Data Collection

How do I schedule microscope time?

All users are required to schedule time on the microscope with facility staff.

 

What happens during a single particle or tomography data collection session?

You will begin by clipping grids if you haven’t already. Facility staff will load your samples onto the microscope and perform the appropriate microscope alignments. You will collect low-resolution images of the entire grid, known as an atlas.  Then, you will use the atlases to search your grids for regions that are suitable for data collection. Once you have identified the regions of interest, microscope alignments are re-checked, atlases are re-collected, and automated data collection is set up. Plan for all of this to take one day. Automated data collection is usually queued by the end of the day and runs throughout the night.

 

How is my data stored?

Negative stain and single particle data are saved as .mrc and .jpg files. Tomography data are stored as .mrc files. Micro-ED data are stored as .smv files. All data is stored on Cryo-EM Facility servers for 30 days. Once your data collection session is complete, a Globus link will be shared with you and will be available for 7 days. Users should have a Globus connection on their workstation to transfer their data.