My apologies for a reply that was sent to the entire list (and another one
to follow I'm afraid....) rather than to an individual.  I clicked the
'reply' button rather than the 'reply to all' but the message was
nevertheless sent to everyone.  Again, my apologies.

Ray

-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of ray hester
Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2000 9:49 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: re confocal charging.


Liz,

We have had an ACAS 570 for the past ten years and in a few months will be
replacing it with a Leica TCS SP2.

Our usage has gradually diminished over the years (because of the relatively
slow speed of the stage-scanning ACAS , its single laser, and outdated
software) as investigators invested in CCD cameras and did much of their
work on their own fluorescence scopes.  With the acquisition of the new TCS
we expect usage of this aspect of our core lab (we also have a FACSVantage,
a PTI, and a Cytosensor) to increase  substantially.

We (there's also a mass spec core lab and biopolymer core lab adjacent to
mine)are also fortunate in that the med school here doesn't expect us to pay
our way - only to try and attract as many users as possible.  My lab has
done its share in  other ways however having bought four major instruments
during the past dozen or so years with outside funding that totals (with the
acquisition of our TCS) over $1,000,000.

Finally, to your other point.  We charge $10/hr for use of the ACAS and
nothing for training or any other aspects of the lab.

Ray

-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Liz Nickless
Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2000 9:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: re confocal charging.


Hello to everyone,

We have a Confocal Facility within our University that was jointly setup by
various Research Institutes within our region including our own University.
We are under increasing pressure to enlarge our revenue to the point of
becoming fully user pays, therefore fully funding our Facility. At the
moment we do very well and have the ability so far to cover all aspects of
maintenance and computer and software upgrades and ongoing development in
equipment. The only expense we do not cover is the salary portion of the
support staff for the facility. This is paid for by the University.

I would very much appreciate some feedback from managers of other facilities
or even users on pricing structures for your facility ie. how much and for
what eg.scanning time, image analysis, training etc.
I would also be interested in amounts of usage ie. is your unit used 100% of
the time or more or less and how many staff support your facility. If there
are any Confocal facilities out there that fully fund themselves or not??

This information would be very useful to us to compare our setup to see if
we have got the equation right or not.

Any information would be much appreciated.


Thankyou in advance

Liz Nickless
Confocal Microscope Facility
Massey University
New Zealand