Post-COVID-suspension Cleanroom Re-opening Summary


January 28, 2022

The University is mandating that all MNFC Labmembers (faculty, staff, students, and external users) receive a booster dose by January 31, 2022. After receiving a booster, you should update the vaccination status on VacStatus (staff and faculty), MyUHS (students), or by submitting the new Sponsored Visitor Request Form (external users).

July 29, 2021

The University is preparing for moving towards more normal operations in the coming months. We are excited and hope that Fall will feel like a normal semester prior to the pandemic days. As a part of all this, we are open for all Labmembers and welcome our external users back in a phased manner into our Facility.

October 30, 2020

Memo on Buddy System vs. Staffed hours during COVID: Daytime operations Memo

August 24, 2020

The PRISM Cleanroom is now open for both experienced as well as new Labmembers (except industrial collaborators) and all instructions on how to become a new Labmember are listed on our updated PRISM Cleanroom website: New Labmember. Only those undergraduate students who were explicitly given access to campus and got approval to do laboratory research by University Administration can access the PRISM Cleanroom.

Furthermore, this year, we will not be holding our PRISM Cleanroom Annual Meeting but instead we ask you to complete an online safety training that serves also as PRISM Cleanroom Orientation Course for new Labmembers . There have been a lot of changes to the PRISM Cleanroom over the last year and some of them are related to special procedures to protect users and staff from COVID-19 infection. We are asking you to complete this training before 9/1/2020 to bring you up to date on all those changes and to avoid any disruption in access on September 1st.

After completing the course please sign and email back to Joe Palmer (jpalmer@Princeton.edu) or Zuzanna Lewicka (zlewicka@princeton.edu) a new PRISM Cleanroom Expectations for Use document indicating you understand and will follow new PRISM Cleanroom rules (see attached document).

Historical COVID announcements, below
August 3, 2020

New Labmember Admittance Preparation:

We expect to announce Phase-3 of our re-opening in the near future.

As we prepare to admit, onboard and train new labmembers, please refer to the onboarding page under the tab, "New Labmember". This tab contains instructions what to do administratively in anticipation of resumption of 1:1 training. We will contact you when we are ready to onboard and train new Labmembers.

Thank you for your patience. We look forward to resuming operations for all those in need of Cleanroom access.

July 23, 2020

According to our approved plan for phased resumption of operations, we are opening the PRISM Cleanroom, SMP and Packaging labs for use by all previously trained internal Labmembers on Monday, July 27. Here is a link to the Training Video: COVID-19 Related Procedures for PRISM Cleanroom Personnel that each Labmember must complete before accessing the laboratory.

Due to limited staff availability, daytime staffed access should be planned for M-F, 8-5 (less noon lunch hour). New applicants to after-hours tool use will involve a new application process, TBA.

Only approved Labmembers will be allowed to use tools and processes after-hours, although all Labmembers may serve as after-hours safety buddies upon request (Contact Joe Palmer for modified key access to serve as a buddy).

Please note that the University is very sensitive to admitting additional people to campus during COVID, so this phase does NOT include our off-campus academic or industrial affiliates. All posted spatial occupancy limits in the gowning room and labs still apply. All social distancing measures still apply and the video training guides the use of masks. The buddy system applies to all areas of the lab during low occupancy with some areas requiring a live buddy within visual or hearing distance (wet chemical or thermal operations); and other areas requiring at least periodic contact with a virtual buddy.

We will post additional announcements when we are allowed to open the lab to undergraduates, train new lab users, and open to off-campus access.

Thank you for your patience.

June 26, 2020

As announced before on June 23 2020, PRISM Cleanroom begins the phased re-opening on Monday, June 29. Here is a link to Training Video: COVID-19 Related Procedures for PRISM Cleanroom Personnel that each Labmember must complete before accessing the laboratory. During this first phase, only labmembers with after-hours access will be admitted due to the limited availability of support staff and restrictions on personal interactions and training.

June 23, 2020

We are very pleased to welcome Princeton's phased resumption of research!

As we begin the phased re-opening of Cleanroom activity beginning Monday, June 29, here is a summary of our re-opening plan and instructions for key phases separated by individual lab-experience category. There are several items that differ from what we anticipated and announced in our June Newsletter circulated earlier (e.g., opening times, buddy system details), so please pay attention to these notices:

In all cases: See attached document describing Cleanroom re-entry hygiene protocols and forms that must be signed by you and by your PI. (Also posted here.)

