Business value focus
Our priority is accelerating the delivery of tangible business value — something we review consistently in our consultant–client meetings.
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Client-centric ownership
All intellectual property generated during our collaboration remains exclusively yours, not MatGen's.
Engagement models.
These are not tiers, and which one fits depends on whether you need people, a defined deliverable, or both. They can be combined, and adjusted as a project develops.
Staff augmentation
- Expertise on demand. We match specific experts to the gap you have.
- Extended engagement. Often a few months to start, regularly extended to a year or more, half- or full-time.
- Full integration. Experts join your meetings and contribute across projects as needed.
- An extension of your staff. They operate as part of your team until offboarding.
Project-based
- A defined workflow. We implement a specified pipeline or analysis end to end.
- Custom solutions. Scientific software, interactive tools, or a bespoke workflow built for your data.
- Focused execution. Each engagement is scoped against your objectives and delivered against them.
Mixed mode
- Senior advisory. Senior experts provide direction and project leadership.
- Hands-on execution. Additional experts deliver the implementation underneath it.
- Flexible collaboration. Advisory and delivery in one engagement, weighted however the program needs.
A streamlined process for starting an engagement.
Below is a step-by-step overview of how to initiate a collaboration with us. It is the full version: in practice these steps are often simplified, and they are adjusted to each client — some run in parallel, and some are not needed at all. Typical elapsed time from the first call to a working kick-off is a few weeks, most of it spent on scoping rather than paperwork.
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Step 01
First call
First, we set up an introductory call, where we present an overview of our services at MatGen and you describe what you are working on.
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Step 02
NDAoptional
Optional signing of an NDA, if one is required for further project discussion. Yours if you have one, ours if you would rather start from a template.
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Step 03
Planning and review
We work up a short project document over email, with a call where it helps: what the work involves, and which of our experts would do it. That usually takes a few exchanges rather than a run of meetings, and once you agree on the match we move on to the contract.
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Step 04
MSA and SOW
At this point, with a well fleshed out project, we move on to signing an MSA and SOW to formalize our collaboration — what is being done, by whom, on what terms, and confirming that the output is yours.
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Step 05
Kick-off
An initial meeting to start onboarding our expert or team: access, environment, meeting cadence, and other logistical details, so that work can begin straight away.
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Step 06
Execution
Here you meet regularly and work directly with our expert or team to carry out the analysis and ensure a smooth delivery of your project. Scope is revisited as results come in.
Frequently asked questions.
Who owns what we produce?
All intellectual property generated during a collaboration remains exclusively yours. That covers analyses, models, and any code written for you. MatGen keeps no rights over your data or your results.
How long is a typical engagement?
Engagements are sized to the work. Embedded experts often start at a few months, half- or full-time, and are extended from there — several of ours have run a year or longer. Scoped projects are sized against specific deliverables. Either way, what is being delivered is set out in the statement of work.
Can you work under our NDA and inside our environment?
Yes to both. We sign the client's NDA where there is one, and we work inside your cloud, your repositories, and your access controls wherever that is possible. Where we host something instead, the arrangement is written into the statement of work rather than assumed.
How are people matched to a project?
MatGen employs and works with a network of data scientists, computational biologists and chemists, and software engineers. After the planning conversation we propose specific people with their background, and you agree on the match before anything is signed.
If a match turns out to be wrong once work has started, we change it.
What time zones do you cover?
Our network of experts spans US Pacific through US Eastern to Central European time, so we can cover a working day anywhere from California to continental Europe and staff an engagement in your hours rather than ours.
Clients are mostly in the US, Canada, the UK, and the EU.
Do you only work on drug discovery?
Most of our work is in discovery and development, but the methods carry over. If the problem involves measurement, modeling, and software around a scientific dataset, it is worth a conversation.
What does it cost?
It depends on the engagement model. Embedded work is generally a monthly rate per expert, and scoped projects are quoted against a defined deliverable. In both cases the figure is fixed in the statement of work before anything starts.
Ready to talk?
Book a meeting with us, or, for other ways to drop us a line, have a look at our Contact page. An early-stage description of the problem is perfectly enough to start from.