Q: Why are your services so expensive?!

A: They aren’t! Our rates are comparable to, or cheaper than, the majority of other academic proteomics facilities. We will work hard to maximize our sample throughput, and automate our procedures, so that we do not have to raise prices. Proteomics is expensive – MS instrumentation costs several hundreds of thousands of dollars, and must be replaced often to keep up with the state-of-the-art. Some processes are labor-intensive, and we must cover staff costs. Additionally, some reagents like TMT and TMTpro labels are very expensive and account for the majority of the cost that we charge for these services.

Q: Why did you charge me when I didn’t get a successful result?

A: See our charging policy. We incur costs whether or not your sample results in the expected or desired result. We only waive charges if a failure is our fault, due to sample handling or instrument failure. We use standards and QA runs, process samples in batches, and can identify problems caused by issues in the core.

Q: How long does it take to get my results?

A: We accept samples 24 hours a day in Room Y4.106. Gel samples accepted during a week will be processed (digested) starting on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The prepared samples will be then be run over the following days, the wait depending on the size of the sample queue. In quiet times your results can be available early the following week after your submission. In very busy times you may need to wait an additional week.

Samples from researchers outside of UTSW can either be dropped off at our lab (please contact us to arrange dropoff time), or can be shipped via FedEx or UPS. We recommend shipping samples on Monday-Wednesday to ensure samples are delivered before the weekend.

Instrument failure can cause delays – we will not jeopardize your experiment by rushing to run your samples if there is any doubt about the state of our instrumentation.

Q: Why don’t you offer service X, Y, or Z?

A: The services the core offers are carefully chosen to balance the needs of researchers at UTSW with resources such as instrumentation, staff time etc. We can’t offer all proteomics techniques as a service, but will regularly review those which we can offer, and are willing to discuss arrangements with some users who have specific requirements. The majority of experiments can be performed using our in-gel services – contact us and we’ll discuss how we can fit your experiment to our services.

Q: I read about X in a paper – can you do it?

A: Probably – most proteomics workflows described in papers can be adapted to our in-gel services. Contact us to discuss your experiment.

Q: Your online systems are too complicated, can I just bring my sample to the lab to submit it?

A: Sorry, you must enter your sample submissions online using our iLab system. We enforce this policy so we can track samples easily in busy periods. The system generates unique sample IDs so we don’t mix-up your samples with those of others. iLab also lets us manage billing easily – less staff time equals cheaper prices for analyses.

Q: I’m in a hurry – can I enter my samples in iLab after submitting my samples?

A: No. We require each sample to be added to iLab before submission in order to obtain the unique ID number provided by iLab for tracking purposes and so we can have the billing information before we begin to process the samples. If you are unable to enter your samples in iLab do to billing issues, please contact us and we can help to get your samples entered. Billing information can only be added by whoever is assigned as your account’s financial contact (typically your PI or admin).