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Industrial Liaison Group:
Tel: +44 (0) 1235 778797
E-mail: industry@diamond.ac.uk
In order to use Diamond for MX experiments, industrial clients first need to have a contract agreement in place with Diamond. Please contact the Industrial Liaison Office at industry@diamond.ac.uk and let us know which services you are interested in. Once the contract is in place, you can choose your access route and request beamtime.
Some quick links are available to the relevant information below:
There are three types of beamtime access routes available. Click on the tabs for further details:
Unattended data collection: UDC is a well-established fast and flexible automated data collection service. This route is the most efficient and cost-effective option for all standard MX experiments using 'reasonable-quality' macromolecular crystals. You simply select the most suitable experiment type and provide basic data collection parameters when registering your samples. The UDC pipeline will use an X-ray beam to align the crystals and collect high-quality data from your samples.
Remote interactive data collection: For more challenging non-standard MX experiments (for example, when testing new crystals where diffraction quality is unknown, where there may be difficult phasing problems, or if there are specific microfocus beam requirements) an interactive remote access visit may be more appropriate. During this time, you will be able to collect data yourself.
Supported mail-in service: This option enables the Industrial Liaison MX team to collect the data on your behalf. You simply provide the samples, and we will design the experiment according to your needs. This route of access is reserved for challenging projects which would benefit from the expertise of our experienced team members, for example, experimental phasing.
There are two types of beamtime requests available. Click on the tabs for further details:
This option is the most suitable way of booking beamtime if you are expecting smaller sample volume/throughput or if you are not sure when you will have your samples ready for data collection.
Please contact the Industrial Liaison MX Team as soon as possible before your samples are ready. You will need to provide the following information:
Beamtime will be scheduled, or data collected, at the first opportunity available, subject to beamline availability. We will get back to you upon your request to confirm what is feasible.
If you would like to request larger beamtime slots, you are expecting larger sample volumes or require frequent access, you can reserve slots in specific weeks within a 6-month allocation period (April-September or October-March).
Please contact the Industrial Liaison MX Team and provide the following information:
We will get back to you with what is feasible, and beamtime will be awarded at the first opportunity, subject to availability.
NB: A 2-week cancellation policy applies for cancellation or reduction of these bookings.
For both types of beamtime requests:
One week ahead of the week in which your slot is allocated, you will need to confirm the final number of pucks and the date on which your samples will arrive at Diamond. The remote or mail-in visits for the upcoming week will be created on the Friday of the week before and only samples that are on-site at this time will be considered.
Where possible, we will try to accommodate your requested times as part of the scheduling process. Please contact us immediately if there are any issues with your allocated time. Please note, we have limited opportunities to adjust the schedule and we may need to defer you to a later slot if the time provided is not suitable.
Upon arrival at Diamond, samples sent for UDC will be queued, and data automatically collected at the nearest opportunity; typical turnaround times are up to one week (or a maximum of two weeks during busy periods). Visits for each UDC session will be created only when the pucks are transferred onto the beamline sample changer. You will receive an automatic notification when your data has been collected and your dewar is ready for return shipment.
Once you have chosen your access route and requested beamtime, there are a number of mandatory steps to complete before and after your MX experiments at Diamond:
New users need to contact the Diamond User Office to request access to the User Administration System (UAS). After registration you will be issued with a Fed ID and password for access to all Diamond IT systems.
Everyone who wants access to Diamond, on-site or remotely, needs to be registered in the User Administration System (UAS). Each user only needs to register once. If you have used Diamond previously but since changed your affiliation (place of work), you will need to register again.
Please email the Diamond User Office (useroffice@diamond.ac.uk) to register a new user in the UAS. You will need to provide the following details:
Following registration, you will be issued with a Fed ID and password. Make sure you keep a note of these as you will need them to access all IT systems at Diamond.
To enter any Diamond facility, you need to have completed an online safety introduction and test.
You can log in to the UAS (http://uas.diamond.ac.uk) using your Fed ID and password.
