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Lab Support Facility

The Lab Support Facility (LSF) at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) supports all experimental labs on campus in their research work. The Life Science Support (LSS) focuses on the particular needs of the groups active in the life science while the Physical Science Support (PSS) concentrates on the requirements in experimental chemistry and physics.


The main objectives of the facility are:

  • Provide a laboratory infrastructure for experimental sciences that enables the scientist to apply a brought spectrum of standard and advanced technologies in their work.
  • Provide best possible laboratory and surrounding conditions to allow the scientists to focus on their research work as much as possible.
  • Provide the necessary infrastructure that enables the scientists to ensure compliance of their work with the current Austrian legislation.
  • Provide the necessary means to enable safe working conditions within the laboratories.
  • Provide facility services that allow easy access to experimental resources (media, animals, plants, viruses, proteins etc.) and highly specialized equipment at a consistently high level to allow the scientists to focus on their scientific questions as much as possible.

For specific further facility details, please visit the Lab Support Facility web page: lsf.pages.ist.ac.at


On this site:


Services

  • Laboratory Equipment Infrastructure
    Infrastructure equipment is research equipment that is shared by two or more groups on campus. The equipment is purchased and maintained by LSF funds, but operated by users.
  • Technical Support
    Inspection of non-functional equipment and coordination of repair, supply with technical gases (including dry ice, liquid nitrogen, and liquid helium), support for off-campus technologies
  • Laboratory cleaning and waste disposal
    LSF staff cleans laboratory areas to avoid critical mistakes by not sufficiently trained external staff. The disposal of laboratory waste is also organized by the LSF.
  • Lab safety
    All issues regarding laboratory safety, in particular biosafety, radiation safety, magnetic field safety, handling of hazardous chemicals, definition of safe working procedures etc. are covered by the LSF. The aim is to assist all labs in establishing safe working procedures that are fully compliant with Austrian law.   

Equipment

Overview of Lab Support Facility Equipment


Media and Cleaning Kitchen

Media Kitchen

The media kitchen provides services related to microbiology, cell culture and biochemistry. It produces custom culture media, plates and solutions to meet the individual needs of each user. In addition, commonly used reagents are kept in stock to be available 24/7. All media are checked on a regular basis for their sterility and shelf life to ensure reliable product quality.

Cleaning Kitchen

The cleaning kitchen collects dirty glass and plastic ware and redistributes clean and sterile material on a daily basis, five times per week. Custom sterilization of lab supplies, e.g. pipette tips, tubes by autoclaving or dry heat sterilization is offered. Biological waste is collected and autoclaved before disposal.  


Aquatics Facility

The Aquatics Facility is a breeding facility for zebrafish (Danio rerio) and the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis). It encompasses about 1’500 fish and 400 frog aquaria. The fish section started its operations in 2010, the frog operations started in 2020. The Aquatics Facility supports cell and developmental biologists on campus.

Services

  • Fish and frog care (e.g., feeding, health monitoring, welfare, etc.)
  • Maintenance breeding of specific lines
  • Cryo conservation
  • Documentation and compliance support 
  • Cleaning and maintenance of facility 

Plant Facility

The Plant Facility supports the plant biologists at ISTA in maintaining specific breeds (cultivating seedlings, growing plants, and harvesting seeds) in defined conditions. Fully operational since 2014, the Plant Facility is where Arabidopsis and Tobacco species are handled for current research projects.

The facility has a maximum capacity of 759 trays and is fully equipped with LED lamps optimized for plant growth.

Services

  • Plant care (e.g., watering of plants, pest control, etc.)
  • Maintenance breeding of specific plant lines
  • Cleaning and maintenance of facility
  • Stock keeping and ordering of consumables

Mass Spectrometry

Mass Spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique which can measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ionized molecules. The current MS service is focused on the identification and quantification of proteins in cells and tissues, as well as the analysis of protein-protein interactions and protein modifications by LC-MS using orbitrap and TOF spectrometers.

Also, the service offers the analysis of organic or inorganic compounds by GC-MS. In 2023 an additional high resolution mass spectrometer for accurate mass detection of compounds and larger molecules (intact proteins) will be purchased.

Services

  • Project consulting
  • Sample preparation
  • MS analysis
  • Data analysis

Molecular Biology Service

The Molecular Biology Service was launched 2019 to support experimental biologists with the generation of molecular tools for work in living cells and tissues. In particular, the development and production of different viral systems for gene delivery, including molecular cloning, were the main objective. In 2022 the service was broadened towards protein technologies. This service branch supports all steps from protein expression to purification, as well as biophysical characterization of purified proteins. 

