RRID:SCR_022721 (SciCrunch | Research Resource Resolver)

The Sanderson Center for Optical Experimentation applies for many grants to bring new and cutting edge equipment to the Univeristy of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. One of the metrics considered by grant agencies is the demonstration of usership of this core facility and publication records are critical for that. It is extremely important to us that you add us to your acknowledgements sections. 

You are responsible for downloading, saving and storing ALL of your own data. The SCOPE serves a broad group of investigators and scientists both within the university and externally. The amount of data we collect daily is immense - it is not feasible for us to provide data storage or archiving services. 

All service imaging files are transferred to you and the links to that data are time sensitive. Make sure to download your files asap. If you are having issues with this reach out to us immediately for additional support. We cannot guarentee that your data will still be available after the deadline given in your transfer notification.

Microscope systems have a raw data file format that you MUST save your data in. This data file contains all of the metadata for your experiment which is important information about the system and settings that you used to acquire the images. It is critical documentation if you want to repeat the experiment the same way and many analysis software packages import features such as the size of the image in microns from that metadata. This metadata can also be extremely helpful when writing your methods section for any publication. If you maintain these original files - you can always export a TIFF if you need to later. However, if you do not save and store the data in the raw file type all of the contained metadata will be stripped from the file and PERMANENTLY LOST.

When you are designing new microscopy experiments please schedule a consultation meeting with Dr. Christina Baer and SCOPE scientific staff. Book a meeting. Here are some things to prepare for this meeting:

1. What is the question you are trying to answer?
2. Are you modeling your experiment off of a published experiment/figure? If so, please provide this. 
3. What are your hoping to quantify from your images? We are highly experienced with this and this information can significantly improve the reccomendations for your experimental designs. 

In this meeting we will help you determine what system would work best for you, (if applicable) what fluors are compatible with that system, assistance with magnification and resolution that you need, as well as how to quantify that data, and pitfalls to avoid in order to make you the most successful.