Under the “Home” tab there is a box entitled “Diamond Safety Test”. You will need to click on this button to watch a safety video. You will then need to follow the links to complete an online test. Only once you have passed the safety test will you be able to participate in on-site experiments at Diamond.
This is a requirement for on-site visits only.
Registered users need to be added as investigators to a new proposal in the UAS. Experimental risk assessments (ERAs) for samples need to be submitted and validated before shipping them to Diamond.
When an experimental session (visit) has been created, investigators and validated sample ERAs need to be added to the session in the UAS.
Prepare and mount samples using Diamond compatible pins and containers (pucks)
Samples sent for cryo experiments at Diamond must be mounted on SPINE standard pins placed in Unipucks and shipped in a Shelved Puck Shipping Cane, or a supported crystallisation plate type for in-situ experiments. This is to ensure compatibility with the sample changers on Diamond MX beamlines. Samples in other types of pins, pucks or crystallisation plates cannot be used for data collection.
If you have special requirements for sample holders or shipping containers, please discuss these with the Industrial Liaison MX Team before shipping.
All shipment and sample information needs to be added in ISPyB before
shipping your samples to Diamond.
Diamond uses the Information System for Protein Crystallography Beamlines (ISPyB) to manage sample information, experimental data, and shipments. You can log in to ISPyB (https://ispyb.diamond.ac.uk/) using your Fed ID and password.
An alternative to manually creating shipments and adding sample information is to assemble all the information in a csv file and use a Diamond script to upload the data to ISPyB. This is particularly useful if you are shipping a lot of samples and want to save on the time it would take to manually add these in ISPyB.
Print your Diamond shipment labels, attach these to your dewars and shipment containers,
and arrange the shipment with your courier.
Please note that all shipment and sample information must be added into ISPyB before shipping samples to Diamond. This is to ensure that samples without validated ERAs are not delivered to Diamond, since handling these would be in breach of our safety protocols. Dewars delivered to Diamond with no sample information will not be handled until the information is complete.
Please note that all samples must be shipped to site by a courier service. We cannot accept samples delivered by users in person. When arranging the shipment, please bear in mind that only samples for remote/mail-in visits which arrive by the end of Thursday/Friday morning at the latest will be considered for inclusion in the schedule for the following week. Diamond Goods Handling is open Monday to Thursday 8am - 4pm, and Friday 8am - 3pm, to receive shipments.
To ensure long-term data storage, it is your responsibility to back up experimental data after your session.
Depending on the proposal type, your data will be stored in the Diamond file system for a limited amount of time. It is therefore important that you back up your experimental data after your session. The recommended way to back up data is by remote download from the Diamond file system.
Further information
In special circumstances, when a remote backup is not possible (e.g. due to limitations in remote access to Diamond file systems) you can request a backup on a hard drive. Diamond does not recommend the use of hard drives for this purpose as we do not consider them as providing an appropriate level of security for your data. However, if you wish to choose this option, you must inform the Industrial Liaison MX Team in advance and provide a hard drive with sufficient free space in your shipment. The hard drive must be clearly labelled and also registered as an item in your shipment in ISPyB.
After your session, you will need to arrange for the return shipment of your samples with your courier and submit a despatch form to Diamond Goods Handling.
When your experiment is finished, and your dewar has been returned to our storage system, you will receive an automated email notification.
You will then be able to arrange the return shipment of samples with your courier. When the shipment pick-up has been scheduled, you will also need to submit a Dewar despatch form to inform Diamond Goods Handling when they should prepare your dewar for despatch. The despatch form can be accessed through the shipment page in ISPyB or through a link in the email notification.
Further information
Please do not arrange the return shipment or submit the despatch form before you are notified that your dewar is back in the storage system.
If your courier is either Fedex or DHL, and you want Diamond Goods Handling to schedule the pick-up with your courier you can indicate this in the comments field of the dewar despatch form. All necessary documents for the return shipments need to be included, and you need to provide your courier account number in the form.
Diamond Goods Handling is open to despatch shipments Monday to Thursday 8am - 4pm and Friday 8am- 3pm.
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