Laboratory Regulations

LAMT Tasks

• Creating a plan for the coordinated and harmonized implementation of new research techniques based on the existing infrastructure, enabling measurements, analysis, and broadly understood imaging using the most modern laser techniques used in microscopy.
• Integration of users using laser microscopy techniques, supporting contacts, and enabling cooperation of interested research groups (teams within IMDIK, collaboration with external scientific and research units).
• Assembling specialist equipment in one Laboratory to monitor the apparatus's technical condition and care for its servicing.

Rules of LAMT operation

1. The Laboratory of Advanced Microscopy Techniques is an independent unit of Mossakowski Medical Research Institute Polish Academy of Sciences (MMRI PAS), which the Directorate of the Institute supervises.
2. Services include comprehensive research at the level of tissues, cells, and cell structures at the super-resolution level.
3. LAMT does not make preparations and does not cultivate cells, tissues, or organotypic sections. Microscope users are required to prepare the material themselves.
4. LAMT staff provides substantive assistance in preparing microscopic specimens, considering the hardware capabilities, and helps select research methods appropriate to the planned tasks.
5. As part of activities, training courses are provided in microscopes and software for data acquisition and processing. Users who complete the training can independently use the LSM 510 and LSM 780, Cell Observer, and Cell Cut systems.
6. Independent use of the ELYRA super-resolution module and other advanced techniques is possible after training organized by Carl Zeiss. In the absence of such training, the observations will be conducted by an LLTM staff member with active user participation.
7. LAMT staff can be hired to collect images for users. However, this practice is not preferred and often does not work well: Users often have specific criteria for selecting the 'best' regions of a sample to the image known only to them.

Training policy

1. All users must be trained by LAMT staff before they can use any microscope. Training is individual, personal, and non-transferable (a user cannot teach another user, no matter how experienced).
2. Training on one microscopy system does not confer access to another, no matter how similar. Some systems are similar enough that cross-training on a different system will likely take less than an hour, but users must receive this additional training.
3. All users must be in the LAMT database and make reservations under their names. Users should not sign up for time under a different name (their department, postdoc supervisor, etc.).
4. Training is not free; microscope usage will always be charged.

General Policy - Hours and Access

1. The Laboratory is available to users from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday to Friday. Reservations and Billing are in 30 minutes increments.
2. When observing and registering the fixed specimens, sessions not longer than 3,5 hours are expected at one time. In life objects observations, it is possible to extend the working time.
Working with the ELYRA PS.1 super-resolution module is subject to individual treatment. With the consent of the LAMT Head, the last User on a given day may continue working until the evening hours.
3. If you are interested in using the LSM 510, LSM 780, Cell Observer, and Cell Cut confocal microscopes, please get in touch with us by phone (tel. 22 608 65 89), e-mail (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), or directly for earlier booking of an appointment in the schedule displayed in the Laboratory. It is crucial to provide the specifics of the experiment in advance, the conditions of data acquisition, and the type and quantity of preparations.
4. Along with the reservation, a declaration of acceptance of costs by the financing person entity is required.
5. Cancellation of a reservation must occur at least 1 hour before the reservation, or the User will be charged for the length of the appointment. If a user finds someone to fill a time slot, this reservation time can be switched over, and the fee will not be charged. Please contact ahead of time to allow the reservation to be changed or canceled.
6. The LLTM employee will determine the training dates. It is suitable for the participant to have his preparation on which the training will be conducted.
7. If you notice any irregularities in the equipment operation, immediately notify the employee or the LLTM manager. In his absence in emergencies, the MMRI PAS Directorate and Carl Zeiss service should be informed.
8. Due to the high costs associated with the repair of equipment at LAMT, the prices of repairs resulting from improper use of microscopes will be charged to the units financing the work of individual users. Non-fault defects, resulting, e.g., from the wear of parts, will not be subject to repair financing. It is in the User's best interest to check the equipment and the workplace before starting work. In the event of a fault, the LAMT Head must be informed immediately. Continued disregard for the proper use of equipment may lead to the prohibition of independent work.

Work safety policy

1. Before starting work, the User is obliged to check the completeness and efficiency of the apparatus needed for the experiment/observation. Defects and soiling must be immediately reported to the LAMT staff.
2. The User must keep the place and the equipment used clean during the work.
3. After finishing work, leave everything in order and check that all devices in use are turned off.
4. Eating, drinking, and smoking are prohibited in laboratory rooms.
5. It is forbidden to block the passage and lead wires in communication places.
6. Users are obliged to comply with general legal principles, including those relating to the protection of copyrights.
7. Dangers for people using LLTM:
• electric shock;
• exposure to laser and UV radiation;
• injury with laboratory glass and sharp tools;
• burns, e.g., hot lamps;
• falls, e.g., movable laboratory stools, work with the lighting switched off).
8. Any accidents should be immediately reported to the LAMT employee or scientific supervisor. All incidents must be notified to the LAMT Head.

Detailed rules for the use of confocal microscopes

1. Trained users can independently operate the microscope systems at LAMT. In other cases, work may only take place with the participation of a staff, which requires the prior arrangement of the date of microscopy observations.
2. LAMT equipment users must enter the following data in the work record book: date, lenses used, condition of the mercury lamp, type of laser. Each person has a work card in which the working hours are recorded.
3. You can only stay in the Laboratory in the presence of an employee. In special situations, a personal authorization for the User may be issued. In such cases, the LAMT key is collected over in person at the MMRI PAS reception desk upon presentation of an ID.
4. It is forbidden to make any modifications to the equipment used, in particular:
• self-replacement and changes in the settings of the position of the mercury lamp;
• independent replacement of filters and filters sets;
• installing or removing programs on the lab computers and any configuration changes;
• changes to monitor settings and connections between computers and other devices.
5. Each User is obliged to:
• checking the condition of the microscope before starting work;
• when using wet (immersion) lenses to use only the immersion oils found in the Laboratory;
• leaving the Laboratory and equipment clean (instructions for cleaning the lenses and glasses and the microscope stage);
• leaving the microscope in the basic settings;
• turning off the devices after finishing work. If there is another user in the schedule, please get in touch with us to arrange the time of switching off / on the mercury lamp. If the interval is less than 1 hour, do not turn off the lamp. Inform the LLTM employee that the lamp was left on - cover the microscope with a protective bag (not the mercury lamp, which may be hot).

Data Acquisition

1. Computers that are an integral part of laser confocal and microdissection systems are used only for recording data during operation, not for data processing. For this purpose, there are workstations with the required software.
2. Due to the safety of users' data, computers with microscopes do not have access to the Internet.
3. It is not allowed to use portable memory devices (pen drives).
4. Data from computers will be copied to CD / DVDs or to portable HDD or SSD assigned to a given system, from which they will be safely transferred to user media.
5. Users are obligated to copy their data files systematically.
6. The Laboratory will archive data generated on confocal microscopes, but it will be in the interest of individual users to copy their data. At the end of each year, data will be deleted from the hard drives. The reminder information will be sent one week before the planned data deletion.