The ALMC  is staffed year-round during peak hours, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday (excluding university holidays and closures, such as inclement weather days). 

Advanced users who have completed comprehensive training, accrued a minimum of 30 hours of documented instrument usage and demonstrated a thorough understanding of instrument operation as well as applicable health and safety protocols are eligible for unsupervised, 24/7 access to ALMC instruments.

Out-of-hours use requires that users sign out a facility key and record their session on the official ALMC booking calendar. Access privileges may be revoked at any time at the discretion of ALMC staff in cases of misuse, noncompliance or safety concerns.

The ALMC operates a per-hour, fee-for-service model. Rates as of Aug. 1, 2025, are shown below. 
 

Light microscopes

InstrumentationInternal user fees (peak hours)Internal user fees (off-peak hours)External 
academic user fees		External 
industry user fees
Leica SP8 laser scanning confocal with tunable white light laser, UV diode, and argon laser, MaiTai DeepSee Ti-Sapphire multiphoton ultrafast laser, 3D STED capability, environmental chamber$38/hour

STED/2-photon: $40/hour 

$25/hour

STED/2-photon: $30/hour 

$55/hour

STED/2-photon:
$70/hour

$94/hour

STED/2 photon: $105/hour

Leica SP8 laser scanning confocal with 4 diode lasers and Digital Light Sheet$32/hour$20/hour$48/hour$68/hour
Andor Dragonfly 602 spinning disk confocal with Andor iXon 888 Life EMCCD camera, Sona-6 Extreme sCMOS camera, Mosaic3 optical module, environmental chamber $32/hour

5-to-25-hour use flat fee: $120

Per 24-hour period: $185

$48$68
Leica GSD TIRF with Andor iXon Ultra 897 EMCCD camera$22/hour——$47/hour$68/hour
Leica DM5500B widefield$5/hour$5/hour$8/hour$20/hour
Nikon Ti2E widefield with environmental chamber$8/hour$8/hour$15/hour$25/hour
Nikon Ti2E widefield$8/hour$8/hour$15/hour$25/hour
Leica Thunder stereomicroscopy system$5/hour$5/hour$8/hour$20/hour
Leica M205 FA stereomicroscope$5/hour$5/hour$8/hour$20/hour
Leica-Eppendorf microinjection system$5/hour——$8/hour$20/hour
ArcturusXT laser capture microdissection system$20/hour——$8/hour$20/hour

 

Preparative equipment

InstrumentationInternal user fees (peak hours)External academic user feesExternal industry user fees
Leica CM3050S cryostat$8/hour$10/hour$40/hour
Leica CM1950 cryostat$8/hour$10/hour$40/hour
Paraffin microtome$8/hour$10/hour$40/hour
Vibratome$8/hour$10/hour$40/hour
Artos 3D ultramicrotome$8/hour——$40/hour
Leica EM RAPID block trimmer$8/hour——$40/hour
LKB knife maker$11.50/hour——$50/hour

 

Other services

ServiceInternal user feesExternal academic user fees
Image analysis and processing stations with Huygens Professional, Metamorph, LASX and Imaris software$5/hour$8/hour
Training$55/hour$75/hour
Assistance/full-service$55/hour$75/hour
Image generation$100/hour$150/hour