REGULATIONS

GENERAL RULES: 

1. The Laboratory of Cytometry of the Nencki Institute is an independent unit which provides the core-facility services and is under supervision of the Institute’s Director;

2. The Head of Laboratory of Cytometry is responsible for its organization and  function;

3. The use of the instrument is charged according to the current list of charges, which is available on the laboratory web page. Time spent on off-line data analysis is not charged;

4. Laboratory of Cytometry provides service for the internal users and external entities, including research, scientific and educational institutions as well as business entities. Service for external users is based on the public fees presented here. The general Regulations of the service and offer for external users are here.

5. Laboratory of Cytometry provides all necessary consumables at the stage of setting up the experiment. It is your responsibility to provide all necessary reagents and consumables during your experiments;

6. Samples have to be prepared and labelled according to appropriate protocols for flow cytometry, which can be provided by the Laboratory of Cytometry. The stuff is in charge to stop experiment if samples are prepared unproperly, to avoid the damage of instruments;

7. Please be punctual. If you are over 30 minutes late, you may not be able to use the instrument, as the next person in the schedule can start the experiment;

8. Only users who were trained and recieved the agreement from the stuff of the Laboratory of Cytometry can use the equipment independently;

9. For an open-access instruments, users are obligated to book the time in the calendar, put in the whole name and the telephone number; in case of cancelation or delay over 30 minutes, users are obligated to change their reservation, otherwise they will be charged with cost of exploitation according to the price-list; Specific regulations are in the section: “Open access”

10. Persons who are interested in the usage of the sorter or LSRFortessa are asked to contact directly the staff of the Laboratory of Cytometry by e-mail or telephone;

11. Users are obligated to put in the Lab Book the type of performed analysis, time of the work, and the name of laboratory;

12. In all types of publications (bulletin, articles, dissertations etc.) which include data received in the Laboratory of Cytometry, it is necessary to place the information: „Badania … przeprowadzono w Pracowni Cytometrii Instytutu Biologii Doświadczalnej im. M. Nenckiego PAN”/ „ Experiments ... were performed in the Laboratory of Cytometry of the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology”. This information should be placed in the chapter Materials and Methods or in the footer;

13. Users are obligated to send the information about all types of publications and conference presentations in which data received in the Laboratory of Cytometry were presented, with the annotation to what extent they were involved (information in the footer or as a co-author);

14. In case of any technical or other problems it is necessary to inform immediately the stuff of the Laboratory of Cytometry;

15. Users who will not follow the General Rules and won't take care about the equipment properly will not be able to use the cytometers; 

UNASISTED USAGE OF AN OPEN-ACCESS INSTRUMENTS:

Please be conscientious of the fact that you are operating an expensive piece of equipment that is used for numerous scientific projects. Therefore, any instrument downtime due to careless handling is usually very expensive and will affect other investigators.

1. Independent use of the FACSCalibur is possible only by trained users, who got a permission to work independently and have an acces to the room; if you are going to use the machine for the first time, please contact the stuff.

2. The samples have to be prepared according to appropriate protocols for flow cytometry, which can be provided by the Laboratory of Cytometry. The stuff is in charge to stop experiment if samples are prepared unproperly, to avoid the damage of instruments.

3. Please be punctual. If you are over 30 minutes late, you may not be able to use the instrument, as the next person in the schedule can start the experiment (in case of the delay, contact the next user).

4. If you have any difficulties during your run on the cytometers, please ask for our assistance. We are here to help you.

5. Always remember to cancel your reservation if you are not coming. If you was the last user in the schedule, inform the previous person that she/he is supposed to clean and switch off the machine.

6. If your procedure requires more than 3 hours, please try to sign-up for non-peak hours (when there is no maximum time restriction) and do not book the following days.

7. Follow the instructions for usage and cleaning. Detailed notes on washing procedures are posted on the FACS machine. After instrument is washed, be sure to put it on "standby" or switch off if you are the last user.

8. Leave the place ready to go for others.

9. Do not forget to fill out the instrument notebook (hours of usage, type of experiment, operator, any technical problems, etc). Otherwise you will be charged for all the time you booked.

10. Archive your files frequently.

11. The use of the instrument is charged according to the current list of charges, which is available on the laboratory web page. Time spent on off-line data analysis is not charged.

12. Users who will not follow the General Rules and won't take care about the equipment properly will not be able to use the cytometers and work independently;