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Online booking

Booking appointments

Appointment booking policies:

To book appointments, you must be registered with the facility and have a valid password. Please click here to register as a client. Once you are registered you may book sorting and consultation appointments. To book analytical instruments or automated magnetic cell separators you must be trained first.

INTERNAL CLIENTS: Appointments for all instruments may only be booked using our web-based scheduling system. Currently, Internal clients located in TMDT, SickKids, TGH, and OCI/PMH should have access to our server. Please e-mail the Facility Manager ( ) if you cannot access our server from one of these locations.

EXTERNAL CLIENTS: Once registered, external clients located at U of T/Medical Sciences Building (MSB) and MSH should have access to our web-based scheduling system. Please e-mail the Facility Manager ( ) if you are not able to access our server. External clients who do not have access to our server are asked to book appointments by e-mailing one of our operators.

Booking policies for analytical instruments:

  1. Appointments for all instruments can be booked no more than four weeks in advance and up to one minute in advance of the start time. Please note that any users who use our resources without making a booking on the online booking system will be charged an administration fee of $100.  Repeat offenders may have their user privileges suspended.
  2. In general, a single appointment on any of the analytical cytometers will be limited to 4 hours and must include time for cleaning and any applicable QC procedure.  Requests for appointments longer than fours hours can be made by e-mailing the operator responsible for that instrument. Please be sure to explain why you need an extended appointment. Users who are granted permission to make appointments lasting more than four hours will be given specific instructions on special procedures for instrument care and cleaning during such extended periods of use.
  3. Fees for use of the analytical instrument will be calculated by comparing the amount of time actually used based on the instrument log with the amount of time reserved in the online booking system.  You will be billed for the amount of time you booked in the online reservation system as well as any additional time used (by the minute) according to the instrument log. It is very important to log off, rather than simply quitting or closing Diva, at the end of your appointment.  If you forget to log off you will be charged for the extra time.
  4. Users may be permitted to exceed their scheduled appointment time if the instrument has not been booked by someone else, but will be charged the normal rate for the extra time used.
  5. We allow a 15 minute "grace period" for all appointments. Users who are more than 15 minutes late may have their appointments cancelled or given to another user without notification unless they call FCF staff to inform them when they will arrive. Latecomers’ appointments will end promptly at the scheduled time if there is an appointment booked after them.
  6. You may allow someone else to use your reservation time, but you MUST change the reservation in the online booking system. If you wish to make this change after the cancellation deadline has passed (see below), you MUST inform the FCF manager by email. Failure to make this change may result in both users being charged for the same reservation.
  7. You may shift your appointment to an earlier or later time on the same day of your original reservation if the time has not yet been booked by someone else. If you make this change after the cancellation deadline has passed, you must book the new time online FIRST and then inform the FCF manager by email that you shifted your appointment so she can cancel the later time in the online system. Failure to inform the FCF manager of this change may cause you to be charged for your original reservation on the online booking system as well as for the actual time you used according to the instrument log. You must record your name on the printed schedule for the instrument for the new appointment and also indicate you are no longer using your original appointment by crossing your name out and writing "cancelled" beside your name.  The daily schedule for each analyzer is printed at 10 a.m. This will ensure that the instrument does not get left on unnecessarily and allows other users to use the instrument.
  8. If you're booking an appointment on the same day that you're using the instrument, you must book online first, then write your name on the schedule after it has been printed. The schedule is printed daily at 10 a.m.
  9. Users may log on to the instrument computers for up to 15 minutes without being charged for the purpose of transferring data only. Instrument computers should NOT be used for off-line data analysis. For this purpose, the FCF has dedicated computer workstations that are not connected to instruments — these can be reserved in the online reservation system.  If it detects instrument log-ins of more than 15 minutes without a matching reservation in the online booking system, it will assume that the instrument was used without making an appointment and users will be charged accordingly.
  10. Cancellations
    1. Appointments may be cancelled 24 or more working hours in advance without penalty and this can be done online. This does not include weekends and holidays.
    2. Users cancelling appointments less than 24 hours in advance will be billed for their appointments. In addition, you must cross out your name out and write "cancelled" beside your name on the printed daily schedule for the instrument that is printed at 10 a.m. daily Monday to Friday. This will ensure that the instrument does not get left on unnecessarily and allows other users to use the cancelled time. Failure to do this may result in an administrative charge.
  11. Access to Analytical Instruments:  While most of our instruments are universally accessible, access to some of our instruments is restricted to particular academic groups.
    Instrument Location Group
    LSRII GC Room 14-401 Guidos Genome Canada Group
    LSRII
    OICR
    		Room 8-401 OICR Cancer Stem Cell Group
    CantoII Room 8-403 Users who have access to the Lentiviral Facility.

    To enquire about access to the Lentiviral Facility please contact Monica Doedens, mdoedens@uhnresearch.ca.

Booking policies for sort appointments:

  1. Sort appointments can be booked no more than four weeks in advance. When booking appointments less than 24 hours in advance you must confirm your appointment with the sort operator directly.
  2. Cell sorting appointments may be a minimum of one hour and a maximum of seven hours in length and must include a minimum of 15 minutes of set-up time plus 15 minutes of cleaning. Sorts requiring special set-up conditions (e.g. changing laser wavelength) may require longer minimum booking times. This can be arranged at the discretion of the operator.
  3. Users are billed minimally for the time booked online and any additional time used. Users may be permitted to exceed their scheduled appointment time if the instrument has not been booked by someone else, but will be charged the normal rate for the extra time used.
  4. Emergency sort appointments:
    We provide a limited number of emergency appointments for after-hours cell sorting on Sickkids-UHN FCF instruments which are dependent on operator availability. Examples of an emergency scenario include samples that have to be processed immediately (e.g. patient samples, samples from moribund animals) and for which advanced booking is not feasible.

    Emergency appointments can be booked no more than 48 hours in advance and will generally be booked from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (earlier starts are possible where scheduling permits) Monday to Thursday. In most cases we can accommodate only one emergency appointment per day. To book an emergency cell sorting appointment, please contact FCF manager Sherry Zhao by phone: 416-581-7654 or pager: 416-237-3754.

  5. Cancellations:
    Cell sorting appointments may be cancelled no less than 72 hours in advance (excluding weekends/holidays) without penalty and can be done so online. In order to allow other users an opportunity to book a time slot for cell sorting, users who wish to cancel their appointments booked from less than 72 hours to more than 24 hours in advance, should send an email to the operators they booked. The operator will delete the appointment online and send a mass email to all users to let others know that there is a time slot available. Users who wish to take the time slot can book it by themselves. If the cancelled spot is completely substituted by someone else, we will not charge the previous user. If the spot is only substituted partially or cannot be replaced, we will charge the previous user accordingly.

    Users cancelling sorting appointments less than 24 hours in advance (excluding weekends/holidays), as well as no shows, will be billed for their appointments. Users who need to cancel the day of their appointment are required to inform the operator they booked with directly by calling the FCF.