BRF Update January 2019
Happy New Year! The BRF team have been hard at work over the break and we returned to full operations last week. I hope everyone had an enjoyable festive season.
We have a few updates for you already:
Booking technical services in the research wing – must be done through PPMS from February onwards
As covered in the December update, we are moving to having users make bookings for technical services using PPMS. I have attached the guidelines (which are also available on the intranet) on how to make bookings, which includes information on how much time to book for different procedures and numbers of animals. The system is currently ready to use so please feel free to trial the system out and/or make your bookings through PPMS. From February it will be mandatory to use PPMS, bookings will not be accepted via email.
We are hoping that utilising PPMS will allow users to better self-manage their utilisation of the service times available, automatically scheduling around each other and providing clear evidence for the amount of labour resources required for technical services. It is really important that you provide us with ongoing feedback as we expect some teething issues, as this is a significant shift in the way that technical services are scheduled – please do not hesitate to let us know if you have any questions.
For booking services in the gnotobiotics facility, please continue to email Emily Duggan directly - [email protected].
BRF Training Coordinator role
This role has been re-advertised (right before Christmas was not a good time for applications!), the new closing date is 20th Jan. This role would suit an experienced senior technician or senior research assistant. Please see links below and let anyone know who may be interested:
http://jobs.uq.edu.au/caw/en/job/505630/senior-animal-technical-training-coordinator
Bedding trial
In mid-Feb we will be trialling an alternate bedding supplier (Corncoblogy). One full silo’s worth of bedding will be received, as we need to trial a sufficient quantity to assess dust levels and impact on our current dispensing process/equipment. The product itself is exactly the same as our current bedding (1/4 inch corncob) and is used by a number of other major animal facilities in Australia so we do not expect any issues. About half the cages in the facility will be changed with the bedding from Corncobology, after which we will return to our bedding from our existing supplier and review any issues/changes at all. Please let us know if you have any concerns or notice any changes with the bedding at all.
Online training
Over the next few weeks we will start inviting all users who have card access to the BRF to complete the BRF Induction training, if they have not done so already. If you no longer require access to the BRF and do not wish to complete this training, please email [email protected].
As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any queries or concerns.
