User Information

General

You do not need to be a BIU user to get help from us - we provide imaging consultation to everybody, within the limits of our resources. Also, if the BIU does not have suitable equipment for your needs, we may be able to direct you elsewhere.

Choosing an instrument/application

If you are not sure which instrument and/or application to use for your imaging needs, first read the Instruments page, and then contact the BIU staff. We are happy to discuss the options available.

BIU Policy

Use of the instruments and fees

All BIU instruments are available for all users. Every user is expected to be familiar with the BIU user policy stated on this page.

All instruments are charged by the hour, the fees are shown here.

AxioPlan microscopes and Leica DM LB are only for Molecular and Cancer Biology (MCB) and Genome-Scale Biology (GSB) programs internal use. There is no charge for these instruments. BIU maintains these instruments and provides help and training when needed.

User license

All BIU instruments require a user license. This is a one-time fee for each instrument but includes support for the entire user period, e.g. information through mailing list, use of online reservation system, and trouble-shooting without any additional charges. ForCellInsight users, the user license includes one year free data storage after the active use of the CellInsight instrument for a particular project.

Training

For all BIU instruments, there is a compulsory initial training given by a BIU staff member, which qualifies you for the user license to that instrument. The training is 2 hours, except for Axiovert (1 hour). Users that already have a confocal user license, and who want to start using another confocal, will have a shorter training session of 1 hour. The total fee for the training session is calculated according to the hourly training fee plus a charge for the user license. The charge for the user license is normally set at twice the fee for the independent use of the instrument, except for 'additional confocal licenses' and axiovert training, where it is set to be the same. After the training, you can make reservations for that particular instrument and use the equipment independently. Assisted use of the instruments by a BIU staff member is given free of charge, with the agreement of the assister and within reason.

For Imaging Workstations, attendance in a training session is not mandatory. Also, for the MCB/GSB instruments, there is no such requirement. However, if you would like to have training, BIU staff will give you a training session (no fee).

Contact BIU when you want to have training. You need to bring your own samples to the training session. Also, you should have an ATKK user account for the computers.If there is a user guide, print and read it, and take it with you when you come to the training. For IVIS, you need access rights, either to the Haartman Institute animal facility (IVIS 100) or the Biomedicum animal facility (IVIS Kinetic).

As some of the instruments are heavily booked, we may not be able to give you training right away. You can see current reservations for each instrument in the Scheduler online reservation system.

Additional, customized training is available for all instruments any time. For instruments that have an hourly fee, the additional training fee is usually twice the fee for the independent use. For other instruments, there is no charge for additional training. Troubleshooting for all instruments is free of charge.

Microscope rooms access rights

Only trained users have access rights to the 5th floor confocal room. You can get the electronic key area access addition form from the BIU.

During office hours on regular working days you do not need any extra access rights for the microscopy rooms. However, the corridor door that you need to pass to get to the confocal room will be locked at 4pm (Mo-Fr), and the corridor door before the microscopy room and imaging workstations will be locked at 9pm (Mo-Fr). Both corridor doors are always locked on weekends and holidays. The Biomedicum building is open from 7.20am to 7.30pm. If you need to access the BIU instruments outside the hours when the building and/or the corridor doors are kept open, please contact Minna Saviaro (room B536b, standard university of helsinki email address).

Reservations

For all instruments maintained by the BIU, the Scheduler online reservation system is used. Even if you are not a registered user of the Scheduler, you can look at the reservations made for each instrument.

BIU reservations web page has a link to Scheduler, as well as instructions on how to create a new user account, and how to make reservations.

Instrument_hours_will_be_billed_according_to_the_reservations_made. Thus, make sure to reserve only the minimum time required. Reservations must be cancelled 2 hours prior to the reserved time.

Use of any BIU microscope without a reservation is prohibited. BIU will occasionally check room entrance and/or computer log in/out times. If they do not match with the time reserved, there will be a double fee for the time the instrument was used without a reservation. You are allowed to use the Imaging Workstations without a reservation. However, we recommend making a reservation also for the workstations and marking down in your reservation the software you will be using as we track the usage of the software this way.

Mailing lists

When you get reservation rights for a certain instrument, you will automatically be added to the mailing list of that instrument. BIU uses the mailing lists for informing the users of any changes in the instrument, breakdowns and other problems etc. If you are using any of the instruments without making reservations, inform the BIU staff and we will add you to the mailing list. If you want your name to be removed from the mailing list, your reservation rights for the corresponding instrument will also be cancelled.

BIU computers

To gain access to the imaging workstations and computers that control the instruments, you must have a HYAD-user name and ATKK -permissions. To get these permissions, visit the user account office in room BP08b in B wing on the bottom floor in Biomedicum (ATK-yksikkö, käyttöluvat). The office is open Tuesday-Thursday 9am-3pm. The telephone number is (09) 191 25629 and the e-mail is meilahti-luvat(at)helsinki(dot)fi.

When you log into a BIU computer, use the same user name and password that you use to access your university mail account. Remember that the Scheduler online reservation system requires a separate user name and password.

BIU reserves the right to monitor computer and software use in all computers that are under BIU administration.

BIU recommends that you save all your data over the network. File transfer for MCB/GSB users can be done by using the Snap server. The server is not for data storage, so remove your data once you have copied it to your storage space. Old files are deleted from Snap server weekly without backups being done.

If transfering the data over the network is not possible, you may temporarily store images on our microscope computers while imaging, and then transfer the images into a USB stick or external hard drive. Remember to delete the locally stored data after the transfer. As the instrument computers do not have any back-up system, we do not take any responsibility for possible data loss in case of computer breakdown. BIU holds the right to delete any user files when a hard drive is filling up. We will try to delete the oldest files first and notify the users before deletion.

It is your own responsibility to take care of data transfer and secure storage (storage device with a back-up system or storage of data in at least two physically separate locations).

You can view and analyse your images on our Imaging workstations and there is free software for viewing/analysis which you can install on your own computers.

Acknowledgements

Please note that if you have used any of the BIU instruments or services for your publication, you are expected to mention BIU in the Acknowledgements and inform BIU about your publication.

Problems and troubleshooting

In case of a problem with any of the instruments, first check the User Guide (if available) for help. If that does not solve the problem, contact BIU staff to inform us about the problem - we will take care of it as soon as possible.

Virus-infected microscope specimens

If you want to image virus-infected specimens, follow the BIU_guidelines_for_handling_virus-infected microscope specimens.

Misuse of the instruments

In case the user misuses BIU equipment, her/his user license may be revoked and the repair costs may be charged.

How to contact us

To contact BIU send an . Use this address instead of personal e-mail addresses, since the whole staff reads the mail and we can respond more quickly.

You can also call us (or leave a voicemail) on the number +358 9 191 25579, or use the online feedback form

Page updated April 18, 2011

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