Accessing CAI Facilities

1. Starting your project:

Projects can commence on the scanners after submission of an application which is then reviewed by the MRI Scientific Committee.

CAI is able to provide advice to get your project started. Projects can be conducted collaboratively or independently. The Centre will also provide the necessary MR safety training before your project starts.

Visit our instrument pages and identify the one/s you would like to book.

Contact the human imaging Facility Manager to discuss your project requirements.

2. Application form

Complete the CAI Imaging Project Application Form and return to cai-projects@cai.uq.edu.au

3. Imaging Technical Committee

All projects must be presented to the MRI Scientific Committee before commencing. When you present to the committee, you will be asked to give a brief (5 min) overview of your project. The committee will then discuss the project with you and provide relevant feedback or advice, as necessary, on scientific aspects of the project and best use of the MRI facilities and techniques available.

Meeting Dates:

The Imaging Technical Committee meets on the first Tuesday of every month. Project Assessment forms must be received at least 7 days in advance.

4. User Fees

• For UQ Internal Users: view our fees online (access restricted).
• For External Users, please contact the Facility Manager to organise a quote or discuss special arrangements.

The NMR spectroscopy facility includes a solid and three liquid state NMR spectrometers. The Centre provides advice to get your project started. Projects can be conducted collaboratively or independently. The Centre will also provide the necessary NMR safety training before independent access to the facility is permitted.

NMR Room Induction and Training

Visit our facility page and identify the one/s you would like to access. The CAI High Resolution NMR Spectroscopy facility has three liquid state NMRs (500, 700 and 900 MHz) and one solid state NMR (300 MHz).

To register for NMR room induction and training, there are three steps required:

1. Complete a CAI general induction. Please fill out the form here and you will be guided through the process.
   If you have already completed this step, go to Step 2.
    
2. After obtaining a CAI intranet logon (from completing the form linked above), please select the facility from the intranet page.
   
   Click "Apply for access to this facility" and finally click "Arrange the required facility orientation". The applicant must read the SOP's and risk assessment for the selected facility and book a local induction time (via CAI intranet).
    
3. Contact the NMR facility manager (NMR@cai.uq.edu.au) to discuss your project requirements and help setting up the project in the on-line booking system.

Setup and Booking the NMR Spectrometers for UQ Researchers

• The budget holder must be in our booking system for before you login for the first time since you will need to join a “lab” in the registration process. Please confirm with facility manager before logging on for the first time.
• To login to our on-line booking system use your UQ username and password. There is a wizard to guide you through the registration process on first login.
• You will need to be a member of a project, if your project does not exist it will need to be created. The facility manager can help setup the project if necessary.
• Financial approval from the budget holder and finance delegate for your school, centre or institute for the user fees will be required (signed RISQ form).
• The amount on the RISQ form will not be invoiced immediately but the user fees will be invoiced monthly on actual time used. When the agreed amount is used the instruments will be able to be booked until another RISQ form has been approved.
• Once all the above steps have been completed, the user can book time and can move or cancel bookings in advance of the start time.

Booking the NMR Spectrometers for Researchers outside UQ

• Please contact facility manager to discuss access.

User Fees ($/hours)

For External Users, please contact the NMR Facility Manager.

QNN access, please contact UQ_QNN@cai.uq.edu.au

Access to our facilities is via the PPMS/RIMS platform which is an online research infrastructure register and booking system enabling researchers to search for and book specific research instruments and equipment across UQ.  RIMS is a project-based system and projects are not usually carried over between different locations (eg: CAI and CMM).

1. Starting your project:

Your project is used to book any instrument, services or consumables.  Projects can commence after submission of an application which is then reviewed by the Molecular Imaging Scientific Committee.   CAI is able to provide advice to get your project started.  Projects can be conducted collaboratively or independently.  Facility Staff will also provide the necessary safety training before your project starts

Visit our RIMS Booking page to commence the Induction and Training process.

2. Application form

Complete the CAI Molecular Imaging Project Assessment Form and return the forms to the relevant facility manager.

3. Molecular Imaging Scientific Committee

All projects should be discussed with the relevant Facility Manager before an application is submitted.  On submission of the Project Form, the committee will assess the project and provide relevant feedback or advice as necessary on scientific aspects of the project and the best use of the facilities and techniques available. 

4. User Fees

To ensure you receive the most accurate and up-to-date information, pricing is now available through our online booking system PPMS/RIMS.  We encourage users to contact our facility managers directly to discuss project needs, tailored services, available options and pricing.

5. Induction Process and Laboratory Access

To begin research in our imaging facilities, please log onto PPMS-RIMS for our facility eg; CAI Preclinical Imaging. After logging in you will be presented with your Homepage which represents the users dashboard into our facility. Several tabs appear across the top of the Homepage (see below for descriptors of the important tabs if appropriate).  Use the Request tab for Induction, Training or Project Creation within RIMS  (see screenshot below).  As part of this process, you are required to review and acknowledge all relevant Risk Assessments and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which are linked within the RIMS Documents section. Access to the facilities will only be granted once these documents have been read and understood and an in-person Induction is completed with facility staff. 

From the RIMS Homepage you can:

1. Book:  This tab displays the systems (instruments/equipment) available to an individual user for booking.  Note: you will need to request training if you do not have authorisation to use an instrument.
2. Order:  to order a service or consumable.
3. Request:  to request an Induction, request Training on a specific instrument, or to start a Project request.  All request forms will be listed – ensure to select the correct form.  Some training or inductions includes OHS requirements to access facilities and use instruments.  Note:  Almost all instrument bookings in RIMS must be aligned with a project. 
4. Documents:  Displays any documents an individual user may have saved in RIMS (saved in the Home page).  Also includes documents sent to a user by facility administration (eg; signed off WHS training). 
5. Schedules:  Displays a read-only calendar with bookings scheduled (instrument, dates, times) for all instruments in a facility.  It can be used to access an instruments booking page and create a Favourites page.  Although a user can see all of the instruments in the system, you will only be able to book the instruments you have been given authority to use.