User's Guide

User's Guide

Dynamic remodeling of myosin II during cell motility. Teng-Leong Chew, unpublished data

Facility Access
The Cell Imaging Facility is accessible via a keycard system to users who have been trained and demonstrate the ability to use any microscopy equipment. Users with keycards may access the facility 24 hours a day. Each lab may have two keycards, if needed. If you already have an access card to the animal facility, we can also program the card for you so that you can access both facilities with the same card. Authorized users may bring associates from the same lab for observation of microscopy experiments. Any other activities, such as instrument demonstration, teaching, and facility tours, must be pre-authorized with the director, and the instrument(s) involved in such activities should be reserved for these purposes.

Training
Training for the independent use of instruments in the facility is available by appointment only and depends upon instrument availability. Users will be required to understand the basic operation procedures for any microscopes they intend to use. Every Zeiss LSM510 user should be familiar with its basic alignment and operation procedures.

Facility Access and Instrument Training Applications
New users planning to take advantages of any facility instrument should follow these procedures:
1. Register online as users of the facility.
2. Download and complete the Application Form, then e-mail it back to the facility director. Click here for form.
3. Contact facility staff and make an appointment to discuss experimental procedures, sample preparations, and which imaging techniques to use, if necessary.
4. Prepare the sample, check the instrument schedule online for availability, and make an appointment for training.
5. Obtain facility access keycard after training.
6. Arrange more training sessions, if necessary.

Facility Regulations
Many groups heavily use and rely upon some of the microscopy equipment in the facility for their research. It is crucial that every user follows the Facility User Guide and the regulations below to guarantee the smooth function of the facility.

1. If researchers need to use any equipment in the facility or require help from the facility staff members, please kindly plan ahead. We try our best to answer technical questions on the spot, but users will get our undivided attention if an appointment is made in advance, especially questions regarding experimental designs, potential collaboration, and advanced image analysis.

2. Unauthorized access to the facility will result in a warning to the proper authorities and a fine.

3. For users who ignore instrument operation protocols or behave irresponsibly in using any equipment, a facility fee, see notice, will be charged for each incident, and the users' facility access privilege may be revoked.

4. Any instrument malfunction or problem should be reported to the facility director. Users should not try to fix any instrumental problems by themselves.

5. Starting April 2003, we will begin to charge users who cancel their LSM 510 reservation in less than 24-hours before signed up time. This decision adheres to the University policy, and has been approved by the Controller's Office. It will protect the privilege of other users to use heavily booked instruments, and it will relieve the financial burden from the facility, thus allowing us to maintain competitive user fees. Users who must cancel their time can avoid the charge by finding a substitute user to take the reserved time. It is also important to note that the principal investigator will be notified for each cancellation. If there is legitimate reason for cancellation, contact us. It is up to our discretion to refund the user fee.

Application Form
Please contact Teng-Leong Chew before downloading and sending this application form. We need to know what instrument you need (and you may need to find out if we have acquired new instruments that will help your work). In addition, almost all instruments require prior authorization before users can use them.

Download application form here.

After your application have been approved, please click here to learn how to reserve an instrument.