Progress 09/15/23 to 09/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience was members of the UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab research/teaching communities. Thus far there was only one user of the instrument, from the Integrative Biology department. For details on the reasons for the lower use rate, please see a latter section. Changes/Problems:There have been a few major challenges that have shifted our plans. First, the purchase/setup of the instrument was delayed until ~April 2024 due to purchasing/supply chain issues. As such we have had limited initial use. We are actually still waiting for one more component to be shipped from the manufacturer, although the majority of the system is now ready to use. Second, there has been less use than hoped, due to (1) limited advertisement, and also (2) high recharge rates mandated by our campus after their internal review process. These rates were set toset to $1500/week, $600 for two days (one of which may account for training) and $300/day for experienced/trained users. We are concerned that these rates will be prohibitively high for any users (i.e. more total revenue might be obtained at a lower hourly price because of greater demand) but currently have no power to change them. We are convening our oversight committee in the autumn to make a plan. There has also been less staff capacity than expected in the GIF facility than expected. We do not currently have an online booking system or a demographics report to share, but hope to have both set up for the coming year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As noted above, a resource folder and a half-day training were provided to users. One faculty group has already used the instrument for research; the lead user was an undergraduate student exploring potential thesis work. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?This is a major gap. We do not yet have a public listing for the instrument and are waiting for GIF staff and higher administrative staff to make such a page available online. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will complete the public listing of the instrument to make it searchable by campus and external users. We will also advertise the instrument via various campus mailing lists, and will conduct another in-person training. Any uses will be tracked per the grant narrative to assess the demographics/purposes of users. We will also convene the oversight committee to make broader decisions about how to market/price the instrument (see problems/changes section).

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The instrument was acquired from the manufacturer in several steps during spring 2024. Purchasing was delayed by some internal university processes around capital equipment, and then further delayed by the vendor as several components were out of stock. A technician was trained on appropriate check in/out/maintenance procedures by the manufacturer in a multi-hour video call. The instrument now resides in secure storage at the GIF facility. A resource folder of protocols and best practices for the instrument was also curated and made publicly available. A half-day training was provided to ~10 interested campus users, based on content provided by the manufacturer. A recharge rate was set by campus. A facultyoversight committee was formed.

Publications