CEMRC Guidelines
The following rules for the use of the Cryo-Electron Microscopy Resource Center (CEMRC) have been established by the Staff of the CEMRC together with its Scientific Advisory Committee.
1) All microscope operators must go through an initial orientation and be trained by CEMRC staff. Individuals may only operate the microscope autonomously once the CEMRC staff is satisfied that they have gained sufficient expertise in microscope operation.
2) Microscope time is prioritized for RU users. Approved external users may request access for microscope sessions in the upcoming 48 business hours only for those systems/sessions that have not been reserved by RU users.
3) All grid clipping, loading, unloading, and transfers are to be performed by CEMRC staff only. Under rare circumstances, the CEMRC staff may permit qualified users to perform some of these tasks autonomously with advanced approval and clearance only.
4) In the case of a collaboration between an RU scientist and an external scientist, any microscope operation must be performed by the trained RU scientist only.
5) The CEMRC staff is available for training and consultation for sample vitrification, microscope operation and automated data collection. Only approved RU users are allowed to conduct their own sample vitrification, microscope operation, automated data collection and data analysis using CEMRC resources. In general, all these steps are done by CEMRC staff.
6) All user data will automatically be synced to RU’s central High Performance Computing storage. All data will be deleted from local disks 48 hours after the end of a user session.
7) Sessions:
Reservations for RU users are made via the PPMS system
Requests for reservations for external users must be submitted via email to the CEMRC staff. Access for external users will be only for sessions that have not been booked by RU users within 48 hours of the start time of the session requested by the external user.
The Artica may be booked for 2-hour sessions between 8 am and 3 pm, for five-hour sessions between 3 pm and 8 am, or for a full 24-hour session.
Krios 1 and Krios 2 may be booked for 24-hour sessions only.
Slot 1: Monday and Tuesday
Slot 2: Wednesday and Thursday
Slot 3: Friday-Sunday
Under exceptional circumstances and for scientific reasons only, time slots may be modified at the discretion of the CEMRC staff.
8) To book time slots on these systems, the user must provide evidence that the sample has been well characterized and is suitable for cryo-TEM data collection. Such evidence can be provided in the form of negative-stain or low-resolution cryo-TEM images.
9) All requests for time by RU users are to be made via the laboratory representative designated by the PI. The representative will submit a request through the PPMS. To become familiar with this process, please send an e-mail to Mark Ebrahim ( mebrahim@rockefeller.edu).
Should dissention arise between the CEMRC staff and users, either party can bring their concerns to the Scientific Advisory Committee (Rod MacKinnon (chair), Jue Chen, Seth Darst, Sebastian Klinge, Tom Walz, and Greg Alushin.)