Fees

• The charges apply for the time you use the system - but please try to fairly and accurately reserve time in the calendar, and do not book excessive time. 
• It is important to cancel your reservation immediately, if you don't need the time (we ask you to do so at least 24 hours in advance, if possible) - we don't want time wasted on the busy, expensive machines.
• Please realize that if you cancel very close to your reservation start time, somebody might leave the system on for you. It is your responsibility to go check the system to make sure it gets turned if the timing and other reservations on the system require.
• These fees apply however you use the system (ie if you have booked the system you pay the fee for your use even if you are just moving data, checking your cells etc).
• If you don't use your reservation, the charge is made for the entire booking as no modification to the actual used time is made.

Funding and Value to the Research Community

The LMCF recovers some of the direct operation costs through user fees. Our fees for using the microscopes are heavily subsidized by generous funding support from the Office of the Provost, the Duke School of Medicine, the Duke Cancer Institute, the National Institutes of Health and the North Carolina Biotechnology. We hope you find the fees for using the microscopes reasonable considering what microscopy offers and the substantial cost in acquiring and running microscopy hardware. Please bear in mind:

• For a few dollars you can use instrumentation that costs several hundred thousand dollars
• Most of the costs of the microscope are paid for by core funding, users actually pay for less than 50% of the real cost of running the microscopes and none of the cost of acquiring them
• For the price of buying your own confocal you could use the LMCF microscopes for 40 hours per month for more than 50 years, plus you don't have to do maintenance and repairs.

Funding Acknowledgement