Terms of Usage

BOKU Core Facility Bioactive Molecules Screening and Analysis (CF BMoSA) at the BOKU premises in Tulln,  offers high throughput microbiology screening resources, confocal microscopy  and high-end mass spectrometry for small molecules as well as for polymers. The full list of equipment and services is available after login in PPMS or at the is website (link).

General Policy

CF BMoSA offers:

CF BMoSA staff and the user choose one of these approaches or a combination of both, depending on the nature of the planned experiment (technical complexity, number of samples etc.), the availability of facility staff, and financial considerations. Due to technical complexity, full service mode is preferred for most experiments.

Independent from the usage mode and the institution/affiliation of the user, CF BMoSA works on a first-come-first-served basis. Exceptions may be made for urgent experiments (e.g., manuscript resubmissions).

To start any new project, please contact the facility via bmosa(at)boku.ac.at to discuss the possibilities available and instructions on how to order service. Users are encouraged to have some initial information ready, such as previous attempts, number and composition of samples, reference literature of similar experiments, and – most importantly - a clear idea of the question one would like to answer and if this answer is possibly given using which experimental strategy. 

After a project discussion and before starting the experiment, users receive a customized offer per email which they have to confirm in written form (usually per email). Service fees and prices are specified for each type of service or instrumentation, which are subject to regular adaptations.

Training

User access to CF BMoSA instrumentation is allowed for all available instruments. Work in the facility is allowed exclusively after receiving a training. Every individual user has to receive appropriate and instrument specific training before having personalised access to the respective instrumentation. Violation of this rule results in the loss of any personalised access to the facility by the user. To schedule training, please contact the facility. If a user has not used instrumentation for a period of more than one year, he/she should see the CF BMoSA staff for an update on usage and – if required – retraining. During training, users will also be made familiar with safety regulations. User who do not comply with training or safety rules may be temporarily or permanently banned from the facility.

Sample Quality

Before analysis, the preparation procedure and composition of samples and standards must be provided to CF BMoSA staff. Sample quality must be appropriate for measurements (e.g. compatibility of solvents/buffers with MS systems), there may be instrument-specific limitations.

Instrument Booking

Instruments are available to trained users. Instruments and trainings must be booked via our booking software Stratocore (https://ppms.eu/boku/?BMoSA). To request a user account, BOKU-internal users have to log in with their BOKU credentials. External users must submit their information (i.e., full name, mail address, phone number, group leader name, billing address) to set up an account in advance via email to bmosa(at)boku.ac.at. Users must log usage in the PPMS schedule. Cancellations of trainings have to be made within 48 hours before start of the training. Cancellation of instrument booking have to be made two hours before start of instrument time. Unused instrument time has to be cancelled. If not cancelled, the booked instrument time will be charged. For BOKU users, the correct usage category has to be booked!

If instruments become unavailable, CF BMoSA staff will inform all affected users at the earliest possibility via PPMS. CF BMoSA staff reserves the right to cancel bookings on short notice if instrument maintenance or repair needs to be performed. Preventive maintenance will be scheduled to minimize impact on usage. If anything noteworthy happens, e.g., the instrument is not performing as well as usual, an incident has to be reported in PPMS by the user and/or the CF BMoSA staff has to be informed. Users who repeatedly do not log their correct usage in PPMS will be banned from using the instrument.

It is self-evident that all instrumentation should be used with utmost care, that resources should be used wisely, that users check back with facility staff immediately if anything is unclear or if any problems are experienced with the instrument, and that the instructions laid down in protocols and given by CF BMoSA staff are followed accurately.

If instruments are damaged or are not properly cleaned by the user, cost of cleaning or replacement/repair will be charged. For all instruments exact cleaning instructions and device handover modalities are defined and will be shown to the user during training. 

User Samples and Reagents

All samples and reagents that are brought to the CF BMoSA by users must be clearly labelled with a designation of the compound, the name of the user, the date, risk and safety statements and hazard symbols. For reasons of safety and cleanliness, unlabelled samples will be discarded by CF BMoSA staff without advance warning. During periods of active work, CF BMoSA users are welcome to store their own samples and reagents in designated areas of the facility (please consult CF BMoSA staff in case you want to do so). These areas have to be emptied, however, when the user finishes work. CF BMoSA staff will discard samples and reagents should users not comply with requests to clean up.

In case the full-service mode is used, users will be informed when experiments carried out for them by CF BMoSA staff are completed. Remaining material/samples will be discarded, unless otherwise stated. Users are kindly asked to pick up any remaining material promptly. Any shipping costs resulting from returning samples to off-campus users must be fully covered by the user.

Waste Management

There are designated waste containers for non-halogenated solvents, halogenated solvents, as well as waste vials.

Detailed instructions will be given during instrument training.

General Lab Equipment

The following basic lab equipment is available at CF BMoSA:

• Protective equipment (safety glasses, gloves)
• Pipettes and tips
• Plastic reaction tubes (non-sterile)
• Glass bottles and beakers
• Racks
• LC/GC vials and inserts
• Balances
• Magnetic stirrer (heatable) and vortexer
• MS grade ultrapure water
• Ultrasonic bath

Users are expected to report to CF BMoSA staff if anything is going to run out of stock. Users are encouraged to report any items they miss in the CF BMoSA repertoire.

If items are not returned, are broken or damaged, or are not properly cleaned, the user will be charged for the cost of cleaning or replacement.

Data Transfer and Storage

Raw data will not be stored by the CF BMoSA! Raw data generated on CF BMoSA instruments will be stored on the respective instrument control computers and deleted after (at the earliest) 5 days. In case of a full service approach, CF BMoSA staff will store the raw data for 3 months, before deleting, unless otherwise stated. If the data evaluation is carried out by the user, it is their responsibility to transfer their own data within 5 days! Please note that you may have limited access to the control PC if the instrument is booked by another user. It is recommended to transfer the data during your own booked instrument session. Information about data transfer will be given during instrument training.

Publications

If users present data obtained with support of CF BMoSA (publications or oral/poster presentations), they must acknowledge the facility. Citing the facility in the acknowledgements is the only way we can track the impact of our services. We would appreciate receiving a copy of all publications for which CF BMoSA infrastructure was used. If users need help with preparing a manuscript using data generated via CF BMoSA services (e.g., presentation of data or description of the methodology), please contact CF BMoSA staff. Good scientific practice demands that members of the facility who have contributed intellectually to a publication will be considered as co-authors.

Possible variants:

1. trained user mode:
"This project was supported by the BOKU Core Facility Bioactive Molecules: Screening and Analysis."

2. full service mode (e.g., MS by David Ruso):
"We thank David Ruso, MSc for conducting MS experiments. The MS equipment was kindly provided by the BOKU Core Facility Bioactive Molecules: Screening and Analysis."

3. core facility staff member listed as author:
"The MS equipment was kindly provided by the BOKU Core Facility Bioactive Molecules: Screening and Analysis."

Feedback and Evaluation

Users are highly encouraged to give feedback about the performance of the facility or suggestions for improvement at any time to the head of BMoSA.