Effective Date: July 2026 · Last reviewed: August 2026

Purpose and Scope

This policy sets out how laboratory instrumentation is accessed, scheduled, and credited, both by laboratory members and by external researchers. The Service and Access Model and the Collaborative Model are defined in the Collaboration and Authorship Policy, which states their authorship consequences. This policy sets the access, training, and recording requirements for both.

Covered instrumentation includes our Opentrons OT-2 and Flex liquid handling robots, Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencers, TapeStation and Bioanalyzer, QuantStudio 3 and Chai qPCR instruments, Absolute Q digital PCR, thermocyclers, and centrifuges, together with our allocation on the UF HiPerGator cluster.

Choosing the Engagement Model Before Access

The engagement model is agreed in writing before access is granted, not after data exist.

Service and Access Model. The external researcher operates independently using standard protocols, performs their own analysis, and receives no technical input from laboratory members beyond instrument training. They are responsible for their own consumables. Attribution is to the Acknowledgments section, naming the laboratory and the funding source for the instrument. Authorship is not warranted.

Collaborative Model. The project requires the specific technical expertise of laboratory members, whether through protocol modification for novel sample types, custom hardware, new code, or interpretation of the resulting data. Laboratory members involved in the technical work must be afforded the opportunity to contribute to study design and data interpretation. Laboratory members who supply that expertise meet ICMJE criterion 1 and are prospective co-authors. They must be offered the opportunity to satisfy criteria #2 and #3, and co-authorship follows where all four criteria in the Collaboration and Authorship Policy are met.

Where the model is unclear at the outset, the default is the Collaborative Model, and the parties revisit the question at the first data review.

Access Pathway for External Users

  1. Enquiry to the Principal Investigator describing the work, sample type, instrument required, approximate volume, and timeline.
  2. Model determination and a written record of which model applies, consumables responsibility, and the attribution or authorship expectation. Any agreement allocating data rights, intellectual property, confidentiality, or liability is executed by UF through Sponsored Programs or UF Innovate, not by this laboratory.
  3. Compliance clearance. Where samples originate outside the United States, the external user provides, before material arrives, the source-country access permit or a written statement that none is required, any Material Transfer Agreement, and any import permit; UF Sponsored Programs and UF RISC confirm sufficiency. For Kenyan-origin material, the International Research Partnership Policy applies in full. Where samples are biohazardous or of animal origin, the relevant institutional approvals must be in place.
  4. Training and certification on the specific instrument, delivered by a certified laboratory member and recorded in the laboratory training register.
  5. Scheduling account created on the laboratory scheduling application.

Training and Certification

No member or external user operates an instrument unsupervised unless trained and certified on it; supervised hands-on training by a certified member is how certification is obtained. Certification is instrument-specific and recorded in the laboratory training register with the trainer’s name and date. Members ask the PI for training; there is no separate application.

Because an incorrectly written Opentrons protocol runs to completion without raising an error, every new or modified protocol is dry-run without reagents before its first live run. Protocol files are version-controlled under the Data and Code Management Policy.

Occupational health requirements are set by UF rather than by this laboratory; see the Field Safety and Travel Policy.2,3

Scheduling and Effort Attribution

All instrument use is booked through the laboratory scheduling application. The booking record captures user, project, instrument, and time.

Scheduling records provide contemporaneous evidence of technical contribution and are one input consulted when contributor roles are assigned under the CRediT taxonomy. They are never the sole basis for such a determination: they capture instrument time and nothing else, so they are silent on analysis, writing, interpretation, and fieldwork, and they record nothing for colleagues who never book an instrument. They are not used for employment, hours, or performance purposes.4

Booking rules:

  • Book before use, not after.
  • Cancel bookings you will not use, so the time is released to other users.
  • Long or overnight runs are flagged at booking so that others can plan around them.
  • Recurring bookings for an entire project period require Principal Investigator approval, which is refused only for a stated scheduling reason and may be raised with the Department Chair if a member believes a refusal is blocking their degree progress.

Consumables and Costs

External users under the Service and Access Model are responsible for their own consumables. Internal users draw consumables against their project.

We do not set our own instrument charges. Charging any user for instrument time requires a rate established and approved through UF Auxiliary Accounting; users cannot be billed at unapproved rates, and equipment depreciation, which is what “wear” means, is not recoverable in an ordinary fee-for-service activity. If cost recovery ever becomes necessary, it goes through UF Auxiliary Accounting first and this policy is updated to match whatever rate is approved.6

Members report instrument faults immediately rather than working around them; a degraded instrument can produce invalid data with no visible indication of malfunction.5

Data and Intellectual Property

Data generated by laboratory members is subject to the Data and Code Management Policy, including its metadata, deposition, and retention requirements. Data generated independently by an external user under the Service and Access Model is governed by their written agreement, not by that policy. Original research records remain with the University when personnel depart; departing individuals may take copies and remain bound by confidentiality obligations.1

Rights in an external user’s own data are set by their UF-executed agreement. Where it is silent, the matter is resolved with UF before any publication.

Review

This policy is reviewed annually and whenever new instrumentation is added to the laboratory.

Policy Acknowledgment

Confirm by email, or sign a printed copy if you prefer.

Member Name (print): ___________________________________

Member Signature: ___________________________________
Date: __________________

Member Acknowledgment: All laboratory members must read and acknowledge this policy before first independent instrument use and annually thereafter. The corresponding obligations for external users sit in their UF-executed agreement.

References

  1. University of Florida. Intellectual Property Policy (Policy 14-006). See Section C.2 on custody of original research records.
  2. University of Florida Environmental Health & Safety. Policies and Guidelines.
  3. University of Florida Environmental Health & Safety. Vaccination Policy for Research Personnel.
  4. NISO. CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy).
  5. Ecological Society of America. Code of Ethics for the Ecological Society of America (PDF). As amended May 2021.
  6. University of Florida CFO Division. Service Center Rate Review. See also Fee-for-Service Educational Activity Rate Principles.