Skip to main content

Policies for the Crystallography Lab at IMSERC

Safety Policies

  • Do not wear headphones while working in the lab
  • Wear eye protection when handling open solvent containers (including crystallization vials)
  • Wear gloves when handling chemicals, crystals, or solvents
  • Do not wear gloves when working on the computer, opening, and closing the diffractometer doors, or mounting and adjusting samples
  • If the gloves are contaminated with chemical waste, dispose of them in the waste bins
  • You are responsible for removing all samples and materials that you bring into the lab when you are finished with them. If saving samples for future use, please put them in the appropriate containers
  • You must dispose of glass waste, and only glass waste, in the appropriate container
  • Chemical waste larger than a small trace amount must be disposed of in your own lab
  • You must successfully complete Radiation Safety Training before you are allowed to operate the diffractometers – this includes mounting and/or centering crystals on the diffractometer, and using the data collection computers

Equipment Policies

  • You can ONLY be trained to operate the diffractometers by IMSERC Crystallography staff, and you must complete the X-ray Safety Certificate offered in myHR Learn before you can be trained. Arrange training with a staff member
  • We encourage new group members to watch older group members as they work on data collections. However, untrained students and post-docs are NOT permitted to operate the diffractometers. No hands in or on the enclosures and no hands on the computer. Violators of this policy – the watcher and the watched – will have their IMSERC user privileges revoked
  • It is OK for untrained group members to practice selecting crystals and mounting them on fibers, pins or loops. They must not mount them on the goniometer
  • Sign up for instrument time through NUcore. Using a diffractometer without a current reservation in NUcore is prohibited. You may not use a diffractometer with someone else's login credentials. You may run a sample for someone else if they are on the same grant/chartstring/account
  • You must report/ bill yourself for all work you have performed on the diffractometer - including sample evaluations
  • If you have single crystals ready but the diffractometers are booked for the next 15 days, please use the waiting list form. Waiting list is used for notifying users when an Admin reservation through NUcore is about to be cancelled. If you are having difficulty reserving time for any reason, speak to a Crystallography staff member who will help you reserve an appropriate time slot
  • Notify the single crystal diffraction user group using the NU listserv, if you finish your reservation early or cancel it on the same day
  • Notify the powder diffraction user group using the NU listserv, if you are releasing more than 2 hours of instrument time during working hours
  • Always ramp up the cold streams if your data collection finishes on Saturday, Sunday or holiday mornings. You do not need to ramp up the temperature if your data collection will end on a normal business day
  • Notify Crystallograhpy staff if the instrument has any issues or exhibits any strange behavior – even if it does not affect your data collection. If you can recall what you were doing at the time, this can be valuable information. You are responsible for reporting any abnormal conditions with the instrument or facilities that you notice while working in the lab. This includes anything that may have occurred before your reservation, e.g., the microscope lightbulb burns out
  • You may not make changes to the system configuration, software default settings or any other aspect that governs instrument control unless you are trained for changing configuration

Computer Policies

  • Do not use data collection computers for e-mail, web-surfing, or gaming. Check the list of allowed sites that can be visited from an instument computer
  • You may use an instrument software to process your data and solve and refine your structures as long as the computer is not actively being used by someone working on the instrument

Microscope Policies

  • Clean up the microscope bench areas when you are finished using them:
    • Turn off the lights on the microscope
    • Probes should be cleaned and put away
    • Slides should be disposed of in the waste containers, or stored in the appropriate petri dish
  • If supplies are out or running low, notify a Crystallography staff member
  • If waste containers are full, notify a Crystallography staff member
  • You may use the microscope camera to photograph your crystals. For assistances, see an IMSERC Crystallography staff member

Crystal Mounting Equipment

  • Always use magnetic pins, loops or fibers when possible. If you need to use a different goniometer head, notify an IMSERC staff member
  • If you break a magnetic mount, place it in the yellow plastic tray and IMSERC staff will repair it. You may repair broken fibers yourself
  • Use the Narashige pipet puller to make new fibers. See an IMSERC staff member to learn how to use it