{"id":2419,"date":"2023-11-08T11:59:31","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T16:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/?page_id=2419"},"modified":"2026-04-13T09:08:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T13:08:38","slug":"msl-policies-for-core-facility-usage","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/new-users\/msl-policies-for-core-facility-usage\/","title":{"rendered":"MSL Policies for Core Facility Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"lead\">The following policies are designed to ensure smooth operation of the lab and a better experience for all our users. We expect every researcher that uses our core to comply with these policies.<\/p>\n<h2>New Users and Training<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>All users MUST be trained by MSL staff before they can use any microscope<\/strong><strong>.<\/strong> Training is individual, personal, and non-transferable; a user cannot train another user, no matter how experienced. Training on one system does not confer access to other systems.<\/li>\n<li>All MSL users must register with iLab. Review <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/new-users\/register-an-ilab-account\/\">registration instructions<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Any user that wants light microscopy training or image analysis workstation training must request it by using the applicable form in <a href=\"https:\/\/uncch.ilab.agilent.com\/service_center\/show_external\/6599\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">our iLab site<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Any user that wants electron microscopy training or services must request it by using the applicable form in <a href=\"https:\/\/uncch.ilab.agilent.com\/service_center\/show_external\/6599\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">our iLab site<\/a>, and by contacting our lead EM specialist.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Basic Lab Citizenship<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Users should not come to the lab if they are sick and contagious.<\/li>\n<li>No food or beverages are allowed in microscope rooms or laboratory spaces. Food and beverages can only be consumed in our common area.<\/li>\n<li>Kitchenette area appliances are for MSL staff use only (including fridge, microwave, coffee maker, etc).<\/li>\n<li>MSL iLab kiosk: users should sign in to start their session AND sign out to use the equipment.<\/li>\n<li>B03 mini-fridge and incubator: please label samples with name and date. Unlabeled materials or anything older than 2 weeks will be discarded without notice. Please contact <a href=\"mailto:msl@med.unc.edu\">msl@med.unc.edu<\/a> for special requests.<\/li>\n<li>Please bring any consumable or specialty items you may need for your imaging session.<\/li>\n<li>If using pipettors from B03, please return them when you are done with your session.<\/li>\n<li>B01 and B06 are only for MSL staff or users trained on EM sample preparation equipment.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cLost and found items\u201d will be placed on the bookshelf in B05 (bottom shelf) or stored by MSL staff. MSL is not responsible for lost items.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\u00a0Microscope Usage<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>No gloves on microscope controls or computers. Gloves can be used to handle samples, as needed.<\/li>\n<li>Two-hour rule: if nobody is booked within the following two hours, users must completely shut down the light microscope they are using. If someone is booked within the following 2 hours they must follow instructions for partial shutdown, when applicable.<\/li>\n<li>ILab bookings will be held for 30 minutes if a user is late without notice. After that, the booking will be automatically categorized as a \u2018no-show\u2019 and cancelled.<\/li>\n<li>Users should cancel their sessions in the iLab interface if their plans change and they cannot come to MSL. No-shows and last-minute cancellations are very disruptive to other users and should be avoided.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Data Storage and Transfer<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>To log in to the MSL server, users must include ad\\ before their ONYEN. View <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/image\/how-to-access-the-msl-data-server\/\">log in instructions<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Time used to transfer data is considered instrument use and must be booked. Transferring data while someone else is using an instrument is not allowed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Users are responsible for their own data.<\/strong> MSL cannot provide storage or backup of users\u2019 data. To avoid problems:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Users must transfer their data off our acquisition computers onto our server or an external storage device at the end of each imaging session<\/strong>. Data on all acquisition computers will be periodically removed, without notice. If a user is unable to move data off our computers at the end of their session, he\/she should contact MSL staff to ensure it does not get deleted.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Users are responsible for moving their data from our server to their own storage<\/strong>. Our server is a convenient way of transferring data from MSL to users\u2019 labs and should not be considered a place to permanently store data. We will periodically delete data off the server, and as a courtesy will notify users in advance to ensure they have their own copy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>After-hours Access<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>After-hours access is a privilege granted if a user demonstrates sufficient expertise and experience that MSL staff (and they) feel comfortable operating the microscope without staff assistance. It can be requested following the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/new-users\/how-to-become-an-after-hours-user\/\">instructions<\/a>. Only UNC personnel can be granted after-hours access to our laboratory.<\/li>\n<li>If a booking after 5pm is cancelled and the calendar suggests the system is on (someone ended their session less than 2 hours from the cancelled booking), the user cancelling their session is responsible for shutting down the system.<\/li>\n<li>MSL staff may shut down equipment to preserve lifetime of components. If this affects subsequent start time of equipment, a message with this information will be left on the instrument.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Acknowledging the Core<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>All users should acknowledge the core, by including the following statement in publication acknowledgements: \u2018The Microscopy Services Laboratory, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, is supported in part by P30 CA016086 Cancer Center Core Support Grant to the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.\u2019<\/li>\n<li>Light-sheet (\u2018Snape\u2019) users should include the following text: \u201cResearch reported in this publication was supported in part by the North Carolina Biotech Center Institutional Support Grant 2016-IDG-1016.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Dragonfly spinning disk confocal microscope (\u2018Hermione\u2019) users should include the following text: \u201cThe Andor Dragonfly microscope was funded with support from National Institutes of Health Grant S10OD030223.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Zeiss LSM900 with AI Sample Finder (&#8220;Tonks&#8221;) users should include the following text: &#8220;The Zeiss LSM900 microscope was funded with support from National Institutes of Health grant S10OD036215.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Non-compliance<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Users that do not comply with these rules will be asked to modify their behavior. Supervisors (typically, PIs) may be informed to ensure non-compliant behaviors do not repeat in the future.<\/li>\n<li>Repeated no-shows or last-minute cancellations may result in loss of after-hours access privileges.<\/li>\n<li>If non-compliance continues, users will be banned from the core for 2 weeks. Other imaging core directors will be informed of non-compliance at MSL.<\/li>\n<li>If a user attempts to access the core while banned, the issue will be elevated to the Department Chair level and may result in a permanent ban from the core.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Acknowledging the Rules<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>All new MSL users must read, acknowledge and sign a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1393\/2023\/11\/MSL-Policies-20230505.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pdf version of these rules<\/a>, and send them to the MSL staff, at <a href=\"mailto:msl@med.unc.edu\">msl@med.unc.edu<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Users and Training All users MUST be trained by MSL staff before they can use any microscope. Training is individual, personal, and non-transferable; a user cannot train another user, no matter how experienced. Training on one system does not confer access to other systems. All MSL users must register with iLab. Review registration instructions. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/new-users\/msl-policies-for-core-facility-usage\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about MSL Policies for Core Facility Usage\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58247,"featured_media":0,"parent":3463,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-2419","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"_links_to":[],"_links_to_target":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58247"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2419"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3891,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2419\/revisions\/3891"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/microscopy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}