News

New ULS Equipment - 10X Genomics Chromium iX Single Cell Analysis System

The University Research Facility in Life Sciences (ULS) is pleased to announce that the 10X Genomics Chromium iX Single Cell Analysis System will soon be available at the facility. The system employs the "Gel Bead-in-emulsion" (GEM) technology to barcode target of interest from single cell for downstream preparation of short-read sequencer-compatible libraries, such as single cell gene expression, single cell ATAC (Assay for Transposase Accessible Chromatin), single cell immune profiling and also single cell multiome ATAC and gene expression. In addition, other key NGS instruments will also be available at the ULS in the near future. Please stay tune for the update of installation and training arrangement. Thank you very much for your attention.

New ULS Equipment - Abberior STED Super-resolution Microscope

The University Research Facility in Life Sciences (ULS) is pleased to announce that the Abberior Facility STED Super-resolution/Confocal Microscope is now available for booking.  The new system is equipped with such features as time-gated signal detection to enhance lateral resolution, an additional depletion light path to enhance axial resolution, adaptive illumination to reduce photodamage, as well as deformable mirror-based adaptive optics to minimise sample-induced aberrations.  These enable researchers to perform super-resolution imaging on live cells as well as tissue sections.   Please contact Dr Michael Yuen for enquiries on its applications and for arranging for a training.   Thank you for your attention.

ULS Equipment Demo - Nikon AX Confocal Microscope

The University Research Facility in Life Sciences (ULS) is co-organising an equipment demonstration with Nikon Instruments on their AX confocal microscope system.  The microscope is equipped with both galvano and resonant scanners for high-resolution and high-speed confocal imaging at up to 25 mm large field-of-view.   Three demonstration sessions will be held on 28th October (Friday) in Y401, Lee Shau Kee Building.  Online registration is required and can be made by 25th October (Tuesday).   Please contact Dr Michael Yuen if you have any queries.  Thank you very much for your attention.

Migration of ULS online booking system to URFMS (4)

ULS has kicked off the migration of the online booking system to University Research Facility Management System (URFMS, https://urfms.polyu.edu.hk/) which is developed and maintained by ITS. The initial stage of migration has been completed successfully in previous months. List of equipment in URFMS can be found in this link: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/uls/current-list-of-equipment-in-urfms/. The next phase of migration, which begins in the mid-September, includes the following equipment:   Malvern MicroCal PEAQ-ITC automated Ultrasensitive Isothermal Titration Calorimeter Automated Liquid Handling System (EVO100, EVO150 and EVO200) FUJIFILM VisualSonics Vevo LAZR Multi-modality Imaging Platform Perkin-Elmer IVIS Lumina Series III Pre-clinical In Vivo Aniaml Imaging System Perkin-Elmer IVIS Lumina Series III Pre-clinical In Vivo Aniaml Imaging System (nude mice) Roche LightCycler 480 II ThermoScientific Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader Invitrogen Countless II FL Automatic Counter   We have helped to transfer the user data (Equipment access) to the new system. Current users of the above equipment can now log in the system and prepare for the URFMS online account. Once completed simple registration procedures, online booking of the 8 equipment can then be made immediately for any date after 19th September 2022 (Monday). Attached the usage guideline for user and supervisor, respectively.    User Guide-ULS-July.pdf User Guide for Supervisor.pdf   Below are some highlights of the migration:  User needs to log in the system, agree the Terms and Conditions, add an emergence contact number and seek endorsement from supervisor through the system. Virtual ULS payment account is used for booking instead of a true research funding account, billing will be included in the current ULS monthly invoice. The virtual ULS payment account and invoice billing is only applicable to ULS system. Supervisor needs to approve user registration to the URFMS and agree the Terms and Conditions. Budget allocation and budget top-up is not needed. Supervisor can grant right to a team member to use the virtual ULS payment account but this is optional as this can be helped by ULS staff. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Ryan Chow at 34008057 or hoyin.chow@polyu.edu.hk.   Thank you for your attention.

ULS Newsletter (7th Issue)

The 7th issue of the ULS newsletter has been issued. Please click here to view it online.   The ULS newsletter aims at introducing the latest technologies and innovations in life science, promoting new and existing equipment managed by the ULS, as well as encouraging users and principal investigators to connect with us. We welcome readers to give us comments and suggestions, as we strive to make our contents timely, relevant and interesting.   Thank you very much for your support.

