Multi-purpose microscopy laboratories can be found in a number of different places, including industry, hospitals, government research organizations and universities and the set up and operation of such a laboratory may well be quite different in each of these environments. in this tutorial the issues that are important in the running of a microscopy laboratory will be explored. The main topics include fundamental questions such as whether it is a good idea to have a centralized unit in the first place, how the operation of the laboratory should be funded and what the mix of staff and equipment should be.

Before we talk about how to run a multi-purpose laboratory we should consider the merits of having such a laboratory in a particular institution and whether that unit should be “centralized”. By centralized I mean that it is the preferred option for the institution to have most of the equipment in a central laboratory where it is essentially available to all the interested groups in the organization.