User Guide for the DFG Core Facility

High-pressure Laboratories at Bayerisches Geoinstitut (BGI)

1. General regulations for use of the facility

  1. The rules specified in these guidelines apply to all users of the DFG core facility.
  2. Scientific work has to be carried out in accordance with the DFG rules of good scientific practice.
  3. The general safety rules of Bayerisches Geoinstitut as well as the radiation protection and laser safety rules, where applicable, have to be obeyed. Breach of safety rules will result in further access to the facility being denied.
  4. Access to the facility is given with the expectation that scientific results will be published in international scientific journals. If scientists of Bayerisches Geoinstitut have made significant scientific contributions to a study, they should usually be coauthors. The support provided by the DFG Core Facility should always be acknowledged.
  5. Users are responsible for the long-time storage of samples and raw data.
  6. Users must obtain themselves a health insurance against the consequences of any accident in the laboratory.
  7. The data obtained using the BGI facilities should be disclosed to staff scientist of BGI. The staff scientists will keep these data confidential until they are published by the user. The data may only be used for maintaining and developing the BGI laboratories.

2. Available equipment

All operational high-pressure equipment available at Bayerisches Geoinstitut is accessible through the DFG core facility. A list is available on the facility website. All available analytical equipment may also be used, if it is required for evaluating a high-pressure experiment. Purely analytical studies (not connected to high-pressure experimentation) will not be supported by the facility.

3. Modes of operation

There are two modes of operation of the facility:

  1. Users with approved DFG grants may pay for the costs of experiments. A price list is available on the web site of the facility. Prices may be adjusted from time to time according to changes in the costs of raw materials, etc. The relevant price list is the one valid on the day when a proposal for the use of the facility is approved.
  2. Users who declare that they do not have DFG funding may carry out exploratory experiments free of charge. This possibility is also available for users from outside of Germany. In this kind of user mode, it is expected that only a small number of experiments is being carried out in each project.

Use of analytical facilities in conjunction with a high-pressure experiment is always free of charge.

4. Access to the facility

  1. To obtain access to the facility, an application form available on the facility website has to be filled out and sent by email to Bayerisches.Geoinstitut(at)uni-bayreuth.de. Deadlines of application are March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31 each year.
  2. Applications are screened by a selection panel including international experts. The names of the panel members will be placed on the facility website. The decision is made within one month after the above dead lines of application. In urgent cases, decisions can also be made between regular panel meeting dates.
  3. General selection criteria for applications will be scientific merit and technical feasibility. Requests by users who are willingly to pay for the experiments from approved DFG grants will usually be fulfilled, unless the instrument is overbooked or the experiments appear not feasible or pose a safety risk.
  4. Once the use of the facility is approved by the selection panel, users will be informed by email and will be referred to a staff scientist for further discussion of experimental details.
  5. Experiments will be scheduled by the manager of the Core Facility. Users with approved DFG grants will receive high priority.
  6. The use of the facility may not exceed the number of experiment-days specified in the approval letter.

5. Support for users

  1. Staff scientists of Bayerisches Geoinstitut will assist users in planning, conducting and interpreting experiments. Usually, one staff scientist will be officially assigned to one user project. A list of contact persons for various instruments is available on the facility website.
  2. Guest offices with computers and internet access will be made available to the users of the core facility.
  3. Upon request, the secretarial staff of Bayerisches Geoinstitut will book hotel rooms for visitors and provide further logistic support.
  4. For users without DFG funding, a contribution to travel costs and costs of subsidence in Bayreuth will be made. The details will be specified upon approval of a proposal.

6. Publication

  1. User names and periods of accepted projects will be published in the BGI annual report, which is available through the web site.
  2. Project titles will be made available to the funding agency (DFG). They may be made available to the public on the BGI website, unless the user requests confidentiality.

Bayreuth, May 31, 2013

Hans Keppler
Coordinator of the Core Facility