All rules and fees of UMIC

Rules for using the equipment of the UMCG Microscopy and Imaging Center (UMIC)
Rules for using the equipment of the UMCG Microscopy and Imaging Center (UMIC)

General rules

Always follow the instructions of our staff.

We welcome your feedback (new/improved techniques, improvements, or complaints) please contact the manager. Please contact the staff at [email protected]

Acknowledge us in publications

IIf you present data obtained with support of the UMIC (papers or presentations), please acknowledge the UMCG Microscopy and Imaging Center:

Include a sentence like: “Part of the work has been performed at the UMCG Imaging and Microscopy Center (UMIC), which is sponsored by

if:
then:
Zeiss Supra55 ATLAS/EDX
… ZonMW grant 91111.006
Zeiss LSM7/780 confocal
… NWO 175-010-2009-023
CLEM/ Cryo-EM/SECOM
… STW Microscopy Valley 12718
Leica HPF/ FS
… NWO 91116005
TissueFAXS
… NWO 40-00506-98-9021
FAST-EM OR nanotomy data
… the Netherlands Electron Microscopy Infrastructure (NEMI; NWO 184.034.014) and EU-REACT European regional development fund as response to the COVID-19 pandemic
OMERO or LM data
… NL-BioImaging Infrastructure (NL-BI; NWO 184.036.012)
Other
… the UMCG


Sent a copy or reference of all publications for which the UMIC was used.

Admission and reservation

Individual training

Before you can work independently on any of the microscopes, you have to register as a user and follow an individual training for each instrument. Please contact the manager for an appointment. The training will be provided by assigned instructors only. Training by other parties does not count!

After training the manager will provide you access to the facilities, to the reservation system and the corresponding locations;

Reservations

Reservations can be made up till 2 weeks ahead (up to 3 hours slots/day)

  • Weekends, evening hours and holidays can also be reserved by experienced users;
  • Reservations further ahead in time have to be discussed with the staff;
  • Microscope service/repairs always has priority, but the staff take into account the user interest;
  • If reservations need to be cancelled, you have to undo your reservation in Bookedsceduler, or ask the staff.
  • If you are 15 minutes late without notification, your reservation can be cancelled.

Fees

  • Users will be charged with an hourly fee for using a microscope
  • Bills will be sent to your department on a quarterly basis.
  • No-shows will be charged the hourly fee;
  • When you used less- or more time than you booked, please adjust your time slot in Bookedsceduler.
  • It is not permitted to use any equipment without booking.

Pricelist

  tariff UMCG/RUG*
Microscope use (€/hr)
Electron Microscopy, Two-photon, Raman… 500 50
CLSM, DV, Thunder, Light sheet, LMD... 200 20
Incucyte (/plate) 10 1
Other fluorescence or Olympus BX50 100 10
Nanotomy map/sample 2000 200
ColorEM map/sample 5000 500
 
EM preparation (€/sample)
Incl. SEM, Embedding, (cryo)ultramicrotomy, data stoage, reagents, Except diamond knive 250 50
 
Spatial Omics (€/hr; 250 max/day)
Nanostring DSP, 10xGenomics Xenium 2000 50
Reagents incl. PCR machine/ run (2 slides)  2500 250
Consumables self self
 
Operator (training, experiments; €/hr) 200 60
 
*Matching included. Try to match the real costs when applying for funding of projects.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and METc

  • Users have to indicate the use of GMOs. The number(s) of their GMO permit(s) should be known by the staff or have to be registered in Bookedscheduler. The rooms of the leica SP8x, CD7, LS7, zeiss780 and Stellaris are ML1. GMOs are not allowed in other areas;
  • All users have to obey the regulations for ML-1 activities in their room.
  • Also METc numbers if applicable have to be registered in Bookedscheduler

Computers and data

Users are responsible for the data they produce, data can be deleted after 3 months w/o notice! Users are not allowed to install software on any of the computers on the center. The only purpose of our computers is image processing!

  • Data has to be stored in the USERS folder (usually on the D: drive). Unindentified data in other directories will be deleted directly;
  • Data can be stored external hard drives or USB sticks, to be provided by the users themselves;
  • Data can be stored temporarily on the network drive of the Imaging Centre, ask staff for an account;
  • Data can also be stored on-line using Omero

Rules for using the incucytes

  • The Incucyte S3 may only be used by trained and registered users.
  • Time-lapse intervals must be a multiple of half an hour, 30, 60, 90, 120 minutes etc.
  • Booking in the UMIC-Booked Scheduler agenda is required for every plate separately.
  • Any plates inside an IncuCyte on a position not booked in Booked Scheduler can be removed from the Incucyte and the time schedule without notice
  • Plates inside the IncuCyte stove will be removed trashed w/o notice
  • From January 1, 2023, we charge €1,- per plate per hour

Responsible use of equipment

  • Training provides you with the basic knowledge to operate a microscope. Always follow the instructions you were taught during training. In case of malfunctioning please contact the staff.
  • Each microscope has a start-up / shut-down / stand-by instruction lying next to the microscope. Please read this instruction and follow its steps.
  • Pay attention to the use of immersion liquids such as oil. Not all objectives can be used with oil-immersion. Be careful with using oil immersion and clean the spills immediately. A 63x lens at the LeicaSP8x and one at the Zeiss780 is a glycerol lens and should not be used with oil.
  • Oil spills can be cleaned using 70% ethanol on a lenspaper. Please note that the oil itself is known/suspected to be toxic. Do not! clean the lens itself with tissues, use special lenspaper for this or ask the staff.

Contact

Mail for questions and assistance regarding the microscopes and the software. Or just ask one of the staff members. Tel.: +(31) 6 25 64 67 95