About The Facility
At the CCI, we specialise in live-cell light microscopy and support our users through the entire process, from experimental design, through image acquisition to post-acquisition analysis.
All of our systems can be set to maintain sample CO2, temperature and humidity with most of them capable of maintaining low O2 for hypoxic studies.
The whole of the facility is classed as a containment level 2 (CL2) laboratory space and can cater for biological samples up to hazard group 2 (HG2), pending receipt of a health and safety office approved risk assessment. For more details about suitability of sample types, please contact a member of the CCI team.
The Liverpool Shared Research Facilities
The Centre for Cell Imaging (CCI) is a Liverpool Shared Research Facility (LIV-SRF). The LIV-SRF is an organisation within the University of Liverpool Faculty of Health and Life Sciences that promotes access to enabling technology and the academic expertise that supports it.
More information can be found on the TD website.
Sustainability of the CCI Facility
The CCI is a non-profit shared facility, reliant on acknowledgements for the justification for support of research and the continued existence of the facility.
All users of the facility are expected to adhere to the acknowledgement policy as detailed in the CCI guidelines for users document. Acknowledgement guidance is based on the UK-Bioimaging recommendations, details of which can also be found on the Royal Microscopical (RMS) Website.
IT and Infrastructure
Modern biological imaging produces vast amounts of data. At the CCI we have the infrastructure and expertise to be able to support users in everything from short-term storage of a few gigabytes to the long-term storage of terabytes. All of which can be made accessible on or off-site.
We have a suite of dedicated workstations, running a range of software packages (such as Fiji, Matlab, Ilastik and Imaris) that can be used for image analysis and processing.
The Liverpool CCI is proud to have adopted OMERO to facilitate records management and data storage. This server-based system greatly aids the storage, access (public or private) and archiving of imaging data. Access and training is available upon request.
We also provide access to a Zegami server which can be used to display or interact with a vast range of datatypes. You can see the current pages here or get in touch if you're interested in hosting your own datasets.
New Users
Who can use the Facility?
The Centre for Cell Imaging is a Shared Research Facility (SRF). The majority of our users are researchers at the University of Liverpool, however we offer services to other Institutions as well as start-ups, SMEs and Industrial Partners.
How does it work?
Prior to using the imaging facility, the CCI will arrange an initial meeting to discuss the needs of the project. In most cases this will lead to an uncharged pilot study where the experimental feasibility of the project is assessed.
At this point, the user may wish to proceed with Induction and Training, whereupon they will be taught how to use the equipment. Staff will assist users until they are knowledgeable and competent at which point they will be allowed to use the facility independently.
For many reasons, users may prefer the knowledgeable and experienced staff at the CCI to perform the imaging and optionally some analysis of the resulting data for them as contract work.
How much does it cost?
The CCI is a non-profit shared facility with a transparent approach to cost recovery. Special capped rates are available for University of Liverpool undergraduate and post-graduate students. Please get in touch for price details and costings.
Regular users (and some SMEs) are encouraged to take advantage of the Liverpool Shared Research Facility Voucher Scheme, to help with the cost of access. If you are writing a grant or applying for a voucher, please contact the facility for detailed costings and support.
Contact
Specific questions can be directed to members of staff, general enquiries should be made to
cREMOVEMEci@REMOVEMEliveREMOVEMErpoolREMOVEME.aREMOVEMEc.REMOVEMEuk
How to register for the Facility booking system?
If you are affiliate with the University of Liverpool, you can register for BookItLab by contacting cREMOVEMEci@REMOVEMEliveREMOVEMErpoolREMOVEME.aREMOVEMEc.REMOVEMEuk
Existing Users
Bookings
At the CCI we use BookIt-lab for our equipment booking. You can view the schedule at:
https://ecore.bookitlab.com/lams
(login required to make bookings)
Equipment Acknowledgments
If you have used the Centre for Cell Imaging, please recognise this and acknowledge it in your work, presentations and publications. Although you pay to access our microscopes, the full economic cost of running the facility is not passed on, which includes equipment depreciation, staff salaries and equipment service costs. The acknowledgment policy outlined here and in the faciltiy guidelines has been recommended by the Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) and we urge you to consider it when acknowledging work in the facility.
Please refer to the following table or the equipment page of the CCI website for the grant code to cite when publishing work that was conducted using CCI hardware.
Facility microscopes that are not listed here do not have an associated grant code to cite.
Please see here for more information on Staff Acknowledgements
Health & Safety
All existing users should have read and understood the most recent:
- Facility guidelines: Safetynet link
- General risk assessment: Safetynet link
Signed copies of both are required before work can commence.
Further Training
The CCI runs an annual Imaging Workshop. We also offer training, workshops and seminars for individuals or groups to further knowledge and understanding in the field of Biological Imaging.
Our Technical Specialist in Image Analysis is available to help with quantitation, visualisation, software training or experimental design. Please get in touch if you need help (note that a fee may apply if you are not a facility user).
© Liverpool Centre for Cell Imaging