Arctic Resources Laser Ablation ICP-MS facility: Lab Policies

  1. Users must discuss potential projects/analysis in advance with Yan Luo/Graham Pearson. All users are required to provide a signed and completed hard copy of the project form before analysis. The project form is available on the LA-ICP-MS website as a PDF.
  2. New analyses, or unusual sample types, may require significant method development periods. In some cases charges for these development days may be passed on, in whole or in part, to the user. This will depend on the future utility of the development and the time spent in developing the method.  Before analyses will be undertaken, agreement of allocation of these costs by both parties must be agreed upon.
  3. External users must provide a purchase order from their respective institution/ organization before instrument time can be allocated. Internal users will need to provide a speed code before booking instrument time. At this stage, additional ‘development-day’ charges should be incorporated so that both parties are aware of the likely final billing costs.
  4. If the scope of the project changes (e.g. the user brings more/different samples) then the PI (Graham Pearson) reserves the right to renegotiate the final billing costs. If billing costs differ from the original PO, a revised PO must be submitted before additional analyses are undertaken.
  5. Reservations should be made at least one week in advance, preferably 8 weeks. Jobs are prioritized in the order that they are received, with possible modification of this depending on instrument set-up and expediency considerations.  Contact Dr. Yan Luo (yluo4@ualberta.ca) to discuss your laser ablation ICP-MS project.
  6. A maximum of 3 days per week for internal users is permitted.
  7. Cancellations must be made at least 24 hours in advance of a reservation (by phone 780.492.8545 or e-mail yluo4@ualberta.ca), otherwise a charge (4-hour usage fee) may be incurred.
  8. Users are expected to report any problems with the ICP/laser instrumentation immediately to on-site staff (Yan Luo/Sarah Woodland).
  9. Damage caused to instruments due to user negligence is considered to be the responsibility of the user and costs incurred for any repairs will be charged to the user/supervisor.  
  10. Users should remove all of their personal samples (sample mounts, thin sections, etc.) once their analysis session is complete and leave the lab in a presentable state.