Core Policies

Facility Policy

Yale West Campus Materials Characterization Core (MCC) is a user-friendly working place which welcomes all users from Yale, other educational organizations or industries.

  • Core facility access is authorized by core manager ONLY after user training. Serious violations such as allowing other people to use the facility will lead to user account suspension and charge on user’s account for any facility repair.
  • Users must report facility or tool problem immediately to the Core. DO NOT try to fix by yourself! 
  • Always keep the Core main entrance door closed:
    • No drink and food allowed inside the Core;
    • Expensive personal items should not be brought into the core. The core is not responsible for the loss of personal properties.
  • Users agree that results obtained using core facilities can be used for educational purposes and facility promotion:
    • The Core facilities need to be properly introduced in users reports, presentations and publications;
    • The Core staff need to be acknowledged if technical assistance is provided;
    • Users should inform the Core for any publications with a PDF copy;
    • Users should inform the Core about any significant results or breakthroughs, which may be posted on Core website.

User Training Policy

  • All users must receive facility operation training in order to gain access to the facility and reservation system.  Only facility manager can train users.
  • The MCC onsite facility operation training is offered for basic operation on facility, advanced training is required for specialized techniques (e.g. XPS Depth profiling, UPS and SEM EDS). 
  • The users who have not used the facility for more than two month will be suspended for training again (two practice sessions within one week).
  • Monthly based users are not encouraged to use the facilities by themselves. Instead, they should look for superusers in their own lab to run the samples. 

Billing Policy

  • The users are responsible to keep their Yale COA account updated to avoid account suspension.
  • For billing rates, see the Rates.

Reservation and Charge Policy

  • User charges are calculated on real usage time on the instrument;
  • No cancelation charges. It is strongly recommended to make early cancellation so other users will have time prepare for canceled time;
  • 15 minutes no show time. This means your reservation will be canceled automatically 15 minutes after reserved time and all other users will be informed to take the canceled time. 
  • It is strongly prohibited to make repeated/multiple reservations per day unless required. This will be investigated case by case and restrictions such as maximum time per day can be applied to specific users.
  • User category:
    • Daytime users: reservations are currently limited to 9 am - 6 pm in week days.
    • 24 hr access users: no limitation for their reservations.
    • Regular hour access users can request 24 hr access upon approval by Core manager.
  • Users are not allowed to use other user’s accounts, or their accounts will be suspended

Safety Agreement

  • Prior to facility operation training, all registered users must have received Yale EH&S Chemical Safety Training and Radiation Safety Basics Part I (XRD and XRF users only).  The users need to bring the X-Ray Training Sign Off Sheet received after Radiation Safety Basics Part I training to the core to complete the onsite radiation training.
  • All users and visitors to the Core must practice safe measures. This means that there is no running or similar activities in any Core space. Chemicals, whether obtained within the lab or brought from outside must be properly labeled, contained, and disposed of. Gloves must be worn when handling samples, chemicals, and instrumentation.