MRRC Policies
Policies of the Magnetic Resonance Research Center
1. Confidentiality
MRRC will not use user data for any purposes without explicit permission from the user.
2. Cost Recovery/Payment
MRRC collects usage fees to recover the equipment maintenance and repair costs. All scheduling of equipment and user fee payments are processed through iLab system managed by ND Research office. Users must establish their accounts with ND Research to receive access to the iLab online scheduling system and MRRC instruments. External customers must sign a Facilities Use Agreement with ND Research office and establish a payment method prior to receiving access to MRRC instruments. In case of an instrument breakdown preventing user from collecting the data, the user fee is refunded. For more information see https://nmr.nd.edu/instrument-locations-and-schedules/
3. Prioritization of work
Online scheduling of MRRC instruments is done through iLab on first-come, first-served basis subject to specific rules governing scheduling of every particular instrument. For more information see https://nmr.nd.edu/instrument-locations-and-schedules/
4. Acknowledgement, publication and authorship policies
Any publication that includes data obtained using MRRC instruments must include acknowledgement in the form "Authors acknowledge Magnetic Resonance Research Center at the University of Notre Dame for providing access to (... fill in the specifics...) NMR instrument(s)." If data obtained at MRRC were included in a successful grant application the users are asked to provide the granting agency and a grant number for MRRC reporting. If the MRRC personnel is asked to contribute to the research beyond providing standard training, it is expected that their contribution will be reflected by a co-authorship on the publication.
5. Conflict resolution
In all cases of conflict arising from a use of MRRC, the user must contact the MRRC staff. If the problem cannot be resolved at this level, it will be discussed by the MRRC Advisory Committee and appropriate higher-level administration.
Scheduling difficulties
All users are required to adhere to the MRRC instrument usage policies, which detail many specific rules aiming to reduce potential for a conflict between users: https://nmr.nd.edu/instrument-locations-and-schedules/nmr-usage-policies-and-reservation-rules/.
In particular, when MRRC receives multiple similar complaints regarding scheduling difficulties at a particular instrument, the scheduling rules are reviewed to propose a possible change to reduce the schedule congestion. The suggested rules change is announced to the user community, and a Google poll is conducted to gauge the support and understand objections to the change. Based on a received feedback the scheduling rules will be changed with re-evaluation of effectiveness within a short time period (usually, a couple of weeks).
Technical problems
When a user experiences technical problems they must immediately contact MRRC staff. If the problem was not caused by the user but, instead, was a malfunction of the instrument, the user fee will be refunded. In case of the iLab system malfunction, the MRRC staff will make the best effort to promptly report the problem to Agilent and will assist users with a temporary scheduling solution.
Authorship disagreements
When MRRC staff participates in research of a user beyond providing necessary technical training, they must receive co-authorship on every publication that includes their results. This condition of co-authorship is, typically, discussed at the outset with the user's PI. The disagreement on the co-authorship will be resolved at a level of the MRRC Advisory Committee and the user's PI.
Quality issues
If the data that user obtained on the MRRC instrument is poorer quality than anticipated, the problem must be reported to MRRC staff as soon as possible. The MRRC will promptly investigate the issue to identify its potential cause. If the reason for poor performance is a malfunction of the instrument, the user fee will be refunded, and MRRC staff will initiate a necessary repair. If poor data quality is a result of user's own actions, the MRRC staff will provide free additional training to rectify the deficiency in the user's workflow and improve the data quality.
6. Submitting Material in Compliance with Regulatory Requirements
MRRC users are required to comply will all safety standards outlined in their mandatory NMR User Training. Users are required to disclose it to the MRRC staff when they plan to use materials with acute chemical, radioactivity, or biological hazards.