Duke University and School of Medicine core facilities are now using a new management software called iLab. Reservations for the microscopes and analysis workstations in the LMCF are now made through the institutional iLab platform. iLab provides a centrally supported, enterprise wide, efficient, booking to billing system to support operation of Shared Resources.
How can I start using the iLab system?
Go to the Duke iLab website and login with your Duke login credentials: https://duke.ilab.agilent.com/account/login
- Login at the Duke iLab website
- Complete the required information (name, PI/Group, email, and phone number) (please use your Duke email address)
- Click "Register" to complete the process
- Once registration is complete, the PI/lab manager will receive an email to approve the request. The individual will receive a welcome email with instructions on how to get started.
- Once an individual is added as a lab member in iLab, they can find the core (in this case, the LMCF) in the list under the Core Facilities link in the navigation panel on the left. After clicking the Core name, they'll be taken to the View My Requests tab, where they can navigate to the other available tabs.
Previously trained researchers who want to make a reservation
If you have logged into iLab and found the calendar for the microscope that you have been trained to use, try to make a reservation by clicking and dragging with your computer mouse or input tool to make a time segment in the calendar. A new window will open in which you can adjust your time and see your fund code options, if you are linked to a fund code in iLab.
If you are not linked to a fund code in iLab, you will not be able to make a reservation. There will be a message on the reservation page which says "You do not have any access to fund codes. To resolve this, please contact your PI or financial manager of your lab." And this is what you should do. Please note, if you were linked to a fund code and were using the LMCF microscopes in early September 2026 or before, your status in our previous reservation system makes it easier to get set up in iLab, but it is not at all connected. You will need to be linked to a fund code in iLab to use LMCF microscopes and image analysis workstations. Thank you.
Getting access to use a fund code for an LMCF reservation needs to be performed in iLab by your PI, grants manager, or financial manager (such as for your department) or a person that is delegated to have access in iLab. This cannot be done by LMCF staff because we are not authorized to do so. There is useful information for grant managers and PIs in here and here. If you need help with this process, please email: researchresources@duke.edu.
I don't seem to be able to reserve what I should be able to reserve.
If you were previously trained on a system you should be authorized to reserve and use the same microscope in iLab. When making a reservation, you see this message: "You do not have access to any Fund Codes. To resolve this problem, please contact the PI or financial manager of your lab." Please do what the message says. But if it looks like you are not certified on an instrument and should be, please ask LMCF staff for help. There were several thousand records need to be moved over to the new iLab system so it is quite possible a few escaped.
I want to be added to the system and start using LMCF.
If you have never used LMCF resources before and want to start, please begin with our new user request training form. We will help you setup everything required as part of the training.
How to make and modify a reservation?
There are a good amount of tutorials on iLab website like those.
Some microscopes have time limits for fixed samples.
LMCF automatically and instantly approves all valid reservations. For some systems, you need to add 'Event Notes' when making a reservation (e.g. whether or not you need to use the fluorescent light on the Zeiss Axio Imager).
You can freely edit a reservation up to the start time. We seriously ask you to avoid last minute cancellations when possible as these often mean the expensive machines sit unused. If you have to cancel your reservations late (within 2 hours for laser scanning confocal microscopes (LSM) or 1 hour for all other systems), you are responsible for shutting down the system if nobody else has a reservation for it in the next 2 hours for LSM or 1 hour for other microscopes.
Please be aware, if you are used to the in the previous CoreResearch@Duke to stop your microscope and workstation sessions before the scheduled ending time, the way LMCF is implementing iLab does not allow adjustment of your reservation time after the start time has passed. You can't make any changes to your reservation (especially cut it shorter) when the starting time passes. Please sign up the microscope and LMCF workstations as accurately as possible. If you would like to, you may enter many short reservations back-to-back to allow control over small portions of time.
Please report any problems with the microscopes here:
Report a Problem That alerts all LMCF staff so we can fix any problems as soon as possible.
Feedback
If you have specific issues or want to provide feedback for the iLab system, please contact Office of Research Resources.