Flow Cytometry How to order

Working Procedures for Weizmann Institute Members
  1. Registration as FACS users

    New users have to register at the unit. For this purpose they should contact the staff and provide their user-ID, their supervisor’s user-ID and the budget number from which the service will be charged.
    New supervisors as well as new users should fill the FACS safety form* and give details about their project. The form may be accessed either after logging on to internal services or after entering the FACS reservation system.  While filling the form, special care should be taken to describe the cell types to be used as well as the biological or chemical risks involved in the project.
    After filling the form new users should send an email to the staff with details of their full name and ID number so that their Weizmann ID card will enable them to enter the FACS lab when the staff are not present.
    * The form is resubmitted every year.

  2. Reservation

    The FACS reservation system is on-line. Registered users may access it as follows:

    Go to Internal Services and enter your user-ID and password

           Double click on FACS

  • First time reservation

Make sure the Safety forms of your supervisor and yourself are filled in - as in section 1.

  • Regular reservation

Go to internal services, fill in your user-ID and password, double click on FACS, click on “all instruments” or choose the instrument you require, click on the hour or hours which you want to reserve.
 

  • Reservation in advance:

It is possible to reserve up to 3 weeks in advance and up to 8:00 at the actual day of work.
Reservation for the current day may be achieved by calling the FACS unit staff. The workstation for Data Analysis can be reserved or cancelled at any future time without charge.

Make sure the Safety forms of your supervisor and yourself are filled in - as in section 1.

  • Limit to the number of periods to be reserved:

Each supervisor (or his students combined) is limited in reservation to 3 hours only during the period of 8:30-16:30 and three more hours from 16:30 onwards per cell analyzer.

  • Paying by hour or by the number of samples:

When reservation is made for one hour only there is an option of paying for the whole hour or paying for the number of samples used during that period. Users can decide on the best option for payment and can implement it up to 24 hours after the work.

To pay for each tube:

  • Go to “pay by samples” (upper option on the right at the reservation table)
  • Fill in the following information: the instrument used, date, hour, number of samples
  • click on “process”

Users are required to notify the staff when they are more than 15 minutes late otherwise their reserved time slot may be given to users on the waiting list.

  • Waiting list reservation

Users that enter the regular reservation table and find that their preferred hours are occupied may click on these slots and thus enter the waiting list. If the required slot is canceled they will “jump” automatically into the table and receive an e-mail message giving details of their new reservation.

  • Cancellation of a reservation

Entering the FACS reservation system and clicking on the period, that had been reserved,will cancel it. The same procedure is performed for the waiting list.
This is possible up to midnight, two days before the due date . When canceling less than that, the period will turn blue meaning: wish to cancel. An e-mail be will be sent automatically to users in the waiting list for that period. If one of them wants to replace the current user they have to call the FACS unit. Otherwise the original user will be charged.

It is NOT(!!!) possible to cancel a reserved slot less the midnight two days before the due date unless another person uses that period.

 

Service

  • Cell analyzers and computers

It is forbidden to store data collected by the users for longer than a month on the FACS computers!!!!!! Complete folders of users who ignore this regulation may be erased without further warning.

The FACS unit staff  provide help from Sunday to Thursday between 8:30-16:30.
Assistance may not be available between 12:30-13:30.

Users are encouraged to learn to work independently on the cell analyzers, omputers and cell sorters. Once users become independent they can make a reservation to work before 8:30 or after 16:30 as well as during the weekends and holidays when the staff are not there.
At these times users may enter the lab with a Weizmann ID card that must have a previous authorization to enter the FACS room.
The last user on each machine is responsible for turning it off.

Users that register when the staff member are not at work (after 16:30, during weekends and holidays) should inquire whether they are responsible for turning off one of the machines. They are also required to learn the procedures for turning on and off the instruments and of changing supply and waste fluids.

The last user in the room is responsible for turning the lights off.

  • Cell sorters

Cell sorting on all the cell sorters is available for 24 hours a day. However, users that are not independent can work only when the staff are available (Sunday to Thursday between 8:30-16:30).

It is possible to reserve periods that last either from 9:15-12:00 or 13:30-16:15. Each of these periods includes the time needed for preparing the machine according to the required sort (sterile or non sterile, using one two or three lasers, sorting to tubes plates or slides, cooling or heating the sample and sort chambers).

When reserving the sorters it is necessary to fill up the box on the upper right hand corner of the reservation table. It contains details on the stains to be used, sterility, speed of the sort required, nozzle size and the origin and status of the cells to be sorted (high speed is normally performed with a 70 micron nozzle, medium speed with 85 microns and low speed with100 or 130 microns).

Users that require sterile sorting should take the metal sheath containers for sterilization and bring between 3-10 liters of sterile PBS at least one day in advance. They should also bring half a liter of sterile water in a sterilized water container. Sterile sorting may start an hour later than regular sorting.

Users that can not work independently on the cell sorters are still responsible for monitoring the progress of the sort and alerting the staff in case of problems such as clogs  or a change in the sorting parameters (e.g. change of the breakoff point).

  • Partial staff

When one member of staff or more are away, registration for cell sorting via the internet is not possible unless the user was trained to operate the sorters independently and was authorized to order during partial staff periods. Users must take into account that in such cases sorting has a lower priority compared with the cell analysis.

Working Procedures for External Users
  • Registration as FACS users

    All users from outside the Weizmann Institute of Science must have an active FACS service agreement.

    Click here to download the form.

    Mail the original form to: Yael Dvash, Life Sciences Core Facilities, Weizmann Institute of of Science, P.O. Box 26, Rehovot 76100.

    New users should also fill in and submit the Safety Form for the FACS Unit at Weizmann Institute of Science or send it by e-mail to one of the staff members.

  • Reservation

    External users should call the FACS unit in order to make a reservation.

    Users are required to notify the staff when they are late for more than 15 minutes otherwise their reserved time slot may be given to others at the waiting list.

  • Cancellation of a reservation 

    A reserved slot should be cancelled at least on the midnight tow days before it is due, otherwise this period will be charged,

  • Payment 

    Users should bring with them an order form that specifies the required service and the payment for it. Value added tax should not be included but instead a 20% handling charge should be added. The form should be signed a person with the appropriate authority.

  • Regular reservation 

  • Consultation 

    Staff at the unit may be consulted during planning, execution and analysis of projects which use Flow and Image Cytometry as one of their research technique. It is required to make an appointment in order to receive the full attention of one of the members of staff.