General

• University facilities, computers, computer access systems, telephones, and equipment must only be used for University business-related purposes. (links to usage guidelines at UW)
• All equipments are open to any University of Washington department or unit.
• Users must be trained and evaluated by Facility staff before they are allowed to operate any equipment.
• Damage to any equipment will be charged to the users, including all labor and parts cost in addition to hourly charges.
• The facility is not responsible for the loss of data on any of our equipment. Files left on our computers will be kept for about a month, shorter if we run out of space. You are strongly advised to transfer the data to your computer, validate, and backup your data as soon as possible.
• Policy violations will affect your eligibility to use the equipment and may require re-training at your expense.

Scheduling

Specific requirements are in place during COVID-19 recovery, we have implemented additional safety training and tracking procedures. Please contact us if you want to use the facility.

• All the microscopes and prep labs are on our Google calendar reservation sytem, accessible to all trained users.
• There is no limit to the duration of each session; however, the Facility Coordinator will have the option of reassigning any time slot to users with urgent need.
• If you do not show up within 30 min of your scheduled time, it will be considered a "no-show" and the time slot will be open to any user.
• Please allow time for file transfer if you collect multi-GB or larger files, the next user has the option to pause any file transfer which you can resume later.
• If you finish early or decide not to use your appointment, please update the schedule accordingly so other users will know the equipment is available.
• Cancellation should be done at least 24 hours ahead of your appointment to allow for rescheduling; otherwise, we may charge you for the remainder of the time slot that we are unable to reschedule. The same applies to "no-shows".

Usage

• Users should complete the usage log and indicate the specific equipment as required.
• Please clean up after your session. Anything left in the lab will be disposed of at your expense.
• Please do not alter any hardware or software configuration, and do not take any accessories or parts out of the lab, unless instructed by Facility staff.

Safety training

• Users must complete all required safety training before they are allowed to use the facility.
• Specific safety training, Personal Protective Equipment requirements, and accident reporting are indicated during the user registration process when applying for training.
• A digital version of the CHP and other related documents can be found on our computers and google drive (accessible by registered users only): Lab safety manual with CHP, SOP with safety training and PPE requirements, laboratory floor plans, emergency exits and evacuation assembly points.

Acknowledgement

• You are encouraged to acknowledge "The Biology Imaging Facility at the University of Washington" in any publications involving data collected using the facility. Please also provide a reference (reprint, citation, or URI) for our record.
• OMX SR users: please acknowledge grant proposal S10 OD021490 on any publications using data obtained with this instrument.