Currently, our Flow Cytometry Lab has three flow cytometers focusing in different branches:

• The two flow cytometry analyzers, the BD FACSCanto II and FACScan from Becton Dickinson (BD), are used for acquisition only, and operated by researchers themselves after training.
• The BD FACSAriaIII, a High-Speed Cell Sorter provided by Becton Dickinson (BD). The main use of this instrument is for cell separation and is operated only by the facility staff with an extensive knowledge and experience. The operation of the instrument by researchers is acceptable just when required for flow cytometry analysis, based on experience and approval by the facility staff.

•  New users must first register in our booking system Agendo Science  and request for a specific permission before using any flow equipment for the first time.
• A training session, provided by the facility staff, is mandatory before the consent of the permission to use the equipment alone. This rule is just applied for the Flow cytometer analyzers (FACSCanto II and FACScan) the only ones that have the option of self-use.
• If even after the initial training, you need technical support for a specific experiment, it is possible to select the option of assistance in your booking slot. The staff is notified and confirm you the possibility of assistance during the acquisition.
• Booking for another person is not permitted. The user in front of an instrument must be the one who booked that same instrument.
• Use a Flow instrument without a reservation is prohibited. Real usage of our instruments is regularly cross-checked with online reservations by facility staff.
• All new users should review the instructions and maintenance procedures of the equipment as well all the biosafety guidelines of the facility, available in the intranet webpage.
• The same rules are applied for external users. A price list is available in the reservation website.
• Reservations for the cell sorter instrument (FACSAriaIII) are done through pre-reservation, which must include the necessary information to help the cell sorter operator do determine the best configuration and sorting time. The pre-reservation approval will be notified by email. Ensure you have read the protocol for Cell Sorting available in the intranet webpage.
• Always email reports of problems with instruments (including clogs, dirty equipment, empty sheath tanks, etc.) to claudia.andrade@nms.unl.pt
• Please acknowledge the Flow Cytometry Facility in any scientific publication or oral presentation for which data was generated with the use of our equipment, our services, or with the help of our staff expertise.
• Acknowledgements could be very useful for acquiring internal as well as external funding to maintain or upgrade instruments in our facility or for career development programs such as the ISAC SRL Emerging Leaders Program.
• The following statement can be used to acknowledge our facility: "Flow cytometry analysis / cell sorting was performed in the CEDOC Flow Cytometry Facility."
• Whenever significant contributions are made by the Facility to the design of your experiment or data analysis of your research project, the publication co-authorship should be considered.

As founder of FLxFlow – Lisbon Flow Cytometry Network, the Executive Coordinator of the Flow Cytometry Facility are involved in the organization of International flow cytometry courses and conferences.
Flow Cytometry Facility at CEDOC is also part of CoLife (an alliance of six research institutes in life sciences located in Lisbon and Oeiras) to maximize our resources and potential, scientific services and scientific expertise, sharing infrastructures and know-how in addition to fostering synergies and collaboration between its six research institutes.