For MIT Users
In general, all people who charge the costs of their research to a standard MIT account are considered "MIT users." MIT users are entitled to facility access cards, to the highest priority in the booking of instrument time, and to all user privileges.
Exceptions
Industrial Liaison and other accounts
Work billed against any Industrial Liaison funds (via, for example, a Departmental Industrial Liaison account) or against any discretionary account of any sort will only be considered MIT work if it is directly and demonstrably for the purpose of furthering an MIT sponsored research project or for assisting an MIT student to complete work for a thesis.
Consulting
When a consulting relationship exists between a Faculty or Staff member and some outside commercial organization, and the work to be performed in the facility is in any way connected with the substance of the consulting agreement or the interests of the outside organization, the work will automatically be considered commercial work unless the PI can justify otherwise.
Other exceptions
Work billed improperly to an MIT account is considered commercial work. As an example, if the XYZ Company sponsors a research project at MIT, but then asks for some microscopy to be performed on samples related to its own in house research, this work, even if billed to the research account, would be outside work.
Reports and Publications
All users of Center facilities must keep us fully informed of the nature and progress of their work. Acknowledgment of the use of Center facilities is expected in publications or research reports, as is the assistance of a specific CMSE Technical Staff member if their work has made a significant contribution to your research. Please use the following statement: "This work made use MRSEC Shared Experimental Facilities at MIT, supported by the National Science Foundation under award number DMR-08-19762." We would appreciate receiving a copy of publications which cite research conducted through the use of Center's facilities.
