Courses and Training

Fall and spring semesters. 3 credits.  Use of the transmission electron microscope and preparative equipment in the biological sciences. Sectioning for electron microscopy.
Contact: Dr. Alicia Withrow, 517-355-5004, pastorle@msu.edu

Fall and spring semesters. 3 credits. Experimental methods for transmission electron microscopy in the physical sciences, including digital photography, imaging, diffraction, and microanalysis.
Contact: Dr. Beth Hudak, hudakbet@msu.edu

Fall and spring semesters. 1 credit, modular class, students may enroll for a maximum of 5 credits. Advanced experimental methods of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for the physical sciences. Bright field-dark field imaging. High resolution TEM imaging, nano beam diffraction and convergent beam diffraction. Scanning transmission electron imaging, energy filtered TEM imaging, and electron energy loss spectroscopy.
Contact: Dr. Andy Elwood Madden, maddenan@msu.edu

Fall and spring semesters. 3 credits. Scanning electron microscope operation,  sample preparation, secondary electron imaging, backscattered electron imaging, high and low vacuum SEM modes, ultra-high resolution imaging techniques, and energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis.
Contact: Dr. Andy Elwood Madden, maddenan@msu.edu

• Class structure: Andy will be teaching the lecture periods this semester (once weekly on Wed afternoons 1:50-3:40 pm); Andy, Aubrey Accad, and Abby Vanderberg will be teaching the lab sections during the week; we'll find a 2 hour time that matches with your schedule.
• "Pre-bill" requirement: We require students in the course to have research supervisor / Professor to provide information to support your training with a $400 'pre-bill' deposit that you can use for your microscope time during the semester, which can also continue to be used after the end of the semester. 
• Enrollment form: Please complete the enrollment form and return to Andy with your research advisor's signature or cc them on the email (an email attachment is fine).
• Transition to independent user: After students complete the course, they will have the opportunity to become an independent user of the SEM and Keyence microscopes. In the meantime, they can still use them in collaboration with one of the CAM scientists through assisted use sessions.

Fall and spring semesters of every year, summer in odd numbered years. 3 credits. The course covers conventional and confocal light microscope theory and operation, optics, light sources, filters, and techniques for transmission, fluorescence and reflection imaging.  Advanced techniques include FRAP, FRET, spectral imaging, laser capture, two-photon microscopy and super resolution microscopy.
Contact: Dr. Melinda Frame, 517-432-2327, framem@msu.edu

Waiver of Course Visitor policy, College of Natural Science

Michigan State University (MSU) has a process for Enrolling and Registering as a Visitor (Auditor)  in a course. Course enrollment as an auditor is on a non-credit basis and requires appropriate approval and payment of tuition and fees as for a credit registration. Furthermore, auditors can be dropped from the class at the request of the instructor if they do not meet course requirements.

Rules and regulations concerning unregistered course auditors

The College of Natural Science (NatSci) understands the need of its members to audit courses or parts of a course without formal registration to grow professionally.  Granting a waiver of the class visitor policy for individuals to audit a NatSci class is a privilege and not a right. The college delegates on instructors and unit administrators the authority to evaluate professional needs of audit requestors and grant them auditing privileges provided they establish rules and regulations that ensure visitor’s compliance with MSU expectations of behavior and conduct. Such rules and regulations must be consistent with and include the following:

• Class visitors shall be MSU graduate students, postdocs, visiting scholars or other employees in good academic standing.
• They may only be permitted to audit lecture-based courses and recitations without formal registration, on a space available basis.
  • Laboratory courses require formal enrollment and tuition payment.
  • Persons taking the course for credit or registering as class visitors (and, thus, paying tuition) receive priority.
• Unregistered visitors must demonstrate a reasonable need to audit the course and do not receive credit or formal academic recognition.
• The audit request must be approved by the instructor and unit administrator (department chair or program director).
• Approved class visitors must adhere to the course, unit and university regulations, including those related to academic behavior and conduct.
• The instructor and unit administrator reserve the right to drop the class visitor from the course at any time and without explanation.

NatSci Waiver of Course Visitor Policy Request form download

Policy coming soon!  Reach out to Andy (maddenan@msu.edu) if you'd like to request training on the AFM.

Students seeking to become independent users of the CLSM equipment must enroll in the NSC-837 Confocal Microscopy Lab. Visiting researchers, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty may receive training outside of formal coursework.  For details on either, contact Dr. Melinda Frame, framem@msu.edu, 517-432-2327. 

New users wishing gain access as independent users of the CAM’s Keyence VHX-6000 must complete the following steps:

• Participate in a training session (2 hours) with a CAM Staff member, in which the CAM Staff member is operating and demonstrating the instrument functions.
• Within 10 working days of the initial training, the user will participate in supervised data collection of 1 hour (total, could be multiple sessions) in which the new user is operating the instrument but the CAM Staff member is present.
  • As part of the supervised use, the user should demonstrate:
    • care and understanding regarding the stage position, sample height, and working distances, and
    • care and understanding in handling the hardware components.
  • If the user is determined to be sufficiently careful and proficient by the supervising CAM Staff member, the user may then be granted access to the scheduling calendar and may use the instrument as an independent operator. Otherwise, additional supervised sessions will be required until the researcher can demonstrate proficiency on the system.
  • The first independent use session must be within 10 working days of the supervised use session, otherwise another supervised session is required.

Please note:

• The training and supervised usage sessions will be billed as ‘Operator assisted’ use rate. Further independent operation will be billed at the ‘Self operation’ rate.
• Prior completion of NSC837 or NSC820 for independent use of the Keyence microscope by MSU graduate students is no longer required.

The SEM training process is described here. Please note that it doesn't make sense to start training until you're ready to start using the SEM somewhat regularly.  We'll need to re-train if you don't use / practice for a long time after the initial session(s).  To get started with SEM training, first fill out the SEM training interest survey.  Not sure if the NSC 820 course or training option is right for you?  Check out our SEM course or training guide and reach out to Andy with questions (maddenan@msu.edu).

Biological TEM training options 

• Sample preparation
  • Samples for TEM: tissues (plant, animal), samples in suspension. Differences between sample preparation for tissues and samples in suspension.
  • Agarose embedding of cells
  • Fixatives: glutaraldehyde, paraformaldehyde, osmium tetroxide. When to use them and why
  • Different dehydrating agents
  • Types of embedding medium
  • Negative staining
• Sectioning
  • The ultramicrotome
  • Glass knife maker
  • Differences between glass and diamond knives
  • Differences between thick and thin sections
  • Stains for thick sections and thin sections
  • Positive staining
• Imaging
  • The 1400 Flash microscope
  • Types of specimen holder
  • Insertion and removal of the specimen holder
  • The microscope column
  • Controllers
  • Apertures
  • Astigmatism

Physical Sciences training options