The infrastructure offers services for research groups on the SLU and UmU Campus but also collaborates with Swedish and international academic and industrial partners.
The range of services spans:
providing instrument time for own measurements for users with appropriate licences
providing assistance with setup and measurement protocols
providing assistance with data analysis as part of scientific collaboration
carrying out both measurements and data analysis, either as fully paid services for external users or as part of scientific collaborations
Fees
Internal users, Instrument time only: 220 SEK / hour, including overhead
Internal users, Assistance time: 650 SEK / hour, including overhead
External users, Instrument time only: 1300 SEK / hour, including overhead
External users, Assistance time: 1300 SEK / hour, including overhead
Please note that prices are additive. Example: internal user books an instrument for 8 hours during which setup assistance is required for one hour. Total cost: 8 x 220 SEK instrument time + 1 x 650 SEK assistance time = 2410 SEK in total (including overhead).
Examples of services and fees
1. Method development: free of assistance charge, but instrument time fee still applies. Method development is only done after approval by the Manager and the Steering Board, and in general it needs to be beneficial to a large number of users of the infrastructure.
2. Training: preferentially done during the Users Licence Course. If training is done outside the framework of the course, full, unsubsidized (i.e. external user) assistance and instrument time fees apply. In case of general assistance (i.e. setup, startup, troubleshooting, etc) for already existing methods, the standard assistance fee applies.
3. Teaching on courses at Umeå University and at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, other than the User Licence Course: internal user fees for assistance and instrument time apply.
4. Academic tasks (except teaching, see above) are free of charge. This includes help with reviewing articles, writing proposals, evaluating proposal, etc. It also includes the time spent on writing articles (correspondence between the authors and reviewers, creating figures, texts, etc.), meaning that they are also free of charge. Please note, however, that data analysis leading up to the article IS charged using the appropriate assistance fee (for internal and external users).
5. Consultation prior to measurements is free of charge. However, consultation after measurements (i.e. data analysis strategies, quality control of recorded data, etc) is charged, using the appropriate assistance fee (for internal and external users).
General Policies and Platform Rules
By using any of the instruments, laboratory space or services, the user agrees to the following policies and rules.
To operate any of the instruments on your own, you must have a License obtainable by taking part in the Users License Course. A License also grants you a user ID and password for the electronic booking system.
At the end of your booked time, the instruments, equipments and the laboratories should be left in the condition you found them in. If servicing/cleaning/replacements are required after your booked time, you will be charged for the unsubsidized cost of those.
We reserve the right to withdraw licences from users who e.g.
Repeatedly make/leave a mess (including mess on the computers)
Ruin any of the equipments
Do not respect booking times or use the instruments without booking
Do not comply with laboratory safety regulations
Do not pay their user fees
General Rules
Cancelling of bookings should be done at a minimum of 2 full working days ahead to avoid billing.
Data on the computers should not be stored under C:\ but in the user's own folder. Data left under C:\ will be deleted. While there are regular backups made of the data on the hard drives, these are not automatic and are not very frequent. Thus, we strongly recommend that users copy their data from the instrument's computers and that they do it during their booked time. Please do not interrupt other people's measurements for copying your data.
Please be careful around all instruments at all times, as long term measurements can be running in the user's absence. If you accidentally disturb someone else's measurements in their absence or notice errors, please be kind and leave a note so that the source of the disturbance can be traced without starting extensive troubleshooting.
When allocating booking and assistance times, we reserve the rights to prioritise projects. In general, KBC projects and scientific collaborations enjoy higher priorities than the default "first come first served" policy, but we reserve the rights to alter priorities if need be (e.g. repeated time dependent measurements that require fixed intervals, re-scheduling due to instrument breakdown or service, etc). We also reserve the right to chose which projects we accept as scientific collaboration and thus allocate appropriate time and priorities accordingly.
Please keep in mind that the Vibrational Spectroscopy Core Facility is not only a service but also a research facility. Thus, repeated routine measurements will have lower priorities and should ideally be performed by a user with appropriate licences, or alternatively after a short introduction and setup by the Manager. The Manager will not perform these kinds of measurements.
All non-standard use of instrument or assistance time (including usage that violates the rules and policies, e.g. cleaning up after users) is charged at unsubsidized prices.
We kindly ask all users to acknowledge the Vibrational Spectroscopy Core Facility in their papers and presentations. If the user agrees, we would also like to reference the paper at our Publications page.
For further questions about services, pricing, policies, instrument availability, booking, setup, measurement and data evaluation, as well as setup for users without licence, please contact the Manager ( andras.gorzsas@umu.se).
Questions
For further questions about services, pricing, policies, instrument availability, booking, setup, measurement and data evaluation, as well as setup for users without licence, please contact the Manager.
