Research Express@NCKU

Good tools are essential to the success of all jobs. Research and innovations also rely on state-of-the-art and functional equipment and instruments. NCKU, being a leading research university Taiwan, has been pursuing advanced and precision equipment and instruments in support of high quality research. Currently, many kinds of equipment and instruments are installed in various parts of the campus. Some are installed in core facility centers such as Center for Micro/Nano Science and Technology, Center of Bioscience and Biotechnology, and the NSC Expensive Equipment Center. Many more are installed in laboratories of individual faculty members.

Without an easy access to the availability and functionality of these advanced equipment and instruments, sometimes, precious research funds were used to buy the same equipment and instruments that are already available on campus. Some researchers, without knowing the availability of equipment and instruments they need, end up not being able to implement their research effectively. On the other hand, the maintenance and repairs for equipment and instruments are so expensive that it sometimes becomes hardly affordable by individual faculty members. As a result, the functions for some modern equipment and instruments fail to be fully realized.

In order to promote the usage of available equipment and instruments and elevate the research capacity, the Center establishes the NCKU Joint Shared Facility Center as a single access window. When fully implemented, researchers can find the availability and relevant information about equipment and instruments that are available for them to use. Currently, a number of equipment and instruments are listed in various categories. Those who have equipment and instruments that can be shared are welcome to apply for being listed on the website.

At the beginning of the operation of the Joint Shared Facility Center, all equipment and instruments acquired based on the 5Y50B special fund from the Ministry of Education are required to be listed under the Joint Shared Facility Management System. Users can make reservation for accessing them on the basis of sharing the costs by paying usage fees. For equipment and instruments being managed by core facility centers, user fees can be paid to core facility centers directly. For other equipment and instruments, the Management System for the Equipment Center will collect user fees. 20% of the user fees will be allocated for supporting the daily operation of the Joint Facility Center. The remaining 80% will be kept in separate sub-accounts for future needs for repairs and maintenance of equipment and instruments. For equipment and instruments purchased using non-5Y50B funds, PI’s are allowed to apply for permission to join the shared equipment management system. Applicants must submit detailed plans for services that equipment and instruments will provide and the user fee schedules for the approval by the NCKU Shared Facility Management Committee. Those who just want to have their equipment and instruments listed on the website are also welcome to contact us for proper arrangements.

Before the online operation is in full operation, some paper work is still needed for the management. Users can use the website to search for shared facilities and contact persons in charge of each equipment and instruments for reservation, filling out billing forms and choose available payment options for user fees. The Equipment and Instrument Center provides two payment options: cash and direct fund transfer. At this moment, only NSC funds can use direct fund transfer. Other funds must be paid in the form of cash. Detailed information can be found at the website for the Center.

The Equipment and Instruments Center also has a Machining and Electronics Maintenance and Repairs Shop (the Shop), which helps maintain the proper operation of shared equipment and instruments as well as other equipment maintenance and repair needs at NCKU. The Shop is currently expanding its services and recruiting an additional welding and metal working technician and an electronic technician. The mission of the Shop is to provide maintenance and repairs services for advanced equipment and instruments in order to elevate the research capacity for the advancement of NCKU into becoming a world-class university. Its main tasks include (i) assisting R&D and maintenance of electronic instruments in various research laboratories, (ii) proactively supporting the design and fabrication of various electronic instruments,(iii) inspecting machines and facilities, (iv) providing advices for the selection of parts and materials for the design of electronic circuits, (v) testing and inspecting designed systems, (vi) performing general machining jobs such as metal working and welding jobs, (vii) assisting in machining jobs, (viii) and applying preventive maintenance to avoid unnecessary equipment failure.

The long-term goals of the Shop include:

To integrate and manage data relevant to technical talents and shared equipment and instruments
To establish talents database for the Electronic Shop and the Machine Shop in order to provide faculty and students with hands-on experiences and talents information needed for research
To build up database for equipment and instruments and their applications as references for deciding about which equipment and instruments are the most suitable for researchers to buy.
To gradually accumulate practical measurement and characterization experiences as reference for researchers.
To assist in collecting information for repairing equipment and instruments in order to lengthen the lifetime of useful equipment and instruments.
To establish a mechanism for the advancement of the skills of technical personnel in order to provide researcher better services.
To develop equipment and instruments which are needed by researchers but are not available in the market.
To effectively apply expertise of technical personnel and help divisions with fewer technical staff members so as to promote the efficiency of manpower.

The short-term goals of the Shop include:

To elevate the quality of practical skills by technical personnel for measurement and characterization.
To provide students more opportunities to learn practical skills in new equipment and instruments.
To encourage technical personnel in self-learning and advancing their skills and knowledge.

Technical workshops on emerging technologies in measurement and characterization and new devices for research needs and exchange for ideas and practical experiences will be held. Seminars on practical skills in measurement and characterization will be organized in order to share with each other technical specialties and ideas gained from real work.