Common Rules
for Management
and Use of Core Facilities
Administrator(s) Project Administrator / Kateřina Ornerová
Approved by
Operational Director / Jiří Nantl 18/03/2015
Executive Director / Markus Dettenhofer 18/03/2015
Coordination Board 22/04/2015
Applicable from 22/04/2015
Version 001/2015
Annexes
List of CEITEC Core Facilities, Core Facility change(s) form,
Acknowledgements to CEITEC Core Facilities
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Content
1. Definitions and Basic Framework.......................................................................................................... 3
2. Users of Core Facilities.......................................................................................................................... 4
3. CF management, administration committees and working groups....................................................... 5
4. Core and administrative staff................................................................................................................. 7
5. Criteria to establish/close a Core Facility .............................................................................................. 8
6. Access rights.......................................................................................................................................... 8
7. Financial model and pricing policy........................................................................................................ 9
8. Assessment of Core Facilities ............................................................................................................... 9
9. Monitoring and Reporting system........................................................................................................ 10
10. Acknowledgement policy..................................................................................................................... 10
11. List of Abbreviations............................................................................................................................ 12
12. Annexes ............................................................................................................................................... 13
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1. Definitions and Basic Framework
Definition of Core Facility
A Core Facility (CF) is an independent laboratory that provides high-end instrumentation, high-quality
services, technical support, training and collaboration in development of innovative methods. CF plays
a crucial role in the technological support to scientific community in the Czech Republic as well as
worldwide. It is opened to wide spectrum of users from academic and commercial sphere. Finances of
CFs (budget etc.) are separated from CEITEC research groups/research programmes.
A list of CEITEC CFs, including Core Facility Heads, is set out in Annex I. Updates of any information
related to the CFs (e.g. title of CF, new Core Facility Head) are reported by means of a CF change form
contained in Annex II.
Access modes
CFs can support scientists via the following four support modes:
 Independent User mode: Users use instrumentation on their own. The Core Facility assures the
full functionality and availability of the instruments. Training might be required before having access
to the instruments.
 Assisted User mode: Users use instrumentation with the help of the CF staff.
 Full Service mode: Professional service provided by the CF staff
 Collaborative research and development: Research aimed at joint development of new
techniques/methodologies in collaboration of the CF staff and users on the projects of common
interest, usually performed within the collaborative research grants and entailing co-authorship.
Additional activities of CFs
Any CF is expected to dedicate a certain proportion of time and resources to improve protocols and
quality of the services, provide trainings and support to users and to dedicate sufficient time to
methodology and technology development (in line with the research study at the institute) and therefore
enhance its knowledge.
Booking system
Usage of online booking system is obligatory in all access modes.
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Certain administrative positions in respect of Core Facilities
Core Facilities Coordinator means, for the purposes of this document, a member of CMS staff charged,
inter alia, with tasks foreseen by this document.
Core Facilities Manager means, for the purposes of this document, a member of staff at an
Organizational Unit charged, inter alia, with tasks foreseen by this document.
2. Users of Core Facilities
These common rules define specific classification of CF users. The classification of users according to
OP RDI conditions are not affected by this. Further data about the users can be collected (e.g. student
status, public research organization/company, nationality).
There are three primary categories of users that may affect the pricing policy:
1. Internal User – this category covers all users from partners:
 any user from the respective organizational unit (example: if the core facility is a part of
CEITEC MU, all the researchers from CEITEC MU are internal users)
 users from other organizational units (example: researchers from CEITEC MENDELU
using the core facility that is a part of CEITEC MU)
 users from the partners’ institutions (not from CEITEC organizational units)
2. Academic User – users from public research organization other than CEITEC partners’ institutions
(for example scientists from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, academics from abroad).
3. Commercial User – users from commercial sphere in the Czech Republic as well as abroad.
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3. CF management,
administration committees
and working groups
CF Oversight Committee
The aim of the oversight committee is to supervise and coordinate policies and procedures concerning
core facilities development, management and operation. Topics cover strategic planning, marketing,
results of evaluations, professional development and tactical business decisions that promote and
enhance the operations and management of core facilities. External advisor may be appointed to
support the work of the oversight committee.
