RULES

The access to the equipment of the facility is granted following an appropriate training by an engineer of the facility. After the training and a supervised session, the possibility of autonomous usage is granted.

The access is regulated by booking via the online booking system https://iris.icm-institute.org.

The usage of any type (imaging, data transfer, preheating etc.) and duration is subject to booking. The usage of the sample preparation space, incubators, hood is subject to booking.

The modification/cancelation of a slot is possible 24h in advance at the latest upon request. The actual usage must correspond to the booked slot.

Neither installation of software nor modifications of existing software/hardware settings are allowed.

Disassembling or modifications of any components of imaging systems even in the case of malfunctioning are not allowed. Replacing of objectives or filter cubes is not allowed. A modification of the latter type can be requested from a facility a day in advance at the latest and is subject to acceptance by a member of the facility. 

Changing the temperature of rooms is not allowed. Changing the temperature and gas parameters of the facility incubators is not allowed.

Security

Both eating and drinking are prohibited in the rooms containing the systems. Deactivating laser interlocks is prohibited. Going behind the systems is prohibited. Using gloves while manipulating microscopes is prohibited.

Using headphones is not recommended. If you decide to use headphones, make sure you are able to hear a fire or any other alarms.

If an alarm sounds leave the building immediately.

Assistance

An assisted session can be requested in advance and is subject to acceptance by a member of the facility.

Cleaning

The objectives, sample mounting stages, benches and desks must be left clean after the usage of a system. Any leftovers will be discarded without notice.

Switching-off

If not specified otherwise, systems must be switched off by the last user of the day according to the booking system.

HSE

All platform users must comply with the hygiene and safety regulations of the Institut du Cerveau.

• Lab Coat Requirement: Wearing a lab coat is mandatory in all microscopy rooms and laboratory areas of the platform.
• Sample Authorization: Users must ensure they have all necessary authorizations to handle their samples and verify that the laboratory safety level is compatible with the risk associated with their samples.
• Safety Levels: The platform hosts microscopes in BSL-1 and BSL-2 environments.
• Glove Policy: Microscopes must be operated without gloves. If your sample requires handling with a gloved hand, we recommend applying the one-glove rule (one hand gloved, the other ungloved for equipment manipulation).
• In Case of Doubt: Please contact the Hygiene and Safety department and the platform manager for clarification.
• Reservation Process: When booking through OpenIRIS, you must indicate the risk level of your sample. This level must be compatible with the safety level of the space you intend to use.

Incidents

Any incident occurred must be reported immediately to the facility. You can use the issue button in openiris.

It concerns the malfunctioning of microscopes and computers (e.g. crashes, electric discharges), and also breaking of coverslips, leakages of immersion oil or media etc.

Delays

The requests are dealt with in a chronological order, no priority access is granted.

Data & DSI

You are solely responsible for the data acquired on the microscopes. Data saved on the acquisition computer is only temporary and without guarantee. You should transfer them to your own storage space as soon as possible. Data on the acquisition computer and quant server can be deleted at any time without warning. 

If you have any questions about server storage, please contact the IT Department.

Acknowledgment and/or Co-autorship

We would like to remind you that it is mandatory to acknowledge the platform in your publications whenever results obtained using our services are published. This applies to both scientific articles and oral communications.

This acknowledgment is essential to justify the platform’s activity.

For the ICM.Quant platform, you may use the following wording:
“Part of this work was carried out in the ICM.Quant core facility (RRID:SCR_026393) of ICM. We gratefully acknowledge [name of the people] for [specific tasks or advices].”

You can also include this resource code (RRID:SCR_026393) in any part of your publication, such as the Materials and Methods section, to indicate that you used the ICM.Quant platform. This code is unique to the platform and allows for easy identification of publications that have used our services.

Furthermore, in the case of a justified collaboration (e.g., experiment design, pipeline development, image analysis workflows, sample preparation and observation, etc.), platform experts who have contributed to your project must be listed as co-authors of the article. In such cases, the article must be reviewed by the platform member and their supervisor before submission to ensure proper recognition of the work provided by our experts.