Conditions of Use
The facilities are available to personnel from both inside and outside the University of Michigan. All scientists with research problems for which the laboratory equipment is appropriate are encouraged to make use of the facilities. The next few paragraphs outline how a typical user will proceed in order to use EMAL.
Initial Contact
The laboratory equipment is maintained by expert staff. A propective user should contact a member of the EMAL Staff and determine if the instruments in the facility are capable and suitable for the proposed research. The staff are usually able to make this determination, if an individual staff person or the laboratory manager cannot make the decision, then the request may be forwarded to the EMAL Executive Committee for final consideration.
User Application and Authorization Form
Once it has been determined that the user's research needs can be meet by the EMAL facilities, the EMAL Staff will request that the user complete an EMAL Authorization Form. This form must be filled out by the person who is responsible for the funding of the research (typically a faculty member) and it lists the contact address, phone number and email address of that person and also the same information for the user. In addition a University account number must be supplied for recharging the instrument use and supplies. The purposes of this form are three-fold. Firstly, since the users of the laboratory are typically graduate students, this form notfies the student's advisor that the student is using EMAL, and spending that advisors research budget. Second, the EMAL staff know that the faculty advisor has sanctioned the work in EMAL and have a valid account to which the useage may be recharged. Finally the user must indicate on the form that he/she have read the radiation safety information that is relavent to the particular instrument that they are going to use.
Users from outside the University of Michigan are requested to provide the same information, however, they are also asked to furnish a purchase order to which the usage can be charged. Purchase orders should be made out to "The University of Michigan Electron Microbeam Analysis Laboratory" and mailed or faxed to the laboratory. The User Fees vary depending on the type of user and the time of day that the equipment is used.
Training
The EMAL staff can advise and help a user in all aspects of specimen preparation, instrument use, and data interpretation. Since most new users will not be familiar with the operation of the instruments, the EMAL staff will train users on a one-to-one basis or in small groups. It should be noted that The Department of Materials Science and Engineering offers an introductory electron microscopy course (MSE 562) each winter term and any graduate student planning on making use of the EMAL facilities is encouraged to take this course. The object of the training is for the user to be able to indepentdently operatethe EMAL equipment required for their research. Generally the staff members are not available to perform characterizations on a service basis, rather their function is to help the user obtain results. Under some limited conditons however, it is possible to make consulting arrangements with individual laboratory staff members, and the laboratory manager should be contacted in these cases. The initation of collaborative research efforts between laboratory staff and users, whether they are from the University of Michigan or another academic or industrial institution, is also encouraged.
User Fees
The expenses incurred in maintaining EMAL are offset by recharges to the individual investigators research grants. Currently the instruments are recharged as follows:
| Daytime is defined as Mon-Fri 8:00 - 17:00 |
Daytime Rate |
Evening, Night & Weekend Rate |
Operator Assistance Rate |
| University of Michigan Users |
$36/hour |
$26/hour |
$20/hour |
| Other University Users |
$36/hour |
$36/hour |
$20/hour |
| Industrial Users |
$150/hr |
$150/hr |
$50/hour |
There are extra charges for film and darkroom use. These charges are designed to offset the operating costs of the instruments and do not cover the salaries of the staff of the facility.
User Application and Authorization Form
Talk to John, Kai or Haiping first about what you want to do in EMAL. They will help you determine which instrument is appropriate for your research needs.
Before your first training session you should fill out the EMAL Authorization form. You can fill out the form in your browser before printing the form, have it signed by the appropriate people, then send or bring it to EMAL.
- PDF Authorization form (FIll in fields before print)
There are also paper copies available in the EMAL office that prospective users can come by and pick up.
Instrument Booking
For North Campus EMAL access the Instrument schedules here. When you first click to open one of the schedules you will be asked for a name and password. Use the normal EMAL password, NOT your uniqname and user number. When you need these, you be asked specifically for them.
For the curious: The North Campus EMAL's Instrument booking is run through a back-end Filemaker Pro shared database, written by Corinna Wauchope. Contact the EMAL Staff with problems or questions about the booking program. If you have a problem, make sure you include any error message in your email.
Users should remember that the North Campus Instruments are very popular and have several hundred registered users. For this reason regular daytime access is limited to one 4-hour slot per user per week. So, when booking in advance for any particular calendar week you may only book one slot in the 8am to 5pm time frame. If, at the beginning of any particular week, there are day time slots available, you may then book additional slots. Users booking multiple slots in advance may have their access to the North Campus EMAL restricted.
For Central Campus EMAL access the Instrument schedules here. You will need a login to access the CC EMAL booking, plese contact Carl Henderson to obtain initial access.
