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Policies

  • Cancellation/No-show

    Due to the heavy use of our microscopes, we require that if you have to cancel your session, you do so at least 12 hours before the scheduled start time. If you cannot connect to the scheduler or are within the 12-hour window, please contact us.

    Failure to cancel will result in an invoice for the entire scheduled duration.

  • Data backup and management

    We are not responsible for your data and our computers are not intended for storage, only for data acquisition! Data has to be backed up at the end of EACH session to a storage location manage by the user! In order to provide enough storage for new data, we reserve the right to delete older data from our computers and servers without warning!

    The user data folders on all our computers are accessible via the campus LAN or an off-campus VPN connection (use ethernet, not Wifi). To secure your data, copy the IP address of the corresponding imaging platform, found on top of the PPMS booking site. E.g.:

    Then paste it on a:
    - PC: windows key+R and enter \\IP address
    - Mac: Go=>Connect to Server=> smb://IP address

    (when prompted, use the credentials provided during training, not your UTSW credentials)

  • Acknowledgment

    For the QLMC, it is of outmost importance that you inform us of, and acknowledge the QLMC in, any publications containing data (images and/or quantification) acquired on our microscopes or with our help. This is the most important metric various funding sources consider for supporting new microscope setups.

    Acknowledgement of the QLMC

    In your acknowledgement, please use the following language:

    The authors would like to acknowledge the Quantitative Light Microscopy Core, a Shared Resource of the Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center, supported in part by an NCI Cancer Center Support Grant, 1P30 CA142543-01.

    Acknowledgement of NIH Shared Instrumentation Awards

    If your data was acquired on one of the systems listed below, please also include the corresponding award number, as this is required by NIH. Noncompliance will prevent us from receiving S10 awards in the future:

    LSM780 Upright: 1S10 RR029731-01 to Kate Luby-Phelps

    LSM880 Airyscan: 1S10 OD021684-01 to Kate Luby-Phelps

    Nikon SoRa Spinning Disk: 1S10OD028630-01 to Kate Luby-Phelps

    A big thank you in advance!

    See also the guidelines below - published by the Royal Microscopical Society:

    Imaging facility guidelines for acknowledgement
  • UT Southwestern Core Facility Rates

    UT Southwestern Core Facility Rates

    Current cost recovery rates in UT Southwestern core laboratories are set by the Dean’s office at ~60% and do not recoup costs associated with the purchase of new equipment by individual facilities. Charges to UT Southwestern investigators are based on the actual costs of services plus supplies after correction for fractional cost recovery. Actual costs do not include overhead expenses such as space rental, utilities, administrative support, etc., which are borne by UT Southwestern.

    The rates that individual core laboratories charge campus investigators are published and fixed; they cannot be negotiated by individual users. Quantity discounts may be available if and only if the quantity of use reduces actual costs.

    Charges to off-campus Users

    • Customers from academic or other non-profit institutions are charged 2x the rate levied on UT Southwestern investigators. This increased rate corrects for support given to each laboratory by the Dean’s office and for overhead expenses. These customers thus get services “at cost.”
    • Customers from for-profit businesses are charged 3x the UT Southwestern investigator rate. This increase covers all costs (administration, contracting, accounting, and overhead) associated with running a core laboratory and ensures that UT Southwestern is not undercutting competing businesses through state subsidies. This rate is in general competitive with commercial services, when they are available, and UT Southwestern core laboratories usually provide higher quality service.
    • Customers who are UT Southwestern BioCenter tenants are charged 2.5x the UT Southwestern investigator rate. This discount applies because BioCenter tenants pay rent/overhead fees. Furthermore, the discount provides an incentive to rent BioCenter space.
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