Migration of ULS online booking system to URFMS (3)

ULS has kicked off the migration of the online booking system to University Research Facility Management System (URFMS, https://urfms.polyu.edu.hk/) which is developed and maintained by ITS. The initial stage of migration, which includes Seahorse Analyser, SMZ1270i Fluorescence Stereomicroscope, Promethion Metabolic Cage System, Bruker SkyScan 1276 in vivo microCT scanner, Bio-Rad Bio-Plex 200 Suspension Array System, JASCO J-1500 Circular Dichroism Spectrophotometer and Agena Bioscience MassARRAY Analyzer 4 System, has been completed successfully in April and May 2022. The next phase of migration, which begins in the mid-June, includes the following equipment:   Nikon N-SIM/N-STORM/A1 Super-resolution/Confocal Microscope Zeiss Lightsheet 7 Selective Plane Illumination Microscope Imaris, arivis Vision4D and Zeiss ZEN Cytiva AKTA pure 25 M1 Sartorius BIOSTAT B-twin Fermenter Formulation Laboratory   We have helped to transfer the user data (Equipment access) to the new system. Current users of the above equipment can now log in the system and prepare for the URFMS online account. Once completed simple registration procedures, online booking of the 6 equipment can then be made immediately for any date after 20th June 2022 (Monday). Attached the usage guideline for user and supervisor, respectively.    User Guide-ULS.pdf User Guide for Supervisor.pdf   Below are some highlights of the migration:  User needs to log in the system, agree the Terms and Conditions, add an emergence contact number and seek endorsement from supervisor through the system. Virtual ULS payment account is used for booking instead of a true research funding account, billing will be included in the current ULS monthly invoice. Supervisor needs to approve user registration to the URFMS and agree the Terms and Conditions. Budget allocation and budget top-up is not needed. Supervisor can grant right to a team member to use the virtual ULS payment account but this is optional as this can be helped by ULS staff. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Ryan Chow at 34008057 or hoyin.chow@polyu.edu.hk.   Thank you for your attention. 

New ULS Equipment - Thermo Scientific SpeedVac SPD410DDA Integrated System

The University Research Facility in Life Sciences (ULS) is pleased to announce that the following equipment is now available for booking.   Thermo Scientific SpeedVac SPD410DDA Integrated System  SpeedVac SPD140DDA is a medium capacity vacuum concentrator used with a wide variety of solvents and offer resistance to TFA, DSMO and other aggressive solvents used in combinatorial chemistry applications.    Please refer to the ULS webpage for further details of the equipment, and contact Dr. Li Rachel (rachel.ws.li@polyu.edu.hk/Tel: 34008056) for any enquiries and for arranging for a training.

Migration of ULS online booking system to URFMS (2)

ULS has kicked off the migration of the online booking system to University Research Facility Management System  (URFMS, https://urfms.polyu.edu.hk/)which is developed and maintained by ITS. The first phase of the migration, which includes Seahorse Analyser and SMZ1270i Fluorescence Stereomicroscope, has been done successfully in April 2022. The next phase of migration, which begins in the end of May, includes the following equipment:   Promethion Metabolic Cage System Bruker SkyScan 1276 in vivo microCT scanner Bio-Rad Bio-Plex 200 Suspension Array System JASCO J-1500 Circular Dichroism Spectrophotometer Agena Bioscience MassARRAY Analyzer 4 System   We have helped to transfer the user data (Equipment access) to the new system. Current ULS users can log in the system from 25th May 2022 (Wednesday) and prepare for the online account. Once completed some simple procedures, online booking of the 5 equipment can then be made immediately for any date after 1st June 2022 (Wednesday). Attached the usage guideline for user and supervisor, respectively.    User Guide-ULS.pdf User Guide for Supervisor.pdf   Below are some highlights of the migration:  User needs to log in the system, agree the Terms and Conditions, add an emergence contact number and seek endorsement from supervisor through the system. Virtual ULS payment account is used for booking instead of a true research funding account, billing will be included in the current ULS monthly invoice. Supervisor needs to approve user registration to the URFMS and agree the Terms and Conditions. Budget allocation and budget top-up is not needed. Supervisor can grant right to a team member to use the virtual ULS payment account but this is optional as this can be helped by ULS staff. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Ryan Chow at 34008057 or hoyin.chow@polyu.edu.hk.   Thank you for your attention.

Relocation of ULS Office to Z217

Please be informed that the ULS office will be temporarily moved to Z217 with effect from 19th May 2022.  If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact our staff.   Thank you for your attention.

Resumption of equipment training

Please be informed that face-to-face equipment training by the ULS will be resumed from 25th April. The following precautionary measures will be enforced:   Our staff will have discretion on the maximum number of participants in each training session All personnel are strictly required to wear a face mask at all times (even when working alone) inside any ULS laboratories Hand sanitisers and ethanol sprays are available in ULS laboratories for sanitising your hands and disinfecting surfaces when necessary   The ULS will continue to monitor the situation and will notify users if there are updates on the arrangements. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact our staff.   Thank you for your attention.