Regulations and prices

LiRI is a technology platform of the University of Zurich (UZH), specialized in supporting linguistic and language-related research projects. It provides services for UZH members and external users. Fees for academic users are comparable to those of other technology platforms and research infrastructure units of other Swiss universities. Commercial and other non-academic users pay full costs (not listed below, please contact LiRI management). Costs for consumables and supplies are normally charged separately.

LiRI's user fees fall in three categories. For categories 2 and 3 below only prices for academic users are listed.

Current LiRI Fee Structure, valid from 1st of September 2024
 

Category 1: Fees for services and support provided by LiRI staff

Expert time is billed on an hourly basis. As of 1.9.2024 the following price structure is valid:

The first consultation hour is free of charge. For larger projects, special prices can be negotiated.

Category 2: LiRI lab fees for installation of devices for use outside of the lab

Prices for loan equipment per installation and extensions

Regulations for loan of equipment for use outside of the lab:

1. The equipment will be loaned initially for a period of eight weeks.
2. The loan period may be extended by a maximum of four weeks (twelve weeks in total).
3. After eight weeks, a weekly loan extension fee will apply. Please note: extension charges may not be covered by SNSF funds.
4. After twelve weeks, loan equipment must be returned for revision. A new installation is possible (subject to availability), prices for installation apply.
5. No variation or amendment of this agreement will be effective unless it is made in writing, either by post or email.
6. If you intend to pay costs for loan equipment with SNSF funds, it could be the case that costs for loan extensions are not SNSF eligible for your project. Please get in touch with the SNSF in case of uncertainties. Of course, costs for loan extensions can be paid from other funds.
7. Fees for loan extensions are quoted separately on LiRI invoices.
8. Prices for members of academic users outside of canton Zurich, for members of public institutions, and for other LiRI users are communicated on request.

Category 3a: Fees for use of devices in the LiRI lab

Usage is billed per study participant.

Note that fees for the use of LiRI lab space (recording booths, EEG booths, audiometric booth, see below 3b) are excluded here, but have to be added according to the hours the lab space is used.

Some devices can be used outside of the LiRI lab on written agreement with the lab manager (regulations and prices upon request).

Device installations for experiments inside the LiRI lab	Price per participants in CHF for academic users
Motion Tracker (Optitrack)	25
Physiological Monitoring System (e.g. Kapnograph, NIB)	25
Screenbased Eyetracker	25
EGG system (Electroglottograph/Laryngograph) and Breathing Belt	25
Ultra-sound Tongue Imaging (UTI)	25
EMA (Electromagnetic Articulograph)	50
EEG system (incl. ABR)	50
fNIRS system	50

Category 3b: Fees for the use of lab space

Usage is billed per hour.

Fees for IT services

Each LiRI project must be registered and have a designated principal investigator. This person, the primary LiRI user, is responsible for the content, realization and finance of the project. A primary LiRI user can authorize further researchers, associate LiRI users. All users must register in order to have access to the LiRI booking system and infrastructure. The following information is needed:

• Name and address
• Institutional affiliation
• If UZH students: matriculation number
• Project title and project description
• If third party funded project: name of principal investigator(s) and responsible project leader, name of the funding institution and project number
• Billing address with a named person

The LiRI steering committee sets research excellence and feasibility criteria for assessing the suitability of projects. Depending on the scope of the project, some applications may also have to be approved by the steering committee. Applicants may be invited to present their project at a meeting of the LiRI team. On occasion, LiRI may ask for external expert advice when evaluating a project's suitability/feasibility.

Billing for the use of the LiRI Lab, loan equipment, expert time and IT services, is normally made on a quarterly basis, usually in April, July, October and December.

Entries in the LiRI booking and charging system for lab use, loan equipment and service hours of the LiRI staff members are used to determine billable services. Researchers using LiRI devices can work independently if it is proved that they are familiar with the equipment. Services and consulting provided by LiRI staff is billed on the basis of work orders and a record of actual hours worked. If the actual hours of work differ from the estimate, services are billed according to actual working hours. In case of a research collaboration with LiRI, the costs have to be individually negotiated for each project.

LiRI can provide users tailor-made application development, processing pipeline for linguistic data and the setup and hosting of services, both self from internal development or by third parties. Access and capacity are managed by the LiRI system administrator.

Researchers not familiar with a device must have an introduction and training session from a LiRI staff member. This will help to ensure successful data collection for your experiment and ensures that devices are operated safely and to the highest scientific standard.  If you are interested in attending a training course, please contact the LiRI lab manager: lab@linguistik.uzh.ch

If you have any questions about these regulations or future developments at LiRI,  please contact Agnes Kolmer, managing director of LiRI: agnes.kolmer@uzh.ch