Protocol of access

With the exception of the authorized surveillance and cleaning personnel, the access time in working days is from 8:00 h to 20:00 h for the ICTS staff, and from 08:30 h to 19:30 h for other personnel (duly authorized, appearing in the REPAS list). In non-working days the Clean Room cannot be accessed, except by the surveillance personnel.

Any exception to this timetable must be explicitly approved by the Direction.

Access to the portfolio of available technologies and processes can be done in two ways:

• On-request Service: Application for a work to be carried by the staff of the nodes of the MICROANANOFABS Network. This is the most common form of access to carry out manufacturing processes or when, because of the complexity of the equipment, it cannot be operated directly by the applicant. It is also the usual access for applicants who do not have the expertise in microfabrication. On MICRONANOFABS, the list of the offered technological areas is presented. Training services are also offered by the three nodoes of the MICRONANOFABS ICTS.
• Self-Service: Some processes and equipment can be directly used by external users of the nodes of the Clean Rooms Network that have sufficient knowledge to operate and have passed a pre-qualification process. A list of instruments and techniques offered as Self-Service at IMB-CNM CSIC can be found here.

The access to any of the three nodes of the Network must be requested by filling-in the Form in the MICRONANOFABS website. The Coordinator of the Network will contact the applicant for discussing the access requested and for scheduling the work to be done in any of the three nodes (IMB-CNM, ISOM-UPM and NTC-UPV) that are part of the network.

The Director of Operations of the Node that will do the work will inform the applicant of the cost of the action, which shall be approved by her/him before starting the training or the access both for self-service and for the performance of work by the staff of the corresponding ICTS.

The applicants participating in the Spanish Plan of R&D&i can express their interest in using the MICRONANOFABS ICTS by clicking the specific option when submitting a project proposal to any MICINN Call. In that case, the proposer may include a specific budget in the project proposal for covering the costs of the access and in that case the eligibility of such cost will be ensured. For any doubt or request for clarification, the applicant may contact the coordinator of the network at coordinator@micronanofabs.org (tel +34 93 594 77 00)

For special access requests related only to the Clean Room and other associated laboratories of IMB-CNM-CSIC, you may also contact the Director of operations of its Clean Room at icts@imb-cnm.csic.es (tel +34 93 594 77 00).

The access to the MICRONANOFABS ICTS is permanently open, as now there is not a specific call with deadlines funded by MICINN. The Evaluation Committee will permanently work to not delay the execution of the requested work.

An external Access Evaluation Committee will determine the feasibility and the prioritization of the proposals according to the following criteria:

1. a) Scientific and/or technological quality.
2. b) Technological feasibility within the infrastructure of the ICTS.
3. c) Temporary feasible in accordance with the deadlines requested and availabilities in the Infrastructures of the three nodes.

The access requests that are part of R & D projects funded by a competitive call of an International or National funding agency will not be evaluated according to the criteria a) of scientific quality.

If the requested action requires the participation of more than one node, the Coordinator of the Network will inform about the person that will be her/his main contact, according to the weight of the work to be performed in each node.

1. In Mode 1, the presence of the applicant researcher is not required and all the work will be performed by technicians of the corresponding network nodes under the supervision of the Coordinator of the Network.
2. In Mode 2, the applicant will have to accept the rules of access and security associated to the respective node. After obtaining a positive evaluation (pre-qualification) to use the instrument, the applicant will agree the work programming with the Coordinator of the respective node and also in agreement with the Coordinator of the Network.

At present, MICINN does not have a specific call to directly finance access to the MICRONANOFABS ICTS Network. Therefore, the cost must be borne by the applicant. The coordinator will inform on the cost of the access that will have to be approved by the applicant before starting the work.

Finally, applicants participating in the Spanish Plan Estatal de I+D+i of MICINN may express their interest in accessing to MICRONANOFABS, at the time the project proposal is made. This will ensure that the costs associated to the access to the ICTS infrastructures are perfectly eligible and accepted by MICINN as project cost.