MSC Guidelines
Costs
The running costs of the MSC are largely borne by the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna. For that reason, Departments of the Faculty of Chemistry are not directly charged for individual service measurements or measurement time on instruments. However, it is mandatory to include costs incurred to the MSC for third-party funded research projects when applying for research grants. Next to all required chemicals and consumables, such as HPLC columns, ESI needles, solvents, sample vials, pipette tips, etc., money for the project-specific use of the available instruments in the core facility should be requested (see e.g. category “other costs” in FWF stand-alone projects for the latter). The refundable cost rates for the instrument usage include only expenses that cannot be directly related to individual measurements and need to be calculated based on instrument time (e.g., maintenance and repair of the instruments, consumed high-purity gases, software licenses). The cost rates do not include any infrastructure-related costs such as equipment depreciation, supplementary charges for overhead, costs of research premises, etc.
For general information regarding the involvement of the core facilities of the Faculty of Chemistry in third-party funded research projects, please consult the Dean's office; for help with calculating the costs and for offers required by some funding agencies, please contact Martin Zehl.
Access to the MSC
Access to the MSC is controlled by an electronic locking system. Research group leaders within the Faculty of Chemistry that have a focus on mass spectrometry can apply for an access authorization (iButton) to the MSC for individual group members. The access authorization can only be granted by a member of the management-team to researchers or technicians that have an employment contract to the University of Vienna and are trained on at least one instrument. The notification for the activation of the iButton is made exclusively by our secretary´s office. Due to safety reasons, it is not allowed to lend your iButton to another person.
Students have the opportunity to be introduced to the MSC within several mass spectrometry-related courses. We are also happy to guide interested (guest) scientist through the MSC upon arrangement.
Safety
Please adhere to the General Laboratory and Workshop Regulations of the University of Vienna. In particular, we want to point out the following basic rules:
- Hazardous risks to oneself or third persons must be avoided.
- Eating, drinking, gum chewing, or similar activities are prohibited in the laboratories.
- Personal protective equipment should be used whenever indicated or useful.
- Due to the high noise level, we recommend wearing a hearing protector in the MS labs.
- Instruments may only be opened and maintained by skilled and qualified persons.
- Spilled samples and chemicals must be immediately removed in a correct and proper way. In general, all kinds of contamination and soiling of the laboratories and offices have to be avoided or immediately cleaned up.
- Radioactive and explosive substances as well as biohazard materials are not allowed in the MSC. To protect our employees, it is mandatory to label in a clearly readable way all samples that are known or assumed to be toxic, strongly reactive or posses other hazardous risks. It also has to be stated if special requirements have to be taken upon disposal.
- Users with an access authorization to the MSC are responsible for all accompanying persons (e.g. students) and need to make sure that these persons are aware of and adhere to the above listed safety instructions. Visitors are not allowed to be left unattended in the MSC.