Prices, Policies, & Training

Prices

General Policies

• CryoEM users must reserve the Vitrobot Mark IV in 2-hour session blocks
• During the weekday, users must reserve the Glacios-2 in a 5-hour morning session block (9am-2pm) or 19-hour afternoon/overnight session block (2pm-9am).
• During the weekend, cryoEM users must reserve the Glacios-2 in a session block that is longer than 24 hours starting on Friday at 2pm.
• In the event of instrument/software malfunction, users will not be charged for the time during which the microscope/software was not functional. Affected users will also be given the opportunity to reserve a new microscope session for the next available time slot.
• We can provide preliminary on-the-fly data processing using cryoSPARC LIVE for academic users during their Glacios-2 reservation.
• Users can transfer their cryoEM data to an external hard drive mounted directly to the facility
• CryoEM users are required to acknowledge the BU CryoEM Core Facility if core facility instruments or software contributed to the results in the manuscript. If specific core facility staff assisted you, we would also greatly appreciate if you acknowledged them individually.
  • Example statement #1: “We thank Chad Hicks for his support with cryoEM sample preparation, grid screening, and data collection at the Boston University CryoEM Core Facility enabled by NIH grant S10OD032253.”
  • Example statement #2: “This research was supported by the Boston University CryoEM Core Facility enabled by NIH grant S10OD032253.”

Specific Policies for External Academic Users

• External academic cryoEM users are welcome to use the instrumentation under our supervision. We are willing to offer training for use of the instrumentation.

Specific Policies for Industry Users

• We can prepare frozen grid samples for industry users if they provide us with the sample.
• At this time, industry users are not permitted to drive our instrumentation, so we would facilitate the grid screening and data collection process ourselves at no additional cost.
• Industry users are welcome to observe all steps of the cryoEM process (grid freezing, screening, and data collection) in-person or virtually.
• We can guarantee a grid freezing rate of 4 grids per hour and grid screening rate of 1 grid per hour.
• Unfortunately, we cannot provide preliminary data processing using cryoSPARC LIVE for industry users due to restrictions in the terms & conditions of the academic cryoSPARC license. However, we can monitor the quality of a data collection by performing motion correction and CTF estimation using ThermoFisher’s EPU Quality Monitor software.
• We would be happy to work with your legal department to sign any necessary NDA documentation.

New User Training Plan

• Phase 1: Initial meeting with new user to discuss their project, goals, and how the cryoEM core facility can meet their needs.
• Phase 2: New user watches training videos related to grid freezing, grid clipping, grid screening, and data collection.
• Phase 3: New user shadows a trained user to see the cryoEM procedures in-person.
• Phase 4: Once the new user has prepared their biological sample, cryoEM core facility staff trains the new user to perform grid freezing, grid clipping, grid screening, and data collection on their sample. These training sessions may include as many as 4 new users that are all learning at the same time.
• Phase 5: (Evaluation Phase) New user will perform the procedure multiple times over the next few months under the supervision of core facility staff (hands-on repetition is a crucial part of the cryoEM learning process).
  •  Once core facility staff is confident that the new user can perform the cryoEM procedure without damaging the facility instrumentation, the new user will be allowed to perform that procedure independently and without core facility staff supervision.
  • New users must receive training for every cryoEM procedure they would like to perform independently (freezing, clipping, loading, screening/data collection).
• Phase 6: (Refresher Training) If a user has not performed the cryoEM procedure in the last 6 months, they must perform the procedure again under the supervision of the facility staff.
  • This refresher training helps ensure that the user remembers the steps of the procedure and provides an opportunity for the core facility staff to inform the user of any new core facility policies and update the user on the latest best practices in the cryoEM workflow.