Members:
 CMS Directors
 OU Directors
 Research Programme Coordinators
 2 CEITEC CF Head representatives, nominated by Core Facility Heads annually at the first
Core Facility Head meeting of the respective year
Periodicity of meetings: annually, based on need
Organized by: CF Coordinator (CMS)
CF Heads meeting
CF Heads meeting is organized periodically every 2 months or based on urgent need in order to inform
about actual topics, e.g. international / national project calls, evaluation, IS system. The meeting is open
to a wide spectrum of participants depending on the meeting agenda. However, all the Core Facility
Heads, Core Facilities Managers and Core Facilities Coordinator should participate.
Members: CF Heads
Periodicity of meetings: recommended to be held 2 months or based on need
Organized by: CF Coordinator
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User Committee (organized on the level of individual CF)
User committee is convened and chaired by Core Facility Head if it is considered necessary for the
users’ feedback and information exchange between the CF and RGs. The committee helps to ensure
that the core facility activities are tailored to the demands of the research community, supports the
introduction of new services, helps to define future strategies and provides valuable feedback on current
operations.
Members: CF Head, CF users nominated by CF Head and/or leaders of research groups who are regular
CF users
Periodicity of meetings: depending on CF Head
Organized by: CF Head
Purchase Committee (entire CEITEC)
The committee reviews all purchases of equipment above 5 mil CZK (not only for core facilities), so that
all aspects of equipment acquisition are considered (running costs, usage of current instruments, need
for new instruments, rationale to have equipment in core facility). It will consider/screen the equipment
at the stage of project preparation. The conclusions of the purchase committee are presented to
organizational OUDs (Management meeting).
Members:
 Organisation unit directors
 Research Program Coordinators
 Vice-rectors/Vice-directors for research of CEITEC partners
 Bursars of CEITEC partners
 CEITEC Executive and Operational Director
Periodicity of meetings: semi-annually, based on need
Organized by: Operational Director
Review Panel (organized at the level of individual CF)
The Review Panel is composed of external experts (national/international) who evaluate any external
requests that are funded by CEITEC through public resources, e.g. CEITEC open access project.
External experts are selected by the Core Facility Heads or the Core Facility Advisors. The membership
in the Review Panel is honorary. The Review Panel does not meet physically and its meetings are
organized online. Requests on open access are usually evaluated in a 2-stage process – i) technical
feasibility by the Core Facility staff, and ii) scientific merit by an external expert in the specific field.
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Organized by: Core Facility Head
Other committees might be established at the level of CMS, OU and/or CF to ensure management and
operation of the CFs (e.g. CF Admin Meetings, Laboratory Board at CEITEC BUT). Any of above
mentioned committees/meetings might be organised ad hoc, based on need.
4. Core and administrative staff
(who are not included in the HR common rules)
The size of the CF depends on the complexity of the equipment, but also on the demand for its services
and the assistance required. Concrete positions and their classification are a part of CEITEC HR
Common Rules and CEITEC classification of positions.
In addition to the positions specified below, CMS and OU ensure administrative support for the CFs (e.g.
CF Manager, CF Administrator).
Core Facility Head
It is a person who oversees the operation and handles the day-to-day management of the facility,
including staff recruitment and technical support for the users. The Core Facility Head is responsible for
convening the User Committee and maintaining relations with the users. She/he should also suggest
experts to be appointed to the review panel. She/he may not have a conflict of interest (e.g. Core Facility
Head should not have a financial interest in a company providing services similar to those of the CEITEC
Core Facility). As an expert in the field, in consultation with the general management, he/she decides
how to run the facility. He/she reports to the CF oversight committee. The Core Facility Head identifies
strengths and weakness of the facility, optimizes rules and protocols, and improves procedures.
Deputy of Core Facility Head is not an obligatory position. The Deputy of CF Head is nominated by
The Core Facility Head and validated by OUD.
Core Facility Advisor is not an obligatory position (e.g. might be a research programme coordinator or
research group leader). This function is honorary.
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5. Criteria to establish/close a
Core Facility
The establishment or closure of a core facility is not a part of the daily operation and mainly depends on
CEITEC scientific vision, scientific demand, finance and technical feasibility.