Services

  • Project consulting
  • Molecular cloning
  • Virus production and purification
  • Protein production, characterization, purification
  • User training

Material characterization

The Material Characterization Service provides access to  X-ray techniques to analyze the atomic (x-ray diffraction) and nano (small angle x-ray scattering) structure of samples.

For surface analysis a x-ray photoelectron spectroscope is currently being purchased.

Services

  • User training
  • Equipment support and troubleshooting

Lab Support Facility Lectures

Safety briefing for newcomers
2-monthly interval, 1 hour

Safety training (Bio safety level 2) for IST users
1 hour

Introduction to the use of zebrafish facility
no lecture, 30 min, individually

Introduction to the use of plant facility
no lecture, 30 min, individually


Staff

Image of David Andrejcsik

David Andrejcsik

Technician Lab Support Facility

Image of Daniel Balazs

Daniel Balazs

Staff Scientist

+43 2243 9000 2239

Image of Petra Bartos

Petra Bartos

Service Support Lab Support Facility


Image of Bella Bruszel

Bella Bruszel

Technician Mass Spectrometry Proteomic

Image of Nicole Burscha

Nicole Burscha

Laboratory Technician Plant Facility

Image of Ewelina Dutkiewicz-Kopczynska

Ewelina Dutkiewicz-Kopczynska

Mass Spectrometry


Image of Renate Eric

Renate Eric

Service Support Lab Support Facility

+43 2243 9000 7413

Image of Margarita Eustacchio

Margarita Eustacchio

Laboratory Management Life Sciences

+43 2243 9000 1189

Image of Mark Farrington

Mark Farrington

Technician LSF / TL Lab Support

+43 2243 9000 1025

Image of Julia Flor

Julia Flor

Laboratory Management Life Sciences

+43 2243 9000 1136

Image of Flavia Gama Gomes Leite

Flavia Gama Gomes Leite

Virus Services

Image of Julia Hilscher

Julia Hilscher

Laboratory Management

+43 2243 9000 2202


Image of Dorota Jaworska

Dorota Jaworska

Laboratory Technician Plant Facility

Image of Jawad Khawari

Jawad Khawari

Technical Support Lab Support Facility

+43 2243 9000 1081

Image of Nesrete Krasnici

Nesrete Krasnici

Technician Protein Service


Image of Jula Lohberg

Jula Lohberg

Animal Care Aquatics

Image of Janez Luznik

Janez Luznik

Laboratory Management Physical Sciences

Image of Verena Mayer

Verena Mayer

Laboratory Technician /TL Aquatics

+43 2243 9000 2033

Image of Andreas Mlak

Andreas Mlak

Animal Care Aquatics

Image of Armel Nicolas

Armel Nicolas

Mass Spectrometry

+43 2243 9000 2142

Image of Matthias Nowak

Matthias Nowak

Manager of Lab Support Facility

+43 2243 9000 1027


Image of Stephan O

Stephan O’Toole

Technician Lab Support Facility

Image of Houda Ouled Ali

Houda Ouled Ali

Service Support Lab Support Facility

Image of Biljana Petrovic

Biljana Petrovic

Service Support Lab Support Facility


Image of Marta Rokoszak

Marta Rokoszak

Service Support Lab Support Facility

Image of Mersija Smailagic

Mersija Smailagic

Service Support Lab Support Facility

+43 2243 9000 7413

Image of Mark Smyth

Mark Smyth

Virus Service Technician

+43 2243 9000 2219

Image of Renate Srsek

Renate Srsek

Service Support Lab Support Facility

+43 2243 9000 7412

Image of Gertraud Stift

Gertraud Stift

Laboratory Management / Team Leader CMK

+43 2243 9000 1017

Image of Jelena Stojiljkovic

Jelena Stojiljkovic

Service Support Lab Support Facility


Image of Pavle Troselj

Pavle Troselj

Laboratory Management Physical Sciences

Image of Linda Trübestein

Linda Trübestein

Protein Services / Team Lead MBS

+43 2243 9000 2243

Image of Agnieszka Wiktor

Agnieszka Wiktor

Service Support Lab Support Facility

+43 2243 9000 7610


Contact

Institute of Science and Technology Austria
c/o Lab Support Facility
Am Campus 1, A-3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria

Office: Bertalanffy Foundation building, ground floor

Scientific Head of Lab Support Facility:
Jiri Friml

Contact for facility questions: lsf@ist.ac.at

Contact Manager:



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