With the Clustermarket System, it gave us independence on the booking since all the students can schedule their own time and experiments on specific days. It has helped us organize two labs working with the same machine and making sure the time slots are respected so each can have a turn to use and produce data for their experiments. The Clustermarket platform gives us control on who can use the machine at any given time. We can add or remove people easily using this system - Joannie St-Germain, Research assistant
Lab Profile
Laurent & Wellinger labs are located at the Université de Sherbrooke, within the departments of biochemistry and microbiology. The researchers in these departments focus their efforts on investigating various elements of fundamental biochemistry and microbiology. In the Laurent lab the main area of expertise is understanding the mechanical components that are deregulated, resulting in brain aging and often seen in neurodegenerative diseases. The Wellinger lab’s research is centered around questions dealing with the maintenance of the termini of eukaryotic chromosomes, known as telomeres. This is done through genetic analysis, biochemistry, and molecular biology.
- Number of users: 14
- Type of lab/facility: Biochemistry, microbiology
- Research area: Aging & neurobiology, cellular & molecular biology, neuroepigenetics, telomeres, RNA biology and related fields
- Location: Quebec, Canada
- Previous system: Pen & paper
Research
The Laurent lab is focused on investigating the neurocognitive impact aging has on the brain. In an effort to better understand this, their main research area is focused on alternative RNA splicing and chromatin structure regulation, which are the two molecular mechanisms that maintain structure and functions of the brain. The main components of their research include identifying why their deregulation causes the physiological and anatomical changes found in brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases. The Wellinger lab focuses on fundamental aspects of eukaryotic telomere biology, as telomere maintenance is implicated in both aging and cancer. Major projects in the lab concern the interrelation of conventional replication and cell cycle checkpoints with telomere replication, as well as investigating the ribonucleoprotein telomerase that facilitates telomere elongation.
Problem
Sharing equipment meant the lab members of the Laurent & Wellinger labs had to implement a resource booking system which would enable better communication and usage management between the labs. They were experiencing issues with overbooking and needed a system that could support the implementation of booking limits. Additionally, as equipment was being shared between labs, the admins needed a system that would support analysis of equipment utilization whilst also having oversight of the users’ schedules.
Solution
After having worked with another lab that had already implemented Clustermarket’s resource booking system, the members of the Laurent & Wellinger labs started using the system to gain stricter management of the shared equipment. Implementing booking rules, - a feature provided by the system - allowed the lab members to control how long each booking slot could last. This supported the admins to ensure overbooking was no longer an issue. The ability to log in remotely, as well as the calendar providing real time updates of the equipment availability, allowed for better communication between the lab members when planning their experiments.
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