Any request of a new core facility is recommended to be discussed with the Research Programme
Coordinator or to be forwarded to the Core Facility Coordinator. Subsequent steps will be proposed by
the CF Oversight Committee based on the characteristics of the requested new core facility. Anyway, a
proposal for a new core facility includes both a scientific justification and economical aspects. Final
decision on the CF establishment and particular formal steps is adopted according to internal rules of
the respective Organizational Unit.
The closure of a core facility due to relevant reasons (e.g. no users, useless instrumentation) is
discussed by the CF Oversight Committee and its statement is passed to OUD who makes the final
decision.
6. Access rights
Each Core Facility Head specifies the policy and procedure to access the facility itself, to request a
service or collaborate in research project.
All relevant security matters, as well as obligatory training sessions, shall be arranged directly by the CF
Head. Access to the Core Facility might be refused by the Core Facility Head or her/his deputy due to
serious reasons (e.g. breach of common, laboratory or safety rules, capacity reasons, technical
feasibility, instrument failure).
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7. Financial model and pricing
policy
Each Core Facility uses financial model cost matrixes, in which a particular pricing list is specified. The
price lists are available upon request by each Core Facility Head and/or Core Facilities manager.
The cost matrix of the respective CF is prepared by the CF Head in cooperation with the CF
Manager/Administrator and approved in two stages: firstly, by the CF Head and secondly, by the OU
Secretary.
The pricing model (including cost matrixes and pricing lists) is updated annually or based on need. The
financial contribution of RGs to CFs will be managed by CEITEC management based on the financial
model in respect of the national financial system that is not known yet.
8. Assessment of Core
Facilities
Evaluation of the Core Facilities is organized in two forms:
Scientific Evaluation of the Core Facilities
Core Facilities are evaluated within the Evaluation of the Scientific Excellence. Specific conditions and
rules are stated in document CEITEC Evaluation Rules.
User Feedbacks
User feedback is done for each CF. The User Committee and on-line questionnaire are used for the
feedback collection.
Data collected via on-line questionnaire and from the user committees is assembled, analysed and
submitted to the CF Oversight Committee once a year or based on need. Relevant outcomes will be
reflected in the plan of work for the CF.
Besides these two forms of evaluation, each CF can be assessed by its respective partner institution or
externally, e.g. as a part of a large infrastructure.
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9. Monitoring and Reporting
system
Monitoring and reporting system of the CFs is composed of the following:
 Annual plan (as a part of the Annual Plan for the Coordination Board)
 Annual report (as a part of the Annual Report for the Coordination Board)
 Long-term 5-year plan/report including vision, etc. (as a part of the Evaluation of the Scientific
Excellence)
 Report including internal users, together with the price - quarterly for each research group
 Data collected from the above mentioned sources will be used for other required reports after
its approval by the Core Facility Head or his/her deputy.
Areas covered by the year plan/report:
 Personnel plan/report
 Budget plan/report
 Investment plan/report
 Capacity plan/report
 Users plan/report
 Interdisciplinary usage
Before its submission to the Coordination Board, the annual plan/report is discussed by the CF Oversight
Committee.
Other reports could be required, based on need.
10. Acknowledgement policy
The publication and acknowledgement policy of CEITEC is stated in the CEITEC Common Publication
Policy.
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For Internal users and Academic users
 The acknowledgement to the Core Facility is required, if any data has been published in a paper
and none of Core Facility staff is a co-author
 The acknowledgement templates are set out in Annex III as well as on the IS system intranet
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11. List of Abbreviations
CEITEC Partners all institutes participating in CEITEC: CEITEC BUT, CEITEC MU, CEITEC
MENDELU, CEITEC VFU, CEITEC IPM, CEITEC VRI
CF Core Facility
CMS Central Management Structure
OU Organizational Unit
RGL Research Group Leader
OP RDI Operational Programme Research and Development for Innovation
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12. Annexes
ANNEX I List of CEITEC Core Facilities
ANNEX II Core Facility change(s) form
ANNEX III Acknowledgements to CEITEC Core Facilities
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Annex I
Core Facility Core Facility Head
Nanofabrication and nanocharacterization David Škoda
Structural Analysis Laboratory Ondřej Man
Nanobiotechnology Core Facility Petr Skládal
Josef Dadok National NMR Centre Radovan Fiala
Biomolecular Interactions and Crystallization Michaela Wimmerová
X-ray Diffraction and Bio-SAXS Core Facility Jaromír Marek
Cryo-electron microscopy and tomography Jürgen Plitzko
Proteomics Core Facility Zbyněk Zdráhal
Genomics Core Facility Boris Tichý
Multimodal and Functional Imaging Laboratory Ivan Rektor
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Annex II
CEITEC | Core Facility (CF) change(s)
Establishment, repeal or change of Core Facility is also subject to a major change of the Decision of
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS).
