Training before booking
Grant access per microscope after training, with an optional expiry for recertification. People without access cannot book that microscope. Cores that do not check training can turn the check off.
Light microscopy cores
Scheduling and billing for light microscopy cores
Book confocal, widefield, and light-sheet microscopes with training checks, take imaging and slide scanning requests, keep laser checks on the calendar, and report use and downtime by grant.
Who it is for
Light microscopy and imaging cores
An imaging core runs self-service microscopes, staff-run imaging, and slide scanning at once. ConductCommons keeps them in one place: who may use each microscope, what each session and scan costs, which microscopes are up today, and the use and charges behind every grant report.
What you can book
Microscopes, scanners, and analysis workstations
Add any instrument your core shares. These are common examples.
Confocal microscopes
Laser scanning or spinning disk, self-run after training
Widefield fluorescence
Short sessions for checking stains and quick images
Two-photon and light-sheet
Longer minimum sessions for deep and cleared tissue
Super-resolution
Trained users, or assisted time at its own rate
Slide scanners
Scans run by staff and billed per slide
Live-cell systems
Bookings of up to three days for time-lapse runs
Image analysis workstations
Booked by the hour for processing and analysis
How it fits imaging work
Self-run sessions and staff-run imaging
Billed for the time used
Researchers check in and out at a kiosk, or a badge reader by the microscope starts and stops the session. Each microscope can carry up to 12 rate options, such as self-run and assisted time.
Core plan
Imaging and scanning by request
Researchers request assisted imaging with the sample type, stains, microscope, and magnification, or send slides for scanning with a slide list pasted from a spreadsheet. Staff send an estimate and release a link to the images when the work is done.
Core plan
Laser checks on the calendar
Maintenance plans for weekly objective cleaning, monthly laser power and bead checks, clearing old data from local drives, and yearly service visits remind managers when each comes due, and each check is recorded when it is done.
Problems and downtime
Anyone who books can report a problem, and managers get an email. A major problem still open after a day is emailed again each morning until it is fixed. Downtime blocks the calendar and tells the people whose bookings it cancels.
Live status board
Every microscope shown as in use, booked, in training, down, or free, with the next booking. It refreshes every minute, so it can stay open on a screen by the door.
Use and downtime by grant
Reports show hours booked and used, charges, and no-shows by microscope, person, PI, or project with its grant or account number, and downtime by microscope, for any period. Download any table as CSV.
Core plan
Statements and finance export
Sessions, imaging requests, and slide scans go on one monthly statement per paying account, locked once final, with a journal export for the finance office.
Core plan
Set up in one step
Choose Light microscopy when you set up the core: confocal, widefield, two-photon, super-resolution, light-sheet, and live-cell microscopes, a slide scanner, and analysis workstations open with their rules, along with the imaging, scanning, and analysis services and the maintenance plans. Change anything later.
Questions
Imaging core questions
Can some microscopes need training and others not?
Yes. Training is set per microscope, so the widefield can stay open to everyone while the confocals and the super-resolution system need training first. A core that does not check training can turn the check off for everyone under Rules.
How do we report use for an instrument grant?
Charge sessions to projects that carry the grant number, then open Reports and group instrument sessions by project or PI for the grant period. Researchers can also link their papers to the microscopes they used, for the publication list.
Can people book a live-cell system for several days?
Yes. The live-cell system starts with bookings of up to three days, and you can change the limit for any instrument.
How do we charge for slide scanning?
Slide scanning is a service billed per slide. Researchers paste their slide list into the request, staff send an estimate, and the approved amount goes on the monthly statement once the scans are done.
What happens when a laser fails?
Whoever finds the problem reports it on the microscope page and the managers get an email. Managers can take the microscope down for a set time, which cancels the bookings in the way after showing who is affected, and tells those people. A major problem still open after a day is raised again each morning.
Other kinds of core: flow cytometry, NMR, histology, genomics, core facilities, and behavior cores.
Run your imaging core in one place.
Every new workspace includes the Core plan for 30 days. After that, booking stays free; rates, invoices, and service requests need the Core plan.