Microscopy and Image Analysis Facility

Terms and conditions of use apply to the SBMS Histology, Imaging and Analytical core research facilities.

View terms and conditions of use

Automated fluorescent microscopes

Slide scanners

Confocal microscopes

Analysis workstations and software

Dr Shaun Walters – Research Facility Manager

Shaun acquired his PhD from New York University Sackler Institute in Microbiology and Immunology.  After finishing his degree he did a postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell University Medical School and was an affiliated academic at Rockefeller University.  In 2009 he moved to Sydney to fulfill the role of senior research fellow at the Centenary Institute, University of Sydney.  During these postdoctoral positions, his access and training in a vast array of advanced research equipment and analytical tools lay seed to his desire to manage a core research laboratory.  Having joined SBMS in 2013 he has contributed in the creation and growth of the present day Core Research Facility.

Dr David Knight - Senior Scientific Officer

David obtained his PhD in Neurophysiology and Pharmacology at the University of Queensland in 2002. He studied the regulation of neurotransmitter release with Nick Lavidis and Peter Noakes. He then did a postdoctoral fellowship at SickKids Hospital in Toronto Canada, with Gabrielle Boulianne, looking at synaptic function and behaviour in fruit flies.  During this time, David honed his skills as an electrophysiologist, while gaining experience with a range of genetic and molecular analysis tools. David moved back to Australia in 2015 to work as a Senior Scientific Officer at QUT, supporting undergraduate teaching in physiology, anatomy and medical imaging.

Dr Lili Huang – Research Technical Officer

Lili obtained her PhD from The University of Queensland in endocrinology and metabolism in 2014.  She then trained as a postdoctoral research fellow under the supervision of Professor Chen Chen in the School of Biomedical Sciences.  During her PhD and postdoctoral training, Lili gained advanced skills in analytical and imaging methods by which she developed landmark methodologies for the assessment of patterned hormonal profiles in small rodents and mapped the neuronal circuitry mechanism that integrates growth hormone secretion to food intake. Lili’s current position allows her to engage with many different research projects and provide technical support to students and researchers.

How do I gain swipe card access to the Imaging Facility?

Entry to the Imaging facility is organised by staff following completion of both the SBMS Building induction, a local facility induction and training on at least one instrument.

For SBMS Building inductions please contact:

• Robyn Oram: r.oram@uq.edu.au

Local facility inductions are NOT provided independently of equipment training. Facility users will be given a local facility induction as part of their first equipment training. Refer to the link below for more information on equipment training. For more information, please contact sbmscorefacilities@uq.edu.au.

Can I bring other people into the Imaging facility?

Visitors need to check in with Facility staff and undergo a local induction before entering the Facility.

What is PPMS/RIMS?

PPMS/RIMS is the online booking system used to manage all trainings and equipment bookings. All users of the facility will need to sign into PPMS/RIMS to request training and book equipment. Access RIMS here. UQ staff and students can log in using your UQ credentials. External users will need to create a RIMS account. Read more on logging into RIMS.

How do I get trained on equipment in the facility?

After you have logged into PPMS/RIMS, you can then request trainings via the ‘Request’ tab. Please submit a separate training request for each piece of equipment (only one training request is needed per piece of equipment). Training is run fortnightly, and the roster is available on PPMS/RIMS. Once your training has been processed you will be sent a confirmation mail a few days before the next scheduled training.

How do I book equipment in the Imaging facility?

Equipment will only be available for booking once users have been trained by core facility staff. View a list of all equipment in the Imaging facility. Following the Facility induction and equipment training, users will be granted access and can book equipment via PPMS/RIMS. 

What happens if I need to cancel a booking?

Bookings can be cancelled by the user at any time by clicking on the booking in the schedule and clicking Cancel. Note that bookings cancelled less than 24hrs before the start of the booking will be charged at 100% of the usual rate unless you can find someone else to take the booking.

When and how should I acknowledge the assistance of core facility staff?

The number of publications arising from the use of core facility equipment is often an important metric when applying for funding to purchase new equipment or upgrade existing equipment. As such, including an acknowledgement of the Imaging core facility in any presentations/publications that include data generated on core facility equipment helps to maintain and improve the core facilities. Acknowledging individual staff members may also be warranted where one or more core facility staff members have helped out on a particular project. Including a simple statement along the lines of “The authors gratefully acknowledge the SBMS-Microscopy and Image Analysis Core Facility for their support and assistance in this work” is generally sufficient. Find out more about publication guidelines.

Who do I contact in the event of equipment failures in the Imaging facility?

Please contact the Facility staff or the Facility Manager as soon as possible. For hazardous situations or emergencies, contact UQ Security on 3365 3333

Facility staff: sbmscorefacilities@uq.edu.au

Dr Shaun Walters: s.walters3@uq.edu.au or 0417039932

How do I get access to the processing platform, Voltage?

Access to voltage requires a short training session, which can be requested through PPMS.

I need a project for equipment bookings. How do I create a project?

All equipment bookings need to be associated with a research project for invoicing purposes.  Users will need to be added as members of an existing project, or create a new project in order to book equipment.  To create a new project, click on the SBMS – Microscopy and Imaging Core Project Creation Form in the Requests tab on PPMS/RIMS.  Note that a valid chart string will be required to complete the process the project creation request.  Core facility staff will process the request as soon as possible and send an email confirmation once the request is complete. Read more on creating a project in PPMS/RIMS.

If your lab already has one or more projects in use, contact core facility staff (sbmscorefacilities@uq.edu.au) to be added as a member of the project. Note that this will need to be approved by the project leader.

Why is PPMS/RIMS telling me I need a valid account to make a booking?

All bookings must be associated with a valid chart sting for invoicing purposes.  If the selected project has a valid chart string, this will be used automatically as the financial account number for the equipment booking.  If the project does not have a valid chart string (either it was not provided during the project creation, or the chart string provided has been deactivated), a new chart string will be needed to book equipment under that project.  Chart strings should have the following format 1234567-00-000-00-123456.  To update the chart string associated with your project, email core facility staff (sbmscorefacilities@uq.edu.au).

Where is my data?

Core Facility computers do not have the capacity to keep/back up all user’s files. As a result it is the user’s responsibility to back up files to external drives or RDMs. Data will be wiped off all systems every few weeks.