Please, fill-in only relevant boxes.
Application type
(keep only relevant)
new CF establishment / CF repeal / CF name change / CF change
Proposer name
position, Organisational Unit
date Signature
Reasoning of
the proposal
New CF Czech CF name:
English CF name:
CF repeal Name of repealed CF:
CF change
(change of CF name)
Current CF name:
New/changed Czech CF
name:
New/changed English CF
name:
Other change
Comments
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Statement on
the application
(replace text in italics)
Comment (approved / not approved / reservation)
Name, surname
Organisational Unit Director date signature
Comment (approved / not approved / reservation)
Name, surname
Executive Director date signature
Contact persons:
CEITEC CMS: Kateřina Ornerová, katerina.ornerova@ceitec.cz, phone: 549 49 6056
CEITEC MU: Martina Pokorná, martina.pokorna@ceitec.muni.cz, phone: 549 49 4911, 3964
CEITEC BUT: Jan Nedvěd, nedved@ceitec.vutbr.cz, phone: 541 14 6130
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Annex III
Acknowledgements to CEITEC core facilities
This work/Part of the work was carried out with the support of Nanobiotechnology core facility of CEITEC
– Central European Institute of Technology under CEITEC – open access project, ID number
LM2011020, funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under the
activity „Projects of major infrastructures for research, development and innovations”.
This work/Part of the work was carried out with the support of X-ray Diffraction and Bio-SAXS Core
Facility core facility of CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology under CEITEC – open access
project, ID number LM2011020, funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech
Republic under the activity „Projects of major infrastructures for research, development and
innovations”.
This work/Part of the work was carried out with the support of Josef Dadok National NMR Centre of
CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology under CEITEC – open access project, ID number
LM2011020, funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under the
activity „Projects of major infrastructures for research, development and innovations”.
This work/Part of the work was carried out with the support of Cryo-electron Microscopy and
Tomography of CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology under CEITEC – open access
project, ID number LM2011020, funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech
Republic under the activity „Projects of major infrastructures for research, development and
innovations”.
This work/Part of the work was carried out with the support of Proteomics Core Facility of CEITEC –
Central European Institute of Technology under CEITEC – open access project, ID number LM2011020,
funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under the activity „Projects
of major infrastructures for research, development and innovations”.
This work/Part of the work was carried out with the support of Genomics Core Facility of CEITEC –
Central European Institute of Technology under CEITEC – open access project, ID number LM2011020,
funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under the activity „Projects
of major infrastructures for research, development and innovations”.
This work/Part of the work was carried out with the support of Multimodal and Functional Imaging
Laboratory of CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology under CEITEC – open access project,
ID number LM2011020, funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic
under the activity „Projects of major infrastructures for research, development and innovations”.
This work/Part of the work was carried out with the support of Nanofabrication and Nanocharacterization
Core Facility of CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology under CEITEC – open access
project, ID number LM2011020, funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech
Republic under the activity „Projects of major infrastructures for research, development and
innovations”.
This work/Part of the work was carried out with the support of Genomics Core Facility of CEITEC –
Central European Institute of Technology under CEITEC – open access project, ID number LM2011020,
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funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under the activity „Projects
of major infrastructures for research, development and innovations”.
This work/Part of the work was carried out with the support of Structural Analysis Laboratory of CEITEC
– Central European Institute of Technology under CEITEC – open access project, ID number
LM2011020, funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under the
activity „Projects of major infrastructures for research, development and innovations”.
This work/Part of the work was carried out with the support of Genomics Core Facility and Proteomics
Core Facility of CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology under CEITEC – open access
project, ID number LM2011020, funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech
Republic under the activity „Projects of major infrastructures for research, development and
innovations”.