Biobanks are important infrastructures facilitating biomedical research. After a decade of rolling out such infrastructures, a shift in attention to the sustainability of biobanks could be observed in recent years. In this regard, an increase in the as yet relatively low utilisation rates of biobanks has been formulated as a goal. Higher utilisation rates can only be achieved if the perspectives of potential users of biobanks—particularly researchers not yet collaborating with biobanks—are adequately considered. To better understand their perspectives, a survey was conducted at ten different research institutions in Germany hosting a centralised biobank. The survey targeted potential users of biobank services, i.e. researchers working with biosamples. It addressed the general demand for biosamples, strategies for biosample acquisition/storage and reasons for/against collaborating with biobanks. In total, 354 researchers filled out the survey. Most interestingly, only a minority of researchers (12%) acquired their biosamples via biobanks. Of the respondents not collaborating with biobanks on sample acquisition, around half were not aware of the (services of the) respective local biobank. Those who actively decided against acquiring biosamples via a biobank provided different reasons. Most commonly, respondents stated that the biosamples required were not available, the costs were too high and information about the available biosamples was not readily accessible. Biobanks can draw many lessons from the results of the survey. Particularly, external communication and outreach should be improved. Additionally, biobanks might have to reassess whether their particular collection strategies are adequately aligned with local researchers’ needs.

生物样本库是促进生物医学研究的重要基础设施。在推出此类基础设施十年后，近年来可以观察到人们对生物样本库可持续性的关注发生了转变。在这方面，提高目前相对较低的生物样本库利用率已被制定为一个目标。只有充分考虑生物样本库潜在用户——尤其是尚未与生物样本库合作的研究人员——的观点，才能实现更高的利用率。为了更好地了解他们的观点，我们在德国十个不同的研究机构进行了一项调查，这些研究机构托管着一个集中式生物样本库。该调查针对生物样本库服务的潜在用户，即处理生物样本的研究人员。它解决了对生物样本的普遍需求，生物样品采集/储存的策略以及与生物样本库合作/反对的原因。总共有 354 名研究人员填写了调查问卷。最有趣的是，只有少数研究人员 (12%) 通过生物样本库获取了他们的生物样本。在未与生物样本库合作进行样本采集的受访者中，约有一半不知道当地生物样本库（的服务）。那些积极决定不通过生物样本库获取生物样本的人给出了不同的理由。最常见的是，受访者表示无法获得所需的生物样本，成本太高，并且不易获得有关可用生物样本的信息。生物样本库可以从调查结果中吸取许多教训。特别是，应改进对外沟通和外联。此外，