<div dir="auto"><div>Dear Paul,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">We are not a facility yet, so for us things are easier: we approach data processing as a collaboration, not as a service.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">As a paid service, however, I’m not sure how this could even be feasible. Once the sample is acquired, what follows is essentially a research work. A facility service should be well-defined and bounded in a certain scope, but data analysis is often an open-ended process. After initial steps such as density calculation, it naturally moves into model building and further biophysical analyses.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">In many cases, the process is recursive, requiring repeated returns to earlier stages such as image processing. Often, the final outcome isn’t clear until a full analysis is done, and sometimes it even requires additional data acquisition.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">In my view, such support should either be handled as a research collaboration or treated as a dedicated research project, rather than a standard facility service.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">To manage expectations, especially for newcomers, the facility could provide a short document explaining what it can deliver and where research work begins. It could include basic sample quality guidelines, a brief outline of the standard workflow, and a note that the image processing, advanced model building or interpretation usually requires a collaboration. This would help customers understand the limits of the service, avoid misunderstandings, and guide discussions toward joint projects when deeper analysis is needed.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">I hope my opinions help clarify the distinction between facility services and research work, and how we might set clear expectations for all parties.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Best regards </div><div><br></div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Dr.-Ing Farzad Hamdi, <br>EM Engineer - Staff Scientist<br>Kastritis Laboratory for Biomolecular Research (KLBR)<br>Cryo-Electron Microscopy & Computational Structural Biology<br>__<br>Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology<br>Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg (MLU)<br>ZIK HALOmem & Biozentrum, Room A.2.14 & 15<br>Weinbergweg 22, 06120, Halle (Saale), Germany<br><br><br>Phone: <br><br><br>Office: +49 345 5524984<br>Glacios Room: +49 345 5524883<br>JEM-3200FSC Room: +49 345 5524868 <br><br>web (Lab): <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://blogs.urz.uni-halle.de/kastritislab/__;!!Mih3wA!G5962IND26J7a72CjWW6gEo74CpHBAtmvReE2_yp-8_FLoCzHjVsi0pnVoMc4wFHOj7tOMJ5eIzudX2nxQ$">https://blogs.urz.uni-halle.de/kastritislab/</a><br><br>Achtung: Falls Sie diese E-Mail auf Deutsch erhalten, bedenken Sie bitte, dass sie mit dem Deepl AI Übersetzer übersetzt werden könnte.<br> </div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Aug 12, 2025, 15:45 Chipman,Paul via 3dem <<a href="mailto:3dem@ncmir.ucsd.edu">3dem@ncmir.ucsd.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Hi All,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We recently acquired a TFS Glacios and have started to pump out large amounts of data. Many of our customers are completely unfamiliar with image processing. I’m interested to hear how any other core facilities or similar have dealt with
this issue. Since we are an expected revenue neutral core I’m a bit challenged on how to best help our users. Should we hire someone to deal with processing? What would be an expected salary? Post doc? We have a bioinformatics core that might be helpful
as well or positioned to have a joint appointment. Just looking for thoughts.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Best,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Paul<u></u><u></u></p>
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