All equipment in the Core Research Facility must have a designated person responsible for operating it/training students to work with it independently.

Every machine has a logbook in which every person using the equipment must write the dates on which they have used which applies with the resource pooling SOP.

The ICP and mass spectrometry labs will have a principal investigator, and only they or the facility’s personnel will be permitted to operate the equipment.

In the microscopy facility:

Only the laboratory manager may work on the electron microscope. S/he will be responsible for training students in the use of the confocal microscope.

The fee for use will be determined in one of the following ways:

1. The cost for use of the equipment will include solely the direct costs associated with its use (e.g., gases utilized during its operation) + the cost of the working hours for the technician in which s/he is actively operating the equipment. This cost will be covered by research budgets + a service agreement (where practicable, some of the equipment’s operation will be overseen by the research students themselves, after these have undergone a course and received the necessary training by the member of staff responsible for it and been found to be competent to do so).

2. The cost for use of the equipment will include solely the direct costs associated with its use (e.g., gases utilized during its operation) + the cost of the working hours for the technician in which s/he is actively operating the equipment. This cost will be covered by research budgets + a service agreement + future wear and tear.

For minor faults (less than 5,000 USD) and biodegradable parts, the cost will be charged to the users of the equipment, determined by the extent of use as listed in the logbook.

For serious faults, a sum equal to 50% of the cost will be charged to the users, determined by the extent of use as listed in the log book (in charge 1 – collection from among the participants, in charge 2 – from the sum that has accrued), and the faculty + facility to which the equipment belongs will cover the remaining 50% (in certain circumstances, the faculty will request additional support from the university’s management).

Should a fault be caused as a result of improper use of the equipment, the cost of the repairs will be charged to the user (their supervisor).

The timetable for using the equipment will be on a first-come first-served basis.

The cost for using the equipment shall be identical for all members of the university.

Anybody using the equipment as part of a process of pooling resources will receive a copy of this SOP and will be required to adhere to the regulations laid out within it.

Information file – Interdepartmental Instrumentation Facility – Faculty of Agriculture

Information file – Faculty of Agriculture – researchers