To be able to request services to NCF or be a user, you need to have an iLab account. NCF uses the iLab portal to manage services, trainings and reservations. PIs need to register first to have their labs created. Then business managers and lab members can register into their labs (research groups). PIs can assign the following roles to members of their group:

• Manager
• Primary Financial Contact
• Lab member

INTERNAL PI – someone who has funding through UIC (has a CFOAPAL)

1. Navigate to iLab (Bookmark this URL for future use)
2. Select “Sign in using University of Illinois at Chicago (NetID) credentials.”
3. You will now be prompted to provide your UIC NetID and password.
4. In the registration page select a lab
5. Your first name, last name, and email address will be pre-filled. Complete any remaining fields that have not been pre-filled, such as phone number.
6. Click ‘Register.’ The next page you see will be the “Greeting Page”
7. Once logged in you will be on the iLab homepage dashboard. Make sure to set your time zone and ADD YOUR FUNDING SOURCE(S)!

Who is an “EXTERNAL USER”? – someone who has funding through another entity (does not have a CFOAPAL). Please note that even if you have UIC appointment but your funding comes from other than UIC entity, you need to register as external user.

1. Navigate to iLab (Bookmark this URL for future use)
2. Select “Register for an iLab Account”
3. Fill out the registration form. Please make sure all your information is accurate. We will be sending invoices and all other communication according to the information you provided here.
4. Once the registration is finalized, you will receive a notification from iLab support team

Please note: External PIs who have existing accounts with iLab through their institution:

• Please click on the ‘hamburger’ menu icon on the top left hand side of iLab website and navigate to ‘Core facilities’ .
  Under view on the core facilities click on the 3rd option in the View ‘cores at other institutions’
  This will populate all the institutions which use iLab, you can either scroll to UIC or search in the right side tab.

The safety exam can be found here.

In order to become an NCF user, you will first need to pass the NCF safety exam. A copy of the exam can be found on the NCF Policies and Pricing page on the RRC website. The exam can be taken between the hours of 9am and 3pm, Monday through Friday at the NCF main office in room 3064 of the Engineering Research Facility (ERF), located at 842 W Taylor St, Chicago, IL, 60607.  To pass the exam, you will have to answer more than 80% of the questions correctly. You will be notified of the results within 48 hours. If you do not pass the exam, you’re welcome to retake it another time.

After the Exam

After passing the exam, please stop by NCF office to get key-card access and cleanroom gowns, if needed.

Facility and Cleanroom Access

For UIC affiliated individuals, facility access will be granted through our swipe card access system. Non-UIC affiliated individuals will need to obtain a visitor card from the UIC ID center. The visitor card request form can be obtained at the NCF main office. Swipe card access to the facility will be granted once you have your visitor card.  You can always knock on the door of room 3064 ERF if you do not have your iCard.

For cleanroom access, you will need to obtain a transponder. You can come to the NCF main office, between 9am and 5pm, Monday through Friday to get a transponder which is used to track your cleanroom usage. The cleanroom access fee is $34/hr for academic users, and $50/hr for industrial users. For UIC affiliated individuals, you must bring with you, your iCard and your iLab payment source number. Non-UIC affiliated individuals must have their iLab payment source number with them. Please note that the owner of the payment source must grant you permission to use said payment source on iLab. If you will not be using the cleanroom, you may proceed to the next section.

Requesting Trainings

You can request trainings on instruments through the Request Services tab on iLab. Please make sure you specify which instrument you want to get trained on when you fill out the request. The training fee is $65/session for academic users, and $100/session for industrial users.

The standard number of trainings for instruments is 3, although some simple instruments will require only 2 sessions. The first is a session with a member of NCF staff where you are shown how the instrument works. The second training can be with NCF staff or an authorized user, usually a lab mate, where you will have hands-on practice. The third training is a checkout session with a member of NCF staff where you are tested on how to use the instrument and any specific operational/safety points. Simple instruments will only require the initial session and the checkout.

Instrument Usage

Please refer to the NCF Instruments and Pricing.

NCF performs work service requests for those who need to use our facility for one of experiments or sample characterizations and would not want to go through the safety exam and training process. You can request a work service through the Request Services tab on iLab. Please make sure to specify that you require a work service and on what instrument. Work service request are charged at $100/hr (Internal) and $120/hr (External) of work in addition to the instrument usage and supplies.

The work service requests are performed by the NCF staff members and the asked results are provided to the requestor. You can refer to the NCF FAQs page or contact NCF Director, Dr. Seyoung An (syan11@uic.edu) with additional questions.

If you are not a user, it is possible that you might not have a payment account with NCF. To ease the payment process, NCF allows payment through various methods as listed below:

• Credit Card
• Check
• Wire Transfer
• PO Number
• External Payments

EXTERNAL USERS DO NOT NEED TO ADD PAYMENT SOURCES ON iLAB. Invoices will be sent out after the services will be provided.

Payments are DUE in 30 days.

For more information on payments, please visit the RRC website.