Frequently Asked Questions

All new CMI users should start with the CMI Getting Started Checklist.

If you don't have a PPMS account, then start by filling out a CMI account creation form and we'll respond with guidance on next steps. 

External users will still need to send a signed CMI User Agreement and Harvard Risk and Release form.  Forms can be found here: https://cmi.hms.harvard.edu/user-agreements.

If you already have an account in the Harvard-HMS PPMS system, then you can start at the CMI PPMS page by:

1. Requesting a Project
2. Requesting Consultation, Training, or Service

CMI users will need two Harvard IDs: HUID and HMS ID.  

• Use your HMS ID to login to PPMS and to CMI core instrument computers.
• Use your HUID card to gain access to the building and CMI lab (access granted after training).

For help, visit:

• HMS ID - Reset password or Unlock account
• Manage HMS Account
• Recover Account Information

• An instrument training fee is charged per user per instrument.
• Training may be individual or in small groups (2-4 people), as scheduling allows.
• All training sessions include:
  • Overview of the instrument and maintenance procedures
  • Tutorial on control and analysis software
  • Review of experimental design
• Training sessions do NOT include user data collection.
  • Users don’t need to bring anything.
  • Some training sessions will include data collection of a standard or control 
• Training times vary by instrument, from 2-4 hours, typically.
• CMI typically plans training about 1-2 weeks in advance, depending on instrument and staff schedules.  If you have certain days of the week or times that won’t work, please include those in your training request.
• We strongly recommend that all users read the CMI User Guide for the instrument before attending training.

Most specialized instrument supplies and reagents will be purchased by the user directly from the vendor

Including:

• BLI: Sartorius Biosensors
• SPR: Cytiva Sensor Chips (Biacore SERIES S)
• SPR: Cytiva Immobilization reagents
• MP: Refeyn pre-cleaned cover slides
• NanoDSF: NanoTemper Prometheus NT.plex capillary casettes (high sensitivity)
• Labeling reagents
• Standards and controls

Select supplies that may be available for purchase by Academic Users through PPMS

Check inventory when ordering

• MST: NanoTemper Monolith capillaries (standard and premium)
• NanoDSF: NanoTemper Prometheus NT.plex capillary casettes (standard)
• DLS: 384-well black clear-bottom plates
• BLI: Black hydration (96-well) and reagent (96 or 384-well) plates
• CD: Hellma cuvettes

Basic lab supplies are provided by the CMI

Available in C-303

• gloves
• pipette tips
• 0.2 ml tubes for MST and ITC
• HPLC vials for SEC-MALS
• Biacore vials for SPR
• Mass photometry (MP): protein standards
• Mass photometry: standard (uncleaned) cover slides

If you are looking for answers to your questions about the CMI, check out these pages:

CMI Technologies, for information about all the CMI instrumentation and technologies.

CMI Services, for information about data collection services offered by the CMI.

Frequently Asked Questions, for answers to frequently asked questions.

If you can't find your answers on the CMI website, please contact the CMI.

The main labs of the CMI (C-303/C-302C) and all instruments in these rooms are BSL-1. The CMI Committee on Microbial Safety (COMS) permit determines allowed materials at the CMI.  Approved bio-samples in the CMI COMS permit include protein, nucleic acids, and AAVs.  In room C-301 (on the AKTA Pure FPLC system and Tecan Spark plate reader), select BSL-2 materials (such as some mammalian cell line lysates) may be used, with prior approval from the CMI. 

To help troubleshoot why you are no longer be able to login to PPMS, answer these questions. 

1. Have you installed Okta Verify for your HMS Account (not just your Harvard Key)?  
   If not, Set Up Okta Verify for HMS.
2. Has your your HMS ID been inactivated?  
   Check forgotmyid to find out.
   1. Did you have a Harvard Sponsored Role through another core, that you are no longer using?  If your lab is not at HMS (or HSPH), you need a Harvard Sponsored Role (HSR) for an active HMS ID. In the past, another core may have been your sponsor.  Contact the CMI and ask for a CMI-Sponsored HSR.
   2. Has it been a year or more since you used a CMI instrument?  
      If so, your HMS account may have been deactivated due to inactivity. Contact the CMI and ask for your account to be reactivated.
   3. Are you unsure why your HMS ID was inactivated?
      Contact the CMI and we'll help figure it out.
3. Did you forget your password or get locked out of your account?
   Unlock HMS account or Reset Password

The CMI1 Analysis workstation is now available for remote access for users with instrument access rights. Not all analysis software is available, but the PPMS calendar will list what software is currently installed.

To have access to the CMI Analysis workstation, you must have access rights to at least one CMI instrument and you must have an active Instrument Access Project at the CMI. If you have one it will be listed under My Projects on the PPMS home page.

For remote computer access, you must:

(1) have access to the HMS private network (either by being on campus or being authorized to use the Harvard VPN.  

• Check eligibility for VPN access and get information on getting started with VPN at HMS
  • VPN access is generally limited to Harvard students and employees.

(2) have PPMS rights on the CMI Remote Workstation

• Request access to the computer in PPMS

Remember, you cannot connect to Instrument Computers remotely so make sure to upload your data to your own cloud drive while at the instrument and then download onto the Remote Analysis Computer.
 

The reported uncertainties in ASTRA are statistical only, and do not include any of the many possible systematic errors that may be present. Examples are errors in dn/dc, the light scattering calibration constant, the RI and/or UV calibration constants, and the normalization coefficients.  Use the reported uncertainties as a measure of the statistical consistency of the data, never as an absolute limit on the error in your results.  Generally, we consider error less than 2% to be “good.” 

No.  Users may be required to provide general information about samples brought to the Facility in order to comply with safety regulations and to facilitate training, but instrument access users should not disclose any confidential information to personnel of the CMI.  
See CMI User Agreements.

For purifed protein samples with aromatic residues, one of the most reliable ways to measure concentration is absorbance at 280, assuming you concentration is high enough for detection in the linear range of the spectrophometer.  

measuring protein concentration

Users from all external labs are charged an additional Facilities and Administration Fee (F&A Fee) which goes to HMS to cover a portion of the facilities and administration costs for the CMI space.  We include this add-on fee in our published rates for external users, however PPMS invoicing separates this out from the base rate. 

• Academic Users are considered External if:
  • their lab's grants are managed by any institution other than Harvard University.
  • their lab will NOT be paying with a Harvard 33-digit billing code.
  • their lab is located at a affiliated Hospital (including BWH, Children's Hospital, Beth Isreal, DFCI, MGH) or other academic institution.
• All commercial labs are External, and are charged F&A and an additional Commerical add-on charge.