MPI-CBG LMF mission

From the MPI-CBG Services and Facilities mission statement

1. Many of the cutting edge technologies need well-trained and dedicated staff in order to extract the maximum potential from the technology.
2. A service is defined as a unit that performs service jobs, i.e. applies a technology on behalf of a research group or researcher and returns the analysed results to the researcher.
3. A facility is defined as a repository of knowledge, expertise, reagents and tools that provides the functionality but does not perform the actual work.
4. A facility should have open, non preferential, access for all in house (or even on campus?)
5. The aim of a facility should be to enable higher quality and increased output of useful science in house (or even on campus?) than if it did not exist.

MPI-CBG is a Facility, rather than a service - not only in name, but also in practice

But what does that mean in practice? (Should?) MPI-CBG LMF (should?) provide the following: From http://www.mpi-cbg.de/facilities/profiles/light-microscopy.html LMF mission statement:

• ...is to provide access to state-of-the-art light microscopy techniques and instruments along with vision toward future trends.
• ...assist through consultation, training and project collaborations.

Further, these statements imply the following:

• All research groups (and individuals) should get a fair bite at the resources offered by the facility.
• All research groups should have a say in how the facility uses its allocated resources, eg what areas to emphasize: equipment, teaching/assistance (Thats the LMF steering committee!)
• The facility should act as a resource/repository for expertise, experience, know how etc, which should be retained in a (re)usable open manner, eg. Wiki (This is the retained knowledge of the LMF staff members)