Lab Main Page
	Contact Us
	Electron Microprobe
	Image Gallery
	Lab Facilities
	Lab Personnel
	Miscellaneous FAQ
	Mission Statement
	Publications List
	Remote Access
	Research Topics
	Schedule & Fees
	Specimen FAQ
	Types of Analysis
	Uses in Industry
	Where is the Lab?
	X-ray & Lab Safety
	GEO 5353 Course

Questions?

Have questions about electron microprobe analysis? Want to know more about our facility? Send us an e-mail or visit our Contact Us page.

U of Minnesota Links

Geology and Geophysics    University Main Page    Parking Information    Campus Maps

Use & Assistance Fees
	Academic Use Fees Effective FY06/07 (1 July 2006)    Mon       Tue       Wed       Thu       Fri       Sat       Sun    Midnight to 6AM $10/hr $10/hr $10/hr $10/hr $10/hr $10/hr $10/hr 6AM to 6PM $40/hr* $40/hr* $40/hr* $40/hr* $40/hr* $10/hr $10/hr 6PM to Midnight $10/hr $10/hr $10/hr $10/hr $10/hr $10/hr $10/hr * The fee for a full weekday (24 hrs) is $400 for academic users (including assistance) The fees above apply to all academic users, including researchers from outside the University of Minnesota system. There are no "internal" or "external" academic rates. The fees above are for "instrument time" only.  Additional charges may be incurred ($40/hr) for "operator time" when extensive assistance is provided by the manager; however, the maximum charge per day will still be $400, which includes assistance. Instrument time charges begin at the time the microprobe was signed up for and ends when a user logs out.  Academic daytime rates are billed in half-hour increments.  Academic weekend and nighttime rates are billed in full-hour increments. Acceptance of academic rates also means acceptance of our policy on acknowledgement in publication, described here -- please familiarize yourself with this policy. Academic rates do not apply to professors, researchers, or students doing analytical work for a company. Under these circumstances, either (1) fees can be assessed at the commercial rate to the researcher or (2) the company can be billed directly. Due to prior payment difficulties with foreign institutions, academic users and clients from outside the United States must pay before any analtyical work is done. We must also ask for a minimum use fee of one day ($400) from overseas users and clients due to the costs of wire transfers, the additional paperwork required, and other factors. We are happy to work with researchers to fulfill budget or grant deadlines. Commercial Use Fees Effective FY06/07 (1 July 2006) Commercial "assisted" rate (instrument time + operator): $200/hr or $2000/day. Commercial rates are billed in quarter-hour (fifteen-minute) increments. We are happy to discuss cost estimates for analyses with potential customers. The rate above reflects "instrument time" but includes a reasonable amount of data processing, image processing, and report writing. Additional charges may be incurred ($80/hr) for extensive processing or report writing (companies will be consulted first). Occasionally companies have employees trained in using electron microprobes. For these companies with trained and very experienced users, there is a commercial "unassisted" rate available, reflecting intrument time only: $120/hr or $1200/day. Under certain circumstances we will train inexperienced commercial users to use our electron microprobe. We reserve the right, however, to not allow a particular user to operate the microprobe unsupervised. New customers only: we reserve the right either to (1) ask for a credit report for the company or (2) request payment based on an estimate before work is done.

Fees for Carbon Coats
	Carbon coats done by certified users (either microprobe use or not): $5.00/batch Carbon coats done by lab personnel (either microprobe use or not): $15.00/batch Users interested in certification on the lab's new JEOL JEE-420 Vacuum Evaporator should contact the lab manager.  Users with an account at the University of Minnesota's Characterization Facility can have their samples coated by their staff for a charge of $14/batch: leave samples in Room 65 in the Characterization Facility at least 24 hours before your scheduled session, and ask the staff to coat the samples with a carbon layer about 150 Angstroms thick.

Scheduling Instrument Time
	A schedule for one or two weeks in advance is posted in the laboratory, and the lab manager has a schedule book for weeks not yet posted.  One can either stop by the laboratory to sign up for time or contact the lab manager via e-mail or phone.  It is recommended that users contact the lab manager two or more weeks in advance to request a specific time, otherwise the instrument might already be booked.  In addition, students enrolled in Geo 5353 use the instrument one day a week during the Spring semester. No evening or weekend assistance is available.  Those new users who wish to use the microprobe during evenings or weekends must first demonstrate competence with the instrument during a time when lab assistance is available.  The lab manager decides when new users are ready to use the instrument on their own.  New users, both internal and external, should not sign up for evenings or weekends without consulting the lab manager first.

Academic Users - Cancellation, Late, and No-Show Policies
	It is the responsibility of users to keep scheduled sessions. Late users and no-shows diminish the ability of the Electron Microprobe Lab to provide timely support for other academic users and industry clients. Consequently, the lab has instituted policies regarding unkept sessions. If a user needs to cancel a schedule session, it should be done as soon as possible, preferably at least one full day in advance. In cases of extraordinary circumstances which do not allow one-day advance notice, one must still cancel the session as soon as possible. If a user fails to cancel a scheduled session and is a no-show, that user will still be assessed fees for the instrument time for which he or she signed up (as per our Academic Use Fee policies above). Furthermore, scheduling two unkept sessions in a row or three unkept sessions in six months will result in a temporary scheduling hold for that user. Unkept sessions will also include users who sign up for large blocks of time (e.g., all Saturday) but use only a small fraction of that time (e.g., 2 hours) -- such users will be charged for the full scheduled time. For weekend and evening sessions, a user is allowed one missed session without being charged. This "one-pass" policy does not apply to daytime sessions.

Content published on this Web Site is copyright the University of Minnesota Regents, the Electron Microprobe Laboratory, and/or the laboratory's users. Some content (particularly analyses and images of specimens) represents the intellectual property of laboratory users. Reproduction or distribution without permission is prohibited. Site content is available for educational and informational uses only, provided that the content is unmodified and that permission is granted by the author and/or the laboratory manager.
Geoarchaeology Archaeological Geology Geoarchaeology Archaeological Geology Obsidian Provenancing Obsidian Sourcing Obsidian Sourcing Obsidian Provenancing Electron Microprobe Analysis in Archaeology Electron Probe Microanalysis in Archaeology Electron Microprobe Analysis in Archaeology Electron Probe Microanalysis in Archaeology Petroarchaeology Petrography in Archaeology Petroarchaeology Petrography in Archaeology