THE ENGLERT CELL ANALYSIS LAB:
IMAGING AND FLOW ETIQUETTE:

We want to keep life and work in the Englert Lab as informal and flexible as possible.We also need to make sure that the imaging and flow systems are reliable and maximally available to a large and varied group of scientists. With this in mind, we have a short set of rules. The rules are designed to be helpful for most of the people most of the time. If the rules make life difficult for you, let us know (but follow them anyway, until you convince us to change them).

1. The Lab is available for your use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, different rules apply to "normal hours" and "other hours." "Normal hours" are 9:00am to 5:00pm, Monday through Friday. "Other hours" are other hours.

2. If you use the systems during "normal hours," you can expect them to be warmed up and QCed, ready for your use.

3. Although we are usually in much earlier and much later than "normal hours," you can’t necessarily count on it. Therefore, if you want to use the systems during "other hours," life gets a bit more complex:

a) Check with Ken (imaging) or Gary (flow) in advance to confirm that you have been given your solo license and that you know the correct start-up or shut-down procedures.

b) Make sure that you have a key to the lab, as it could be locked. Some groups have their own keys; otherwise, we have keys available to be borrowed when required. The Borwell imaging and flow labs are on different keys, as is the lab on the Hanover campus in Vail.

c) If you are starting the systems in the morning, allow about a half hour for the lasers to warm up before they are ready for use.

d) If you are working after 5:00, check the sign-up book to see if you are the last person that day. If so, shut the instrument down according to procedure, shut off the lights, and lock the doors.

e) If your plans change, come in anyway to start-up or shut-down the system. Someone else will be counting on it.

4. The sign-up books for the instruments are used to reserve time, as accounting records for billing purposes, and also for communication between users (eg. Do I need to shut down the instrument or is someone following me at midnight? Will someone have five minutes to spare sometime during the day?). For all these reasons, sign up legibly (first and last name, PI's name, account number, and telephone extension).

5. The instruments are often heavily used and time is at a premium. Last minute cancellations of time booked are a real inconvenience to people who are trying to plan experiments (not to say lives) around availability. For this reason we have a lab policy that YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR ALL THE TIME YOU BOOK AS WELL AS ALL THE TIME YOU USE, unless you check with Gary, Ken, Steve, or Alice at least 24 hours in advance for approval of a cancellation. Crossing out, white-out, and erasers are not approved techniques -- and our x-ray vision renders them useless anyway.

Contact numbers: Flow Lab: 650-7907
Imaging Lab: 650-7661
Vail Flow Annex: 650-6546