PRISM Cleanroom online training is currently in preparation stages and will be posted and announced before the end of this week. All Labmembers will be informed about the PRISM Cleanroom training schedule by email.

The University requires the following:

  • Ensure that each member of your lab (faculty, graduate student, post-doctoral researcher, staff) completes Safe Practices for Resumption of Research training available in the Employee Learning Center.
  • Ensure that every member of your group completes a risk assessment to determine how soon they are permitted to resume on-campus, in-person activities. Complete the Risk Assessment Questionnaire, which will be reviewed by University Health Services, and await further instructions.
  • Ensure that every member of your group (faculty, graduate student, postdoctoral researcher, staff) performs the self-evaluation and reports symptoms every day prior to coming to campus using the COVID-19 medical self-assessment tool in TigerSafe. See TigerSafe for information on how to download and use the app. Discuss with your team the feature that notifies you or a lab manager the individual’s status for coming to campus.
  • In addition, Tigersafe offers an APP for staying in touch with a virtual safety buddy due to new EHS restrictions on working alone in Research labs. (https://emergency.princeton.edu/WorkAlone) While all activity in the SMP, Packaging lab and all areas of the Cleanroom require at least this use of a virtual safety buddy, NOTE that use of wet benches, solvent hoods and fume hoods still require the near proximity of a live safety buddy as explained in the attached document. Both familiarity with and signed commitment to this policy are required for all re-entry to the Cleanroom, SMP and Packaging labs.
Labmembers with after-hours access:
The PRISM Cleanroom, SMP and Packaging labs will re-open for limited access as of Monday, June 29, for 24/7 operations. We are only allowed to admit a very limited number of people in this first phase of restarting operations, and the highly experienced labmembers who have after-hours access are the first group in. This is the reverse phasing, as you may recall, of how we closed down the lab in March. Reasoning: Due to the very low occupancy of the lab and restrictions on 1:1 interactions (and therefore on training), we are only able to open initially to individuals who are capable of working independently using the Buddy System. Practically, this means that only those appropriately trained individuals who have 24/7 access will be admitted during the initial phases of re-opening.

Keep your eye on the NEMO tool list for status of still-down tools and any other tools with limited capability.

All interactions with Staff are initially required to be by electronic means. Please plan to contact staff by text, facetime or other means with any technical questions.

Other previously authorized labmembers:
After we shake out our new hygiene and safety buddy procedures, then a few weeks later, we will begin allowing the rest of our labmembers back into the lab. We are currently seeking University direction as to the conditions that may allow off-campus labmembers to resume access at the beginning of this phase, if this is allowed.

The Buddy System now also applies to anyone in the lab when occupancy is low. All Labmembers need to become familiar with this policy, its intent and practice.

New Labmembers
After a period of time, TBD by University authorization, we will resume training that will allow new labmembers to apply for access to the facilities.

We expect this time period will also roughly correspond with the beginning of tool training on the new Raith EBPG 5150 EBL tool, currently undergoing calibration and acceptance testing.

Thank you for your patience,

Ian Harvey
PRISM Cleanroom Director
609-285-9951

June 17, 2020

Today Dean Debenedetti announced the move to Level 2 from suspended research. This is fantastic news for our research community as it signals the allowance for limited, phased resumption of research. Please note that this does not mean the Cleanroom is ready to open; more announcements on ETA for opening will be forthcoming. The Dean’s announcement has the following effects for the PRISM Cleanroom Community:
  • Cleanroom Staff may now actively work to return the facility from an idle state, verify tool operation and implement new hygiene protocols
  • The re-opening will be limited to experienced INTERNAL Labmembers who are able to work independently and seek advice electronically from staff (i.e., INTERNAL Labmembers who currently have after-hours access)
  • It is unknown why non-Princeton researchers are not currently allowed by the University to use the lab
  • Hygiene protocols prevent in-person training of new Labmembers or direct mentoring of less-experienced Labmembers until further notice
  • Training on new Hygiene and Buddy System protocols will be forthcoming
Thank you for your patience while we prepare the lab to serve the research community during these unprecedented times.


March 22, 2020

In accordance with New Jersey Executive Order 107, all research activity in the PRISM Cleanroom is suspended indefinitely as of midnight, March 22, 2020. We look forward to working with you again when the emergency passes. Please stay safe and have care and concern for others. —PRISM Cleanroom team.