Operation Principles for Hebrew University Animal Facilities

 

1. The HUJI animal facilities are managed as a unified pan-University array, providing services to all researchers, while abiding with research requirements, maintaining animal welfare and meeting the highest ethical and professional standards.

The University’s animal facilities array is dedicated to:

•    Setting and maintaining a defined microbiological standard
•    Aiming to maintain an SPF level in the rodent facilities.
•    Aiming to include all animal facilities under the AAALAC accreditation

 

2. Animal facilities shall be managed in the most effective manner, while ensuring equal access to all users of the system. This entails maximal centralization in constructing the animal facilities located on the University’s various campuses:

•    Usage of premises will be optimized as pertains  occupancy and use of the system’s resources. Each animal facility will serve researchers from various departments, and not merely researchers from the building in which the facility is located.
•   The Authority shall determine which researchers will use the animal facilities by means of a pan-University overview. In making its decision, the Authority will of course take the researchers’ needs and their geographical location into consideration.
•   The anticipated research group size will determine whether it will be necessary to allocate a separate animal room for the proposed research work, or whether to allocate affiliation to an existing animal facility.
•   Animal facilities shall be operated on a first come-first served basis. That is; all users will be afforded equal access to services, with no allocation of “special privileges” to certain users.
•    Staffing assignments will not be specific to a certain animal facility. Rather, staff will be channeled according to professional needs.
•  As pertains to research utilizing large animals, the main considerations in centralization of the large animals units will be the professional skills of the employees and operating costs. Quarantine is an example of a central service in one location.

 

3. Any place in which animals are held for the purposes of research on the University premises will be defined/recognized as an animal facility managed by the Biological and  Biomedical Models Authority. The Authority will conduct all management, maintenance and operation of that animal facility.

•  There will be no “private” sections for certain researchers, and there will be no “private” systems.

 

4. New animal facilities shall be established only in coordination with the Authority.

•    In any case in which the establishment of a new animal facility is proposed, the need for creating the proposed animal facility versus the option of using existing animal facilities should be examined, while reviewing the budgetary aspects and additional costs involved in creating a new facility.

 

5. The Authority’s employees shall perform routine care of animals. The researcher is responsible for performing all research work and follow up on the animals during the study:

•  We should aspire to prepare adequate spaces, train qualified personnel and purchase appropriate equipment in order to perform most of the research work within the premises of the University’s designated animal facilities.

 

6. The scientific work involving the animals shall be performed, to the furthest extent possible, within the University’s animal facilities. Taking animals out of the animal facilities (with the purpose of returning the animals back to those facilities afterwards) will be done only in cases where it is impossible to perform the study at the animal facility. In such cases, taking animals out of the animal facilities shall be done only after receiving approval, in advance, from the Authority.

•   We should aspire to purchase scientific equipment models that are similar to the inter-departmental equipment models, in order to enable maximal utilization and use of expensive equipment by researchers who are unable to purchase such equipment independently.

 

7. Scientific work with animals requires high levels of professional proficiency and significant resources.  We must strive to use scientific equipment in the most efficient manner, employing centralization of resources:

We should make sure that suitable personnel is trained within the Authority/ University to   provide the needed service (including imaging, behavior etc.).