Info for Octopus users

To prove our impact, it is important to acknowledge any work you did with our facility. A simple acknowledgement is only relevant where we did not have significant input. Inclusion of the link scientist(s) on an author list would be relevant when we do any of the following:

• Develop or optimise a protocol
• Make imaging decisions and acquire images ourselves
• Design or re-design experimental conditions
• Do constructive data analysis and interpretation
• Create complex custom image analysis tools

See the Royal Microscopical Society’s website for more details

Link scientists at the facility will advise you on whether your experiment is feasible and help you with your application. Proof of concept time (1 to 2 days) can be awarded to carry out preliminary experiments to support applications.

A link scientist is a scientific researcher at the Octopus facility who is the primary contact for facility users. They collaborate with users in conducting their experiments and are experts in the techniques and instruments used. Users and link scientists are supported by other Octopus scientists, who will provide expertise in additional techniques, sample preparation or data analysis.

The results of the experiment are expected to be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. An experimental report will be requested after the experiment is over.

Octopus does provide some data analysis if granted in the application.

See data analysis for more information

This is done on a case-by-case basis depending on expertise and time available. Please consult a link scientist about your samples: in some cases, it may not be possible for us to prepare your samples for you, but you can come ahead of time to do that if required.

Yes, we encourage up to three people to attend the facility themselves to learn, advise and collaborate during imaging experiments.

It is vital that a subject-matter expert is present to advise on decisions about sample preparation, image acquisition and further optimisations. If you are not a subject-matter expert in your sample (i.e. a biological sample used to test chemical dosing) we strongly advise you to recruit a collaborator who is, as facility staff may not always be the best placed to advise you on sample optimisation.

For the majority of instruments, data can be accessed, downloaded and analysed through STFC Scientific Computing Department’s DAaaS website. Alternatively, data can be shared via cloud-based services (OneDrive primarily) or by posting remote hard drives.