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Lab Allocation Policy

Approved:

  • CIRMMT Executive Committee June 15, 2007
  • CIRMMT Board of Directors June 20, 2007

Revisions:

  • CIRMMT Executive Committee June 17, 2008
  • CIRMMT Board of Directors June 20, 2008

Governance of physical resources

CIRMMT’s six centrally-located laboratories (8th floor, New Music Building) are a shared resource available to all members of the CIRMMT community for interdisciplinary, collaborative research projects.  These core CIRMMT research laboratories have no default users; it is presumed that all members of the Centre have been allocated individual laboratory space within their respective faculties when appropriate.

CIRMMT laboratories are allocated on a per-experiment basis for a maximum of two months per booking.  Bookings of the laboratories are moderated by the Executive Committee (or delegates), whose goal is to implement an equitable use of the space.  Special priority is given to collaborative research projects involving two or more CIRMMT researchers from different disciplines.

All CIRMMT students and researchers (full, associate and affiliate) have card reader access to the Centre’s main doors.  Access to the CIRMMT labs and their related workstations in CIRMMT’s 8th floor offices is allocated according to the booking schedule. Due to the Centre’s research mandate and CFI restrictions, CIRMMT laboratories may not be used for teaching purposes.

CIRMMT’s staff and administration will implement and periodically revise working procedures in accordance with the above policy, with the aim of safeguarding and facilitating ease of access across the membership to the Centre’s physical resources.  These working procedures will be subject to Executive Committee approval.

Laboratory equipment

Equipment that is part of the default lab configurations (as detailed on the CIRMMT website) is not to be modified, reconfigured or removed from the laboratories and control stations by members at any time without the prior documented consent of the Centre’s Technical Manager.  Software may not be installed or removed from the laboratory computers by users.

Centre equipment that is not part of the default lab configuration is available for loan to members for use during lab bookings (equipment loans for use outside the Centre are addressed in a separate policy document).  It is the responsibility of the users to handle borrowed equipment according to the specification of the Centre’s technical team.  Members are asked to report any malfunctions to the technical staff as soon as possible. 

Equipment brought from outside CIRMMT for use in the labs remains the responsibility of the designated users for the duration of the lab booking.  In cases where outside equipment is installed in the Centre’s labs, the technical staff will ensure that no members outside the designated project team are allocated lab access over the booking period without prior documented consent of the responsible person.

Food and drink are not allowed in the labs or near equipment in the control stations.

Non-compliance with regulations concerning CIRMMT equipment and lab use will be assessed by the Centre’s Executive Committee or delegates and, in cases of property damage or repeat offense, may lead to replacement charges for the full cost of damaged/lost goods and a termination of the user’s membership by the Board of Directors.

Laboratory research ethics

Research projects carried out in CIRMMT’s central labs are subject to the research ethics policies of McGill University: (http://www.mcgill.ca/researchoffice/compliance/)

Research involving human subjects must be carried out in respect of the rights of the persons involved and in accordance with relevant ethical requirements. It is the responsibility of all members and their students to comply with McGill University policy regulating research involving human subjects: http://www.mcgill.ca/files/researchoffice/McGillHSPolicy.pdf

Members conducting experiments with human subjects must provide the Centre with the appropriate McGill-approved Research Ethics Board Certificate number before the experiment start date.

Acknowledgment

It is expected that when CIRMMT labs are used in a research project, CIRMMT will be listed as part of the institutional affiliation in any publication. Example: “CIRMMT, Department X, University Y.”  As this is not possible for certain journals, which only list the university, use of CIRMMT labs should be recognized in the acknowledgements section.

Laboratory allocation procedures addendum (subject to periodic review and approval of the CIRMMT Executive Committee)

Facilities use and equipment training courses will be offered to members on a regular basis and the laboratory allocation policy, along with a lab use protocol, will be available on the website.

The information below includes temporary amendments to the laboratory booking procedures, approved by the CIRMMT Executive Committee in January 2012, and that are in effect until May 2012.

General considerations:

  • All lab and equipment bookings are made via CIRMMT’s online booking system, for periods of up to two months.  Depending on the nature of the request, it will either be processed automatically or manually by the CIRMMT technical team.
  • To ensure maximum laboratory availability for the Centre’s membership, members are asked to notify the Centre’s staff when a reserved space will not be in use, so that the labs can be made available to others.  Members who repeatedly fail to cancel unnecessary space reservations may have their booking privileges constrained.
  • It is the responsibility of the CIRMMT Technical Manager to ensure that detailed and updated default lab configurations for the central labs (including the student lab) and their control stations are available to members on the CIRMMT booking website.
  • Technical support for CIRMMT labs and equipment is available to members during normal office hours (Monday-Friday, 9-5). After-hours technical support for CIRMMT activities will only be considered under exceptional circumstances, and will require advance approval by the CIRMMT Directors Circle. 
  • Technical problems concerning the use of labs and equipment should be directed to CIRMMT technical staff, including those involving McGill Central services and equipment manufacturers.

Automated processing:

  • Members using the labs in their standard configuration without additional CIRMMT equipment and who do not require the assistance of the CIRMMT technical team have an option to make automated bookings via the online booking system. 
  • Automated online bookings can be made up to two months in advance and require no confirmation from the CIRMMT Technical Manager.  Bookings that exceed the two-month window will be processed manually, without automated confirmation.
  • Members who make automated default lab bookings can bring their own equipment to the lab, provided they do not require the services of the Centre’s technical team, that they remove their equipment at the end of each booking, and that they do not alter the lab configuration.
  • There are temporarily no automated online booking quotas, effective until May 2012.  Quotas are subject to semi-annual review by the Executive Committee and may be modified according to user statistics.
  • Online automated booking cancellations must be made by 21:00 the evening before scheduled bookings.  

Manual processing:

  • All online bookings that include technical assistance of any kind will be processed manually and are dependent on the availabilities of the technical staff. Members can expect a response to this type of booking request within 48 hours from the CIRMMT technical team.  Manually processed requests are first assessed by the CIRMMT Technical Manager (or delegate). The technical staff may adjust the schedule of the requested booking according to the project’s special requirements.  Certain requests (such as booking conflicts that cannot be resolved by the Technical Manager, special requests with needs that fall outside of the booking guidelines) will be forwarded to the CIRMMT Directors’ Circle for review. 
  • Lab and equipment booking requests that are submitted online by the 1st of the month prior to the month of the requested start date will be assessed by the CIRMMT Directors’ Circle and every effort will be made to ensure that booking conflicts are resolved and technical needs are met.  Conflicting booking requests for which solutions have not been found will be moderated by the CIRMMT Executive Committee, with special priority given to collaborative research projects involving two or more CIRMMT researchers from different disciplines.
  • Requests submitted after this deadline will be reviewed on an ad-hoc basis and will not be given special priority. Last-minute booking requests are subject to the schedule of the CIRMMT technical team and may not be approved.


Any requests with needs that fall outside of the above guidelines will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Directors’ Circle.