STARTING AN EXTERNAL RESEARCH PROJECT
(Any user not affiliated with Penn State University)
Make Initial Contact
Using our Online Remote Work Request Form, submit as much detail as possible about your proposed project. Our Remote Technical Liaison will contact you to discuss your project needs and to answer your technical questions. You may be referred to other members of the technical staff who may be best suited to address your specific research needs.
Determine if you will be an On-Site User or if you will use Remote Services
Remote service is defined as technical process steps performed by our engineering staff on your behalf.
Complete the appropriate paperwork
Click on document titles to open.
This form should be signed by the appropriate financial officer at your institution and the primary technical researcher. The ARSO is an agreement, detailing legal issues associated with the use of the Nanofabrication Facility. It covers typical confidentiality issues. (Be sure to complete the Not to Exceed Cost and Start/End Dates).
This form details additional legal and safety issues and should be completed ONLY if your organization’s research user(s) choose(s) to enter the facility to do research on-site. On-site users are required to attend facility safety training and individual equipment training.
To be completed by each additional user on the project.
Send paperwork via email Leeanna Horner
or fax: 814-863-2830
On-Site Users only – Attend Safety Training and Lab Orientation
Safety Training takes place every Tuesday from 9 am to 1 pm in 186 MRI Building.
You are required to either view the training slides OR the training video on Social and Ethical Issues in Nanotechnology. You will be asked to verify that you completed this first step to Safety Training and Orientation.
On-Site Users only –Attend Individual Equipment Training
Trainees must attend a minimum of three successful training sessions for each piece of equipment. For most, all three sessions will take place within a 2-3 week period.
For On-Site Users traveling from out of the area, we will do our best, within reason, to fit as much training into a visit as possible as long as it does not compromise the effectiveness of the training.
Special note on making travel arrangements and scheduling trainings
Most equipment operates under a tool reservation system. Some tools have a waiting period from several days to two weeks before an opening can be secured. When planning travel to the facility, please work with the staff and administration well in advance to properly plan out training and tool usage. Once you receive safety training and lab orientation, you will have the ability to view and reserve tool time for yourself.
Please contact the NNIN at Penn State if you have any questions or concerns or to schedule training.
NOTE - Users should be aware of the following important items:
The Nanofab does not warrant or guarantee any results from a given project. The user and user institution is completely responsible for the outcome of their project as well as for payment for all work performed on their project. Any work done by the Nanofab staff in a support capacity or a remote access program is on a best effort basis.
The user and user institution will not disclose any proprietary or confidential information to the Nanofab staff, unless a prior non-disclosure or confidential agreement has been established between the user’s institution and the Nanofab.
A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT NNIN REQUIREMENTS:
Users/Organizations conducting research enabled through the use of the PSU NNIN site will be requested to submit non-proprietary information, such as:
- Publications list, formatted as follows: [author, title, journal, volume, page, and year]
- A single slide (research nugget) detailing the non-proprietary research performed within the facilities
These submissions may be used publicly in presentations and other materials to illustrate the range of research topics occurring at PSU.
