Electron Microscopy
Electron Imaging Center for Nanosystems
EICN Procedure for New Users
How can you access the EICN? EICN users can either request a staff expert to image their sample or be trained to operate the electron microscopes themselves. Users who are new to electron microscopy are trained and practice on the T12 TEM. More advanced users are trained to operate the T20, TF20, Titan S/TEM, and Titan Krios. Help with advanced electron microscopy techniques is available upon request. Contact the the EICN Helpdesk (eicnhelp@cnsi.ucla.edu) to see how EICN can assist with your project.
Create a CNSI Lab Management System (CLMS) account. EICN uses the CNSI Lab Management System (CLMS), a centralized reservation system, to manage reservations for all the instruments. Create a CLMS account here to have access to the system. The CLMS account is subject to approval from CNSI and EICN. Normally, it takes a few days to process a new account request. For further information on CLMS accounts, click here. EICN is not responsible for CLMS functionality, so please address your inquiries and problems directly to CLMS administrators: Jeff Korerat (jkorerat@cnsi.ucla.edu) – For problems involving funding and/or Recharge IDs: CNSI Billing Department (billing@cnsi.ucla.edu).
Complete the EICN Application form. Read EICN’s policies here. Download and sign the EICN User Application, User Agreement, and the EH&S Safety Agreement here. This form must be filled out, signed by the user and PI, and presented to EICN personnel prior to the training session. Please indicate if you are planning to use any dangerous materials at EICN. Users are responsible for providing all permits required by UCLA Environmental Health & Safety in relation to the project the user wants to conduct at EICN. Copies of valid permits should accompany the application form.
Obtain training at EICN. Training is required in order to use EICN equipment. Thereafter, users are permitted to use the facility 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please email eicnhelp@cnsi.ucla.edu to set an appointment for training. If you do not receive a reply within 48 hours, you can email Matthew Mecklenburg (mmecklenburg@cnsi.ucla.edu) to follow up. We guarantee training within three weeks from your request date. All training sessions are billed using the hourly rates associated with each instrument. Training is not available without a completed EICN Application form.
Additional Information
- Users are permitted to use the EICN facility after creating a CLMS account, presenting a signed EICN User Agreement and completing training. Using instruments without a reservation on CLMS is not permitted.
- Users must comply with general CNSI and internal EICN policies and be aware of charges related to using EICN.
- Users have equal access to the EICN facility on a first come, first serve basis during normal working hours via CLMS.
Publication Acknowledgements
If you acquired data using any of EICN’s instruments, please acknowledge the center in a suitable variation of:
- “Data was acquired at the Electron Imaging Center for Nanosystems (EICN) at the University of California, Los Angeles’s California for NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) (RRID:SCR_022900).”
For data collected using the Titan Krios G4 TEM, please add the following to the above general acknowledgement: “NIH S10OD032459 to ZHZ.”
- “Data was acquired at the Electron Imaging Center for Nanosystems (EICN) at the University of California, Los Angeles’s California for NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) (RRID:SCR_022900) (NIH S10OD032459 to ZHZ).”
For data collected using the Titan Krios G1 TEM, please add the following to the above general acknowledgement:
- “Data was acquired at the Electron Imaging Center for Nanosystems (EICN) at the University of California, Los Angeles’s California for Nanosystems Institute (CNSI) (S10RR23057 and U24GM116792 to ZHZ).”
Please list the RRID of the facility in the acknowledgements so we can track our center RRID:SCR_022900, https://coremarketplace.org/RRID:SCR_022900.