• NMR CBEC
  • OSU CBEC
  • CBEC Lab

NMR > User Policies

CCIC NMR is a multi-user facility. The following policies have therefore been put in place to promote timely and undisrupted use of the facility, as well as to ensure the safety of you, your valuable samples, and the spectrometers.

WHO CAN BE A USER?

  • Any student, postdoc, or faculty may be a user of the facility. However, all users must obtain proper training from the CCIC NMR staff. Training is not to be provided by fellow group members. Contact one of the following if you are interested in receiving training:

  • - Dr. Chunhua Yuan
    yuan.9@osu.edu
    Riffe 140
    614.688.3691

    - Dr. Alexandar Hansen
    hansen.434@osu.edu
    Riffe 148/CBEC 381
    614.292.7133

  • Trained and authorized users may operate any of the NMR instruments in the facility. However, as new instrument capabilities become available, additional training may be required of the users.
  • An Access Application Form must be submitted for swipe-card access to Riffe 137 and the NMR Suite in CBEC

HOW DO YOU RESERVE NMR TIME?

  • Internal users will also need to add a requisition to their FOM account. This guide here walks you through how to get a requisition to add to your FOM account: https://go.osu.edu/fomrequisition.
  • New users must register their account using FOM before they can use any NMR instrument.
  • Users must schedule NMR time using FOM calendar (https://fom.osu.edu/fom/welcome) prior to use NMR instrument. The minimum time block is 0.5 hours.
  • Reservations are freely transferable between members of the same research group, so it is recommended that the user attempts to find an alternate user for the reserved time to avoid a cancelation fee. Notify CCIC staff for any required billing changes (such as paying from a different grant for the new user).
  • CCIC staff reserve the right to modify the schedule as needed for facility maintenance and to distribute instrument time with maximum efficiency
  • CCIC staff may also deny experiment acquisition if it is deemed significantly unlikely to be successful (ie. experiment has negligible signal-to-noise). In these situations, the user will be asked if an alternative experiment is acceptable or, if the sample has poor concentration, if another sample is available. If no alternatives are found, the remainder of the NMR time will be canceled with any applicable fees.

  • Internal users will need to have a FOM account and a requisition #.

WHAT IF I NEED TO CANCEL?

  • There is a “cancelation window” during which a fee will be applied for any canceled NMR reservation, and is equivalent to the total duration of the reservation or 24 hours, whichever is longer
  • Cancelation of reservations up to 24 hours in length during the cancelation window will be charged the full reservation.
    • Example 1: Reservation = 12 hours, canceled 20 hours beforehand will be charged the full 12 hours of NMR time
  • Cancelations of reservations over 24 hours in length must be done as many days ahead of time as the reservation itself. The difference between a) the reservation length and b) the amount of time before the start of the reservation is considered delinquent NMR time. The cancelation fee will be charged at $48 per day (i.e. $2/hr) of delinquent NMR time or the full 24 hours NMR fee, whichever is higher
    • Example 2: Reservation = 52 hours, canceled 16 hours beforehand will be charged 36 delinquent hours (= 52 – 16) of cancelation fee, i.e. $2x36 = $72, or 24 hours of the full NMR fee, whichever is higher.
    • Example 3: Reservation = 5 days (120 hours), canceled 3 days beforehand will be charged $48 x 2 days of delinquent time = $96, or 24 hours of the full NMR fee, whichever is higher.
  • Early termination of experiments will be charged as usual for the NMR time used plus a cancelation fee of up to 24 hours at the regular NMR fee plus $48 per day ($2 per hour) for any remaining time after 24 hours.
    • Example 4: Reservation = 12 hours, used 4 and canceled the rest. The usage fee is 4 hours at the instrument rate. The cancelation fee will be the full 8 hours of remaining time.
    • Example 5: Reservation = 60 hours, used 16 and canceled the rest. The usage fee is 16 hours at the instrument rate. The cancelation fee will be 24 hours of regular NMR time + $2 x 20 hours remaining = $40.
  • Consecutive NMR reservations will be considered as a single reservation
  • Cancelations of any part of a reservation are still subject to the full cancelation window. If the canceled time is less than 24-hours from the time of cancelation, it will be charged at the instrument rate up to 24 hours plus $2/hr for successive hours. Otherwise it will be charged at the $2/hour cancelation fee.
    • Example 6: Reservation = 3 consecutive days. Cancels Day 1, 12 hours before the start of the first experiment. The cancelation fee will be 24 hours of regular NMR time.
    • Example 7: Reservation = 3 consecutive days. Cancels Day 2 or 3, 12 hours before the start of the first experiment. The cancelation fee will be $2 x 24 = $48.
    • Example 8: Reservation = 3 consecutive days. Cancels Day 2 during first day of experiments. The cancelation fee will be 24 hours of regular NMR time.
    • Example 9: Reservation = 3 consecutive days. Cancels Day 3 during first day of experiments. The cancelation fee will be $2 x 24 = $48.
  • If the reserved time cannot be used by a user (e.g. because of sample preparation issues) but can be used by another lab member, the user must cancel their reservation and contact CCIC staff about the transfer of time to avoid the cancelation fee. The new user (who must be trained and have an approved CCIC NMR FOM account) must then reserve the time in order to ensure proper billing and reporting for the instruments. If the new user cannot use the full original reservation time, a cancelation fee may still apply (see above for partial cancelation of NMR time).
  • The cancelation fee applies regardless of whether the reserved instrument can be taken up by another user (from another lab)
  • A grace period applies for a lab’s first offense: a notification will be sent to the PI but no charge is applied
  • Cancelation policy will be monitored and will be adjusted as necessary

