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Flow Cytometry Core Facility

The Flow Cytometry Core Facility offers a range of flow cytometric techniques.

Guidelines

General

  • New users should discuss their projects with the FCCF staff to identify the best approach to answering their biological questions. If the work is to be carried out autonomously by the user, a thorough introduction of the instruments will be provided.
  • Before you start working in the FCCF, an introduction to the equipment to be used and how waste is disposed  is compulsory.
  • If you cannot remember how to operate a system you were already introduced to, please ask the FCCF staff for advice. We will provide a refresher training session.
  • The working environment in the FCCF main lab (V104 room) is BSL1 (biosafety level 1).   
  • Handling of BSL2 (biosafety level 2) organisms is restricted to the V101 room. If your scientific project requires the processing of BSL2 samples, please get in touch with us and the safety office (safety@embl.de) well in advance.
  • We charge an hourly usage fee as a contribution to our maintenance and consumables costs. Click here for information on the internal usage fee.
  • If you are the last user of the day, make sure to switch off the system’s  workstation including;  PC, instrument, sheath supplier, water bath and analyzers’ plate readers (HTS)
  • If you publish work supported by the FCCF, e.g. by using one or more FCCF instruments or getting support in cell sorting or data analysis, it is obligatory to include this sentence in the acknowledgment:We thank the Flow Cytometry Core Facility (FCCF) at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) for their support.

    Moreover, if the FCCF staff members contributed significantly to the published work, and it’s in accordance with EMBL IP rule # 63, staff members shall be included in the author lists.

Booking

General rules

  • Make sure to open a ppms account to access our services. The ppms reservation system is used across facilities at EMBL. Instructions on how to open an account are summarised here: Creating a ppms account.
  • Booking of the instruments before use is obligatory.
  • Please avoid last minute cancellations to do not compromise instrument availability for other users.
  • You are responsible for the system while you are booked.
  • Please get in touch with us for access rights and an introduction to the analyzers’ plate readers (HTS).
  • Delete your booking if you are not planning to use your slot. If you delete the last booking of the day, please contact the second last user to inform this person that he/she needs to turn off the system. 
  • If you are the last user of the day, make sure to switch off the system’s  workstation including;  PC, instrument, sheath supplier, water bath and analyzers’ plate readers (HTS)

Data management

  • Users are entirely responsible for back-up their own data.
  • We strongly advise saving your data immediately on your group server.
  • Data from the analyzers and cell sorters will be removed every 2 weeks. Make sure to back up your data and create appropriate experiment templates.
  • Inform the FCCF staff if you are running a time-course experiment, and the experiment folder should be kept longer.
  • The use of USB or another external hard drive to retrieve data from the analyzers and cell sorters is absolutely forbidden.  Data from the workstations could be temporally stored in the fccfdata server (users folder) while is transferred to your group server.
  • Data from the cell sorters is available in the fccfdata server: Sorting_service folder.  For instructions on how to reach the server, please visit our Cell Sorting page in the Services section.

Instruments and common spaces

  • Please help us to keep the facility clean and organized by disposing your used tubes and plates in the trash bins. Replace the trash bag when it reached max capacity.
  • Please treat the equipment with extreme care.
  • Check the equipment for any apparent damage or problems and inform the FCCF staff members.
  • Please help us to keep the facility clean and organize by disposing your used tubes and plates in the trash bins.  Replace the trash bag when it reached max capacity.
  • Do not forget your racks and ice buckets at the facility.    
  • Make sure to turn off the centrifuge at the bench after using it.

After you have finished

  • Check whether the system is booked later on the same day.
  • If you are the last user of the day, make sure to switch off the system’s  workstation including;  PC, instrument, sheath supplier, water bath and analyzers’ plate readers (HTS)

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