The intranet of Plant Ecology and Evolution
Internal information for Plant Ecology and Evolution. There is more information concerning all IEG people in www.ieg.uu.se/internal.
fika and information
Every Friday we have a common coffee break (nowadays a “Zoomfika”) at 14:30 where information is presented concerning the department.
ORDERING
Orders will be placed ones per week on Fridays by Yvonne Meyer-Lucht. Please use the orderform (https://mp.uu.se/group/vaxtekologi-och-evolution/docs) and send it by Thursday evening to Yvonne.
If you order yourself, specify the reference code 146TOL and your name as the recipient of the order, both for national and international orders. The reference code is needed to assign the invoice to our department, as all invoices are handled centrally. In case you receive an invoice via email or in paper, which happens sometimes for international orders, please forward them to the department’s administrator (Emelie Tollin).
Invoice address for Swedish suppliers:
Uppsala universitet
Invoices
Box 148
751 04 Uppsala
Invoice address for international suppliers:
Your name
Uppsala University
Institution for Ecology and Genetics
Plant Ecology and Evolution
Norbyvägen 18D
75236 Uppsala - Sweden
PACKAGE AND MAIL DELIVERY
Please read the Campus management’s information on the mail service:
https://www.ebc.uu.se/internal/intendentur/post/?languageId=1
If you are sending items that might be classified as dangerous goods, e.g. some chemicals or sample buffers, please contact either the department’s chemical advisor Yvonne Meyer-Lucht or directly the delivery service CLX (<boka@clx.se>), to ask whether special rules apply or precautions need to be taken.
office supply
There is a storage room for office supplies on in our corridor. Please make a note on the list of the door if anything is missing or almost running out.
LAB work
General lab routines
Before starting work in any of our labs you need a physical laboratory introduction with the lab manager (Yvonne Meyer-Lucht, yvonne.meyer-lucht@ebc.uu.se, 072-207 60 48). This applies to both work at the Molecular Lab and the Eco Lab.
Lab work should be planned and performed in such a manner that the risk of accidents and injuries to you and your colleagues is minimized. The key for working safe is to work accurately, to handle all chemicals and instruments according to the instructions and regulations, and to clean after yourself.
Of course, eating, drinking or smoking is not allowed in the lab.
Laboratory Safety Course
The university provides a short web course for laboratory safety, please go though it before you start working: https://mp.uu.se/web/info/anstallning/kompetensutveckling/interna/laboratoriesakerhet
Risk assessment
There are potential risks to be aware of, e.g. how to handle chemicals and instruments safely. Before you start using a commonly used method in our lab, please read the respective Risk Assessment.
You can find archived risk assessments, templates and instruction in the folder “Risk assessments” next to the fume hood in the molecular lab, and on the staff portal here:
By Swedish law, risk assessments have to be conducted for every new lab method that involves hazardous chemicals (i.e. chemicals labelled with a warning symbol), when a method is changed, and after accidents or incidents. Everybody working with the method has to read and understand the risk assessment.
Waste handling
Hazardous waste
Contaminated waste (contaminated gloved, paper towel, tubes, tips, etc.) has to be collected in the hazardous waste bin. Those are big yellow containers that you find under the benches in several places in the lab. If you are uncertain about what is hazardous waste or not, please check the “Guidelines for handling hazardous waste at EBC” pinned on the side of the yellow chemical cabinet.
Chemical waste
Chemical waste is collected in separate bottles and stored in the fume hood. Please label the bottle CLEARLY with the names of the chemicals that the waste contains and the app. Percentages. Do not mix different chemical wastes, they might chemically react and form toxic gases or explode.
This also applies for bleach (KLORIN), which form a toxic gas in combination with acids.
Antibiotic waste
Petri dishes/tubes containing antibiotics and bacteria are treated with 10 % Jodopax (Iodine) and then disposed as “hazardous waste”. Liquid medium is treated with jodopax or clorine, filled into 50ml falcontubes and disposed with the solid hazardous waste.
Recycling
Containers for plastic packaging and cardboard are placed on the right at the lab entrance, Styrofoam boxes can be left there as well. A little box for collecting metal is under the sink.
Sharp and cutting material
Sharp materials (blades, scalpels, needles, etc.) have to be collected in the small yellow/red bins on the lab benches. Broken lab glassware named Pyrex, Schott or Duran shall be thrown in the paper cardboard (with a styrofoam lid) situated under the fume hood.
Pipette tips
Even non-contaminated pipette tips have to be discarded as hazardous waste or be collected in plastic bags, properly closed and discarded in the combustible waste.
Handling liquid nitrogen
Before you start working with liquid nitrogen, you have to get an instruction on how to collect, transport and work with liquid nitrogen, and which safety equipment to use. You are NOT allowed to go and get it by yourself without instruction from the safety officer or an experienced colleague.
Liquid nitrogen has to be collected in special transporting containers. Do not use the elevator when transporting liquid nitrogen.
Autoclave
Before using the autoclave, you need to get an introduction by an experienced user. Please read the instructions and risk assessment carefully.
-80 Freezers
There are -80°C freezers in the basement. They contain very precious sample material. Before you open one of the freezers, turn the timer on the wall connected to the freezer, to disconnect it temporarily from the alarm. If the temperature in the freezer rises over a certain threshold, the alarm will go off, and a security company will be informed and called in. This is very expensive, so don’t open the freezers longer than absolutely necessary and make sure you properly close them when you are done.
Chemicals
All chemicals that we have in the department are registered in the database KLARA, which you can access via medarbetarportalen. Here you can find information about where to find the chemical, the amount we have as well as safety data sheets. You need a login to use KLARA, the common login for Plant Ecology and Evolution is username “växtekologi” and password “växtekologi”.
All chemicals have to be ordered by the chemical officer, Yvonne Meyer-Lucht. If you have any question regarding chemicals, please contact her.
All bottles or containers that contain chemicals, even temporary ones, must be labeled with the substance, your name, date and the hazard labels.
Lab coat
Use a lab coat when there is risk for spills or splashes of hazardous chemicals or staining chemicals!
DO NOT WEAR THE LAB COAT OR GLOVES OUTSIDE THE LAB!
Ethanol
Smaller amounts of ethanol are stored in the yellow chemical cabinet (molecular lab), and the chemical drawer beside the fume hood (Ecolab). Contact Yvonne Meyer-Lucht when we are running out of ethanol or if you need larger amounts.
Power outage
In case of a power outage, stop working on the lab and leave. The ventilation stops and the fume hoods and benches will not work anymore, so hazardous chemical vapors are not extracted anymore.
Working alone
If you work alone, e.g. in the evening or weekend, try to avoid handling hazardous chemicals and methods. If this is not avoidable, make safety arrangements, as informing a colleague or family member about your work, where you are and when you will be done. Regular contact via phone or text messages has proven to be useful.
Lab benches
The lab benches are personal, i.e. we don’t share pipettes, tips, chemicals, consumables. Make sure that the things that belong to you are well marked with your name and stored in your glass cabinet or drawer. Do not take pipettes from the Molecular Lab to the Ecolab or the Greenhouse.
Keep the benches tidy!
Adjustment in times of the pandemic: Spread out as much as possible in the labs, keep distance and make use of the pre PCR room if possible. Avoid working with more than 1 person per bench row.
Dishwashing and sinks
Do not pour hazardous chemicals into the sink!
All used glassware should be rinsed with water and all labels removed, and then collected in the plastic boxes under the sink for later washing in the dish washer.