Register Samples

For remote access experiments using pre-mounted samples for loading by the robot, all samples must be identified using ISPyB.

ISPyB can be found at https://ispyb.diamond.ac.uk (or links to it are accessible from both the internal and external Diamond websites) and accessed using your FedID and password.

ISPyB can be accessed from anywhere, on any computer, tablet or mobile device and does not need to be operated from within "Diamond".  You will need to be registered on any visit you wish to be able to access – it doesn’t matter if you are registered as attending site or as a remote user.

ISPyB is the database where all of the information about your samples is stored and features include:

• Sample identification – i.e., sample type and location within a puck
• Puck location within the robot Dewar
• Dewar shipping and tracking (including at Diamond)
• Monitoring of data collections
• Ability to reprocess data

Note that it is also possible to create shipments with pucks and samples, without actually needing to courier the Dewar to Diamond. Therefore, it is possible to set up pucks to use with the robot whilst on site during an active visit. It is also possible to create virtual pucks of samples – this may be useful as crystal information, such as space group and unit cell, can be added in ISPyB which is then used by the auto processing. The set-up process in ISPyB is the same.

In order for samples to be available in ISPyB for allocation to a shipment, they MUST be registered and graded in the UAS first.

ISPyB only "sees" samples which have the acronym field in the UAS populated, so make sure a unique name for each group of samples is added here.

Please note, this is not a mandatory field so you will not be prompted to complete this for submission of the sample. Please remember to do this at the start as otherwise the samples will need to be checked out, have this information added, and then resubmitted for grading causing delays.

ISPyB sample collections are only run periodically through the day (every 3 hours during office hours) so it could be up to a day from the safety rating coming through before the samples appear in ISPyB.  Therefore, ensure the ERA is submitted as soon as possible.

Once you have received the ERA grading from the Health and Safety team, start checking to see if the samples have been picked up in ISPyB.  To view the list of available components, navigate to the Proteins page from the visit menu:

Samples which have been graded and successfully pulled into ISPyB will have a colour-coded risk rating – only samples graded low (green) or medium (yellow) risk on the ERA will be collected by ISPyB and can be added to shipments.

If some, or all, of your samples are not in the list 24 hours after receiving the safety rating from the Diamond Health and Safety team, and you are sure all samples were given an acronym in the UAS, please inform your local contact as soon as possible to resolve any issues.

DO NOT try to make samples manually in ISPyB from the Proteins/Components page – these are not valid samples and can not used to populate pucks.