Prior to your arrival
It is imperative that all individuals conducting research in the Cai lab have an official appointment with University of Virginia. Please contact Liheng Cai or Zihao Gong who can help facilitate this process.
Upon your arrival
You will also be required to meet with our Graduate Student Coordinator who will be able to provide instructions on how to set up and access your UVA email account and will straighten out any appointment related matters that may need to be addressed.
MSE and visiting students, please find Peggy Gibson, who is located in Wilsdorf Hall Room 109E.
ChE students, please find Jennifer Davis, who is located in ChE 117.
BME students, please find Kimberly Fitzhugh-Higgins, who is located in MR5 2010.
If you are an international visitor you should also plan on checking in with the international studies office, located at 208 Minor Hall.
Safety
We take safety very seriously here at UVA. All new members are required to complete both biosafety and chemical safety training. (Please email Zihao to ask the training check list)
Please make sure to complete all required safety trainings as soon as possible. If there are questions about safety please contact Zihao.
Website (Personnel Page)
We ask that you send your appointment title, brief introduction, and a photo of yourself to Zihao, who will include your information on our website.
Subscriptions
Subscribe to the Cai Lab email list using your UVA email address. Only UVA email address will be approved.
Subscribe to the Squishy Materials mailing list (squishy@virginia.edu).
After your arrival
Cai Lab Wiki
The Cai group utilizes a Wiki page to share additional information and resources with current group members. You will need to contact Liheng Cai to request an account.
While there are a number of topics addressed in greater detail on the Wiki page, it is essential that you look over the following sections shortly after your arrival.
Chemical Inventory
Ask Zihao to invite you into Quatz which is used to record and track the location and stock of the chemicals.
Lab Ordering
If you need to purchase items, please email Zihao Gong or Jing Wang the following information: the name of vendor, the name of products, catalog number of products, unit price, quantities needed, website of products. If the unit price is higher than $150, please email Liheng Cai to get permission in advance.
Equipment/Instrument Training
We have many instruments available in our lab and department. To get the training of them, please contact the principle of each instrument.
GPC (Shifeng Nian/Zihao Gong)
NMR (Shifeng Nian/Zihao Gong)
Rheometer (Shifeng Nian/Zihao Gong)
Microfluidics (Jing Wang/Zhijian He)
Microscopes (Jing Wang/Zhijian He)
TEM (Helge Heinrich)
Group Meeting.
Please note that everyone is REQUIRED to attend group meetings. Groups meeting are held on Tuesdays @ 8:30 AM, subject to change - watch the lab email list for schedule changes.
Squishy Material Seminar (SMS)
We sponsor an informal seminar every Wednesday -- the Squishy Material Seminar (SMS). Snack is provided. To learn more and check the schedule of speakers, check out our "Squishy" webpage.
Before your departure
Please make sure to clean up your lab space, pass along any data and keys, and inform Liheng Cai when you leave the group.
Contact emails:
plg8z@virginia.edu – Peggy Gibson, Graduate Student Coordinator for MSE
tjr3p@virginia.edu – Tonya J. Reynolds, Senior Administrative Assistant
jrd4p@virginia.edu – Jennifer Davis, Program Support Technician for ChE
kaf5r@virginia.edu – Kimberly Fitzhugh-Higgins, Graduate Student Coordinator for BME
zg2jd@virginia.edu – Zihao Gong (group email list, lab members page)