Open Access Policy

User Policy

Kuopio BIU operates in open access basis and can provide its services to both academic researchers and companies. The services vary from equipment time to full imaging service. We are happy to help you in choosing the right scanner, planning and setting up the experiments, give full training and provide continuous support where needed. We encourage the researchers to perform their own MRI studies whenever possible to improve the understanding of the technique and the obtained results.

For access to the facility, contact us or staff of the Finnish Biomedical Imaging Node (Contact-FiBI@eurobioimaging.fi). After initial discussions, the external users are encouraged to submit a proposal to Euro-BioImaging Web Portal. At minimum, a filled Project Description Form is required for all the projects.

See How to apply – Finnish Biomedical Imaging Node for further info on Euro-BioImaging  Web Portal.

Training and user license

All users working in Kuopio BIU must receive Safety Training from us before the work can be started. Also, for each scanner there is a separate training given by a BIU staff member, which qualifies you to use that instrument (a user license). Users are expected to be familiar with the user policy stated on this page. Use of the imaging systems without training and reservation is prohibited.

Reservations

To make a reservation for MRI, PET, SPECT or CT please contact us. You can also come to our regular Friday booking meeting typically every Friday at 8:30 at Bioteknia 1, 3rd floor. If you need to cancel your reservation, it has to be done 24 hours prior to the reserved time. As some of the scanners are heavily booked, please, plan ahead and contact us well in advance.

Pricing

Instrument hours will be billed according to the reservations made. The pricing of the services is based on true-cost and is revised annually. For current pricing, please, see pricing page or contact us.

Data Management

Data belongs to the user and it is the user’s responsibility to take care of secure data transfer and storage. We will assist you in the data transfer (typically via Funet FileSender). There is no automatic back-up system for the data, and we do not take any responsibility for possible data loss in case of computer breakdown. Kuopio BIU holds the right to delete any user files when a hard drive is filling up. We will try to delete the oldest files first and notify the users before deletion.

Mailing list

We have a mailing list for informing the users of any changes in the instrument, breakdowns and other problems etc. After the training you can be added to the mailing list.

How To Properly Acknowledge the Kuopio Biomedical Imaging Unit

All work performed at the Kuopio Biomedical Imaging Unit should be properly acknowledged. This includes all imaging, sample preparation, data processing, expert help, etc. performed here.

Why: A proper acknowledgment provides a visible measure of the impact of the Kuopio Biomedical Imaging Unit on research, and secures development of the infrastructure and helps to keep the user fees at a reasonable level. Also, core facility personnel are scientists. When they make a substantial intellectual or experimental contribution to a publication they deserve to be acknowledged just as any other co-author. It also helps the personnel to advance in their careers.

When: Any time the Kuopio Biomedical Imaging Unit provides services that support your research (including your usage of any equipment). When a staff member of the Kuopio Biomedical Imaging Unit has made a significant intellectual contribution beyond a routine analysis, please consider co-authorship as well.

Where: Papers, posters, presentations, all scholarly publications.

How: If the participation of the core personnel is not significant enough to warrant a co-authorship, a mention in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript is sufficient. Please make sure that the “Kuopio Biomedical Imaging Unit” is always mentioned correctly. For example:

For FiBI projects “The authors acknowledge Euro-BioImaging (www.eurobioimaging.eu) for providing access to imaging technologies and services via the Finnish Biomedical Imaging Node (Kuopio Biomedical Imaging Unit, part of Biocenter Kuopio, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland).“

For other projects “This work/Part of the work was carried out with the support of Kuopio Biomedical Imaging Unit, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland (part of Biocenter Kuopio, Finnish Biomedical Imaging Node, and EuroBioImaging).”

Please, send us a pdf file of every publication mentioning the Kuopio Biomedical Imaging Unit! Thank You!