Facility Guide

Submit a Requisition

Users can submit an online purchase request to the MRL Business Office.

Submit a Purchase Request

Grant Proposal Instructions

Notify Kristopher Williams at (217) 244-2943 or kbwillia@illinois.edu in the Business Office as soon as you know you would like to submit a proposal. Please include the agency, due date, and program solicitation information.

Proposals must conform to the requirements set forth in the solicitation or guidelines provided by the funding agency. Failure to do so will typically result in the proposal being returned by the sponsor without being reviewed.

In order to comply with University campus submission policy it is important that you contact the MRL Business team as soon as you know about the project in order to submit to Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) no less than 4 days prior to the sponsor deadline (e.g. Friday deadline packages are due to SPA the prior Monday). The complexity of the specific solicitation will determine how far in advance of the SPA deadline the MRL Business team needs to begin work to best support your submission.

Central Research Facility Use Acknowledgments

An acknowledgment of awarding agency support and a disclaimer must appear in the publication of any material, whether copyrighted or not, based on or developed under the project. Your grant sponsor or program manager will provide award-specific requirements for acknowledging their support. See below for several relevant examples.

Usage of the MRL Facilities

The following acknowledgment must be included in all publications that incorporate any results obtained through the MRL Central Facilities (CMM, Microfab, LSF):

"... was carried out in part in the Materials Research Laboratory Central Research Facilities, University of Illinois."

DOE BES\DMS Programs at MRL

"This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Division of Materials Sciences under Award No. DE-####-#########*, through the Materials Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign."

* Replace ######### with the proper code for your award

General Guidelines

Generic Acknowledgment: "This material is based upon work supported by the [name of awarding agency(ies)] under Award No. [award number(s) assigned by awarding agency(ies)]."

Generic Disclaimer: Many federal agencies also request that all materials, except scientific articles or papers published in scientific journals, must also contain the following:

"Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the [name of awarding agency/agencies]."

MRL Building Emergency Contacts

In case of an emergency, dial 9-911 from a campus phone or 911 from a cell phone.

Primary facilities contact:
Kristopher Williams, Associate Director for Administration
O: (217) 244-2943
M: (217) 390-8013

If unavailable, phone the University of Illinois Police non-emergency line: 333-1216

Safety information

Please visit the MRL Safety page for more information on lab safety and inspections.

Key request instructions

ALL KEY REQUESTS ARE HANDLED ONLINE.

• Log in to https://my.mrl.illinois.edu/keys/request/
• Input key information, including instrument name if appropriate
• Click Add Key to submit
• Repeat for each key to be requested
• When finished selecting keys, click Submit Request

Your request will be sent via email to the person(s) responsible for the various rooms. Once your submission has been approved, MRL Facilities staff will email you when your keys are ready to be picked up.

Room Reservations

ALL MEETING ROOM RESERVATIONS ARE MADE by emailing reservations@mrl.illinois.edu. Rooms are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. View the availability via the My.MRL portal. Hover over the Facilities tab at the top and choose the Reservations option. The earliest a reservation will be accepted is one semester before the beginning of the next semester (May for fall semester, August for spring semester, and January for summer semester).

Meeting rooms and their approximate capacity are as follows:

• 208 MRL — 20 (equipped with movable tables, multiple monitors)
• 280 MRL — 70 (equipped with blackboards and projector with screen)
• 1002 Supercon* — 35 (equipped with whiteboards and projector with screen)
• 1023 Supercon — 10 (equipped with a whiteboard and monitor)
• 2008 Supercon** —  25-30 (equipped with a glass board and projector/screen/integrated PC with full A/V teleconferencing) 
• 1-141 ESB  — 14 (equipped with a glass board and monitor)
• 190 ESB* — 187 (equipped with whiteboards and projector/screens/integrated PC)

* No food or beverages are allowed in these rooms. These rooms are locked at all times. Keys may be checked out in 2015 MRL.
** MRSEC reservations have priority. 

Please email reservations@mrl.illinois.edu with your request stating the date, time, and requested room number.

LCD/overhead projector reservations

If you need to check out a projector to use in one of the conference rooms, please state this when you submit your room reservation request. To request a projector to use elsewhere, please email engrit-help@illinois.edu with your request stating the date, time and room number.

Flyer posting guidelines

All flyers/posters for announcement of meetings or seminars should be mailed to or dropped off to the Director's Office, 2015 MRL, MC-230. Staff in this office will post these items in the designated areas with approved methods of posting. Any items that are found to be posted without prior authorization will be removed.

Director's Office (2015 MRL)

The MRL Director's Office is the primary administrative office for the laboratory. Responsibilities include key management, space reservations, funding proposals, and sponsor agency reporting requirements.

Business Office (2007 MRL)

The MRL Business Office provides accounting and financial services to the laboratory, as well as dealing with general maintenance and operating procedures.