Workshops

The goal of training workshops at the Advanced Microscopy Facility is to produce highly qualified users. These are users who are capable of using the instruments unsupervised to do their research. Workshops are available for anybody who is interested, not just researchers. All workshops include a hands-on session where users can bring their own specimens and obtain useful data on their research project.

In order to facilitate self-serve access to the instruments we offer separate training workshops for each instrument, typically once per month. These workshops are mandatory before users are allowed to operate the instrument independently. The SEM workshop has six seats, the FIB workshop has three seats, and the SEM/EDS workshop is offered on an individual basis. All workshops are first come, first served. For the next available workshop, see the News panel on the right side and apply online.

In the weeks leading up to your workshop time, please prepare for the workshop by studying the instructions for the instrument you are learning about.

The workshop fee schedule is listed in the fees and membership page and may be adjusted over time. Please note that that the workshop fee is lower than the booking rate for the instrument and operator for that same amount of time, so we encourage everyone to make use of this opportunity.

CAMTEC workshops

In conjunction with UVic NanoFab and The Centre of Advanced Materials & Related Technology (CAMTEC) we are offering the CAMTEC Nanofabrication Workshop. This workshop covers scanning electron microscopy on the Hitachi S-4800 SEM (AMF), focused ion beam fabrication on the Hitachi FB-2100 (AMF) and electron beam lithography with the RAITH50 (UVic Nanofab). Partially subsidised by CAMTEC, this workshop is available only to CAMTEC members, from professors to graduate students.

For future years, if you are a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow in CAMTEC and plan to use electron microscopy and nanofabrication for your research, this is a good opportunity to become trained on the Hitachi FB-2100 FIB, Hitach S-4800 SEM, and RAITH 50 EBL, and have your fees partially covered by CAMTEC. The workshop is typically run three times each year.

Speak to your advisor and apply online as for any training workshop. Please include a detailed description of how you plan to use the instruments in your research.

The first week is scheduled for SEM instruction, demonstration, hands-on practice and one-on-one training; the second week is scheduled for FIB and EBL instruction and demonstration. The remaining one-on-one training sessions will depend on student schedules and will be determined at the beginning of the workshop through feedback from the participants.

Please see the section below to download previous student presentations for the CAMTEC workshops (PDF).