CAN YOU DO IT FOR ME?

  • Users who require assistance must check with a staff member (see above) about NMR time that is convenient for both users and operator.
  • No advance reservation is necessary for drop off experiments. But please contact Dr. Chunhua Yuan (yuan.9@osu.edu) to request NMR time.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF THERE’S A PROBLEM?

  • Any equipment malfunction or failure during usage must be report to CCIC staff (see above) immediately so that the problem can be quickly resolved. Under no circumstance is the user allowed to try to fix the problem. If it is determined that instrument malfunction is due to users’ negligence, then their PI may be responsible for the repair expenses.

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

  • NO FOOD OR DRINK ALLOWED IN THE NMR ROOM 137!!!
  • NO HAZARDOUS AND INFECTIOUS SAMPLE ALLOWED FOR NMR EXPERIMENTS
  • Please leave the area around the spectrometer/computer better than the way you found it. Do not leave any trash, Kim wipes, or unlabeled samples.
  • Retrieve your sample(s) promptly at the end of your experiment(s).
  • Unclaimed and/or unlabeled samples may be disposed of with little notice.
  • Set the temperature back to 25°C (298 K) after usage. Reset any other parameters you may have changed (ie. air flow rate) to default values.
  • Record your sample and experimental details in the logbook provided. Include, at a minimum, your name/PI, the buffer composition, 1H pulse width, channels used, and any instrumental error/s.

MISUSE OF THE FACILITY

  • Instrument use without proper training by one of the facility staff is strictly not permitted
  • Instrument use without reservation of time is also not permitted
  • Instruments found being used without reservation will have the experiments stopped and the sample removed from the magnet and left on the bench. If the user or PI can be determined, the estimated time of usage plus a minimum administrative fee of $50 will be applied towards tech time will be charged to one of the PI's accounts who will then be contacted regarding the violation. The PI is expected to take appropriate disciplinary against the student, postdoc, or collaborator.
  • Users found in repeat violation of any of the above policies found here may face indefinite suspension from using the CCIC NMR facility

THE STANDARD EXPERIMENT ISN’T OPTIMAL FOR MY SAMPLE. CAN I MODIFY THE PULSE SEQUENCE?

  • Users interested in modifying experiments must demonstrate to CCIC staff a comprehensive knowledge of NMR spin physics or, at a minimum, the pulse sequence in question. Users external to the Ohio State University are prohibited from modifying experiments.
  • The approved user may make minor modifications to pulse sequences, such as hard-coded delay durations or addition of water-selective pulses. Any modification requiring a significant change to pulse and decoupling power or duration must still be approved by CCIC staff
  • Modified sequences must be saved with the user’s initials and, ideally, a meaningful addition to the pulse sequence name itself, such as 2-letter Bruker codes.
  • Example: zgesgppepr.alh
  • NEVER SAVE A PULSE SEQUENCE WITH THE SAME NAME AS THE STANDARD SEQUENCE. This can cause serious problems for other users unknowingly using the wrong experiment.
  • Modified sequences must include in the header of the experiment 1) the user’s full name, 2) the date of the modification, 3) the reason for the modification, and 4) a description of the modification itself.
  • Example:
  • ; 28 Oct 2016 – Alex Hansen
    ; -- need to suppress additional solvent signal using presaturation
    ; -- using pl9 for presat and cnst1 for resonance position

I CAN’T FIND THE EXPERIMENT I NEED. CAN I MAKE/DOWNLOAD A NEW SEQUENCE?

  • Independent implementation of non-standard pulse sequences is strictly not permitted
  • New pulse sequences are evaluated based on their potential benefit to all of the facility users. Since implementation of new sequences can be a time-consuming endeavor for CCIC staff and instrument time, this service is only provided to users internal to the Ohio State University.
  • All new pulse sequences must be evaluated by CCIC staff and conform with Bruker and CCIC pulse sequence conventions. The staff member who evaluates the pulse sequence must be present for the initial implementation of the experiments
  • Innovation of new pulse sequences is considered collaborative work