IMSC access terms
The type of service, contribution and collaboration depend on the type of research project and the input from the research group:
- Scientists that wish to have samples analyzed on a regular basis, with questions that do not require extensive methods development, will usually interact directly with the technical staff of the IMSC and have their analyses done for the standard per-sample fee as outlined above.
- Scientists that have research questions which require extensive methods development discuss first with the head of the IMSC (Hjalmar Permentier), and, if necessary, the scientific head (Peter Horvatovich), to define the approach and workload. Users will have to contribute financially to the method development work at least on a partial basis, by paying the regular fees. In the case of long-term developments (e.g. 3 months or more), which will also enhance the overall competence of the IMSC, an agreement can be made for a fixed fee according to agreed-upon criteria but will be lower than the cumulative per-sample fees. It is strongly recommended that users foreseeing such a use of the IMSC discuss their project needs prior to applying for funding and include the cost in their regular project budget.
- Scientists that have research questions where the use of cutting-edge biological mass spectrometry and related techniques is required on a structural basis collaborate with the IMSC and the Analytical Biochemistry group on a scientific level. This implies, in general, that the IMSC and/or AB is already involved at the stage of the grant application and that costs for the use of instrumentation and consumables are part of the project budget. Joint grant applications and jointly supervised PhDs or postdocs are also welcomed and are drivers of implementation of novel mass spectrometry approaches. Specific bioinformatics analysis and workflows are being developed in-house such as for MS1/MS2 proteomics, metabolomics and stable isotope labelled data quantification with PASTAQ, proteogenomics data integration.
- Scientists and commercial parties from outside the University of Groningen or the UMCG will be classified in the same way as internal academic users, but the user fees include salary cost and instrument depreciation, or agreed-upon contract criteria as mentioned above.
- In all cases, IMSC expects to be acknowledged in publications, using our full details (Interfaculty Mass Spectrometry Center, Groningen, The Netherlands), and optionally the names of contributing IMSC personnel. Co-authorship is appreciated if we have made a significant scientific contribution to a publication.