FAQs
Am I required to acknowledge MCN?
Yes, all users are required to acknowledge MCN in any academic publications arising from the use of MCN subsidised facility time. Please use the following in the acknowledgement section of any papers: “This work was performed in part at the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication (MCN) in the Victorian Node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF)”
How do I register to be an MCN user?
For new clients, the first step to gaining access to MCN is to complete a project inquiry form and submit it to mcn-enquiries@nanomelbourne.com which should take between 10 to 15 minutes. This helps MCN staff prepare for a free-of-charge, one hour consultation to assess your project and devise a training plan. Once a training plan is in place, new users should attend induction and then schedule training with MCN’s process engineers on the relevant tools. More information can be found on the access page or in the access and pricing policy.
What is your pricing structure?
MCN’s pricing structure divides instruments into five categories - flagship, tier 1, tier 2, tier 3, and tier 4. These are then priced according to whether you are a publicly funded researcher in Australia or an industry client. Various discounts apply to users who choose to set up prepaid accounts. More information and specific details can be found in the access and pricing policy.
Does your publicly funded researcher rate apply to overseas academics?
No, the publicly funded researched rate only applies to Australian academics. Users from academic institutions outside of Australia will be subject to the industry rate.
Are undergraduate students able to work at the MCN?
Undergraduate students are only able to access the facility when accompanied by a trained and authorised user providing appropriate supervision. Academic supervisors of undergraduate students are able to delegate the supervision of training to an MCN staff member, however, the academic supervisor retains the primary responsibility for ensuring that the student has received appropriate training and is sufficiently competent to undertake the task.
More information can be found in the undergraduate student policy on the policies page.
Do I have to perform the work myself or am I able to engage an MCN staff member to perform it for me?
MCN offers users the option of being trained to perform the work themselves or engaging an MCN staff member to perform it. Users may choose to do this for jobs that require the expert hand of our staff or alternatively for simple jobs that would be more efficiently accomplished by a staff member. Staff time is charged at either academic or industry rates, which is additional to the charges for instrument usage (policy). If you have a job you think would benefit from the expertise of our staff, we’d love you to contact us.
What are the training opportunities for users at MCN?
MCN holds regular inductions every fortnight and occasionally hosts specialised training events such as biosafety, HF acid training and first aid training.
We also regularly hosts seminars and informational sessions with instrument vendors which all users are invited to attend. These are listed on both our training and events pages and are usually mailed to our database which you can subscribe to here.
What are the training requirements for users who wish to work after hours?
General access to all laboratory and cleanroom environments is allowed for the conduct of all low-risk procedures, following approval by any MCN process engineer. An email request should be sent to the relevant process engineer for consideration with endorsement by your supervisor and a list of activities to be undertaken. Upon review and approval, your name will be recorded on a register of authorised personnel for out-of-hours access.
Access to major equipment and high risk procedures may also be permitted, following a more in-depth review process.
More information can be found in the out-of-hours policy.
What inductions do I need to do to become an MCN user?
MCN’s general induction is compulsory for all users of the centre and refresher courses must be completed every 12 months. Depending on the areas of MCN you will be working in, other inductions may be required. Check the training requirements table on the training and inductions page for more information.
When do inductions run?
Each induction is run on the first and third Monday of every month;
For more information on any of these or other training events, visit the training and inductions page.
Do I need to RSVP for the inductions?
RSVPs are not required for the inductions unless you are planning on bringing a large group of more than 15 people. Special training events may require RSVPs but this will be specified in the event information on the training and inductions page.
I don’t remember my password for ACLS. How do I retrieve it?
If you have forgotten your password for ACLS, please email your details to mcn-enquiries@nanomelbourne.com and a staff member will contact you to help you reset your password.
