FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions 

GENERAL GAINESVILLE QUESTIONS

What are the best places to get groceries?

  • Wards
  • Publix
  • Trader Joe’s
  • Union Street Farmers Market (Wednesdays 4pm-7pm) – this has been moved from Bo Diddley Plaza to Celebration Pointe

Best local coffee and tea shops

  • Maude’s Coffee Shop
  • Volta Coffee
  • Coffee Culture 
  • CYM
  • Coffee Co
  • Wyatt’s Coffee
  • Curia On the Drag
  • TeaStori
  • Frosty Fox
  • Pascal’s Coffeehouse
  • Opus

Best local restaurants

  • The Top
  • Bangkok Square
  • Mildred’s New Deal Deli
  • Crane Ramen 
  • 43rd St Deli 
  • Flying Biscuit Cafe 
  • Mi Apa Latin Cafe 
  • Flacos Cuban Bakery 
  • Halo Potato Donuts 
  • Sweet Dreams Ice Cream 
  • SweetBerries Eatery and Custard 
  • Relish
  • Blue Agave Mexican Restaurant 
  • If It Is 
  • Bagels and Noodles 
  • Reggae Shack 
  • Adam’s Rib Co. 
  • ChopStix
  • Karma Cream
  • La Tienda
  • Blaze Pizza 
  • Kabab House
  • Satchel’s Pizza
  • Uppercrust Productions
  • Luke’s Bagels

UNIQUE DAY ADVENTURES

 Trails/Biking/Hiking

Beyond Gainesville

  • Cedar Key
    Cedar Key is about an hour drive southwest of Gainesville and offers beaches, fishing, natural preserves, and some of the best clam chowder in the country (not kidding this place won the national competition 3 years in a row https://www.tonyschowder.com/). It’s great for a day trip to relax, eat great seafood, and see some of the beautiful nature that the Gulf has to offer. https://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/cities/cedar-key.html
  • St. Augustine
    St. Augustine, located on the Atlantic coast, is the nation’s oldest city. About a two hour drive from Gainesville, St. Augustine is rich in history, culture, and architecture. There is plenty of shopping and eating, as well as beaches and the Castillo de San Marcos Spanish fort. St. Augustine is a great destination for a day trip over the weekend. https://www.visitstaugustine.com/ 
  • Orlando
    Home of Disney and Universal Studios, its likely you’ve heard of Orlando before moving to Florida. While the theme parks are certainly a great attraction, Orlando also has a lot of other museums and activities to offer. It can also serve as a great getaway if you are looking to spend a day or two in a larger metropolitan city. There are also two airports (Orlando International and Sanford) located in Orlando that may offer direct flights to locations not serviced by the Gainesville Airport. 
  • Tampa/Clearwater
    A two-hour drive southwest of Gainesville, Tampa and Clearwater offer great gulf-side beaches and a glimpse at bigger city life. 
  • Jacksonville
  • Kennedy Space Center 
    https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/

University of Florida

  • Kanapaha Botanical Gardens
    Kanapaha Botanical Gardens (Gainesville, Florida) is a 68 acre facility comprised of 24 major collections visually accessible from a 1 ½ mile paved walkway. These include the state’s largest public display of bamboos and the largest herb garden in the Southeast.
    https://kanapaha.org/ 
  • UF Natural History Museum (Butterfly Garden) – free to students
    The Butterfly Rainforest is a can’t-miss living exhibit that features hundreds of free-flying butterflies and birds from around the world along with an assortment of other animals including turtles and fish to experience firsthand.
    https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/exhibits/butterfly-rainforest/ 
  • UF Art Museum – free to students
    The University of Florida’s Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art collaborates with university and community partners to inspire, educate and enrich people’s lives through art. The museum brings the joy of experiencing great works of art to diverse university, community, national and global audiences through relevant and enlightening art collections, exhibitions and learning opportunities.
    https://harn.ufl.edu/ 

GENERAL UF QUESTIONS

How to set up a Gatorlink account?

Your gatorlink account is the Username/Password associated with your UFID#. It gives you online access to many online UF resources.

Where to pick up your Gator1 Card?

Your Gator1Card is your student ID, you can use it for local discounts, free bus travel, after hours building access, etc. This card can be picked up at Gator 1 Central in the Communicore Building. 

*** During COVID-19 to order a new Gator1Card contact Curtis Bryant at cbryant@bme.ufl.edu to authorize a new card, then call gator1central at 352-392-8343 For more information go to this website: https://www.bsd.ufl.edu/G1C/gator1/contact.asp

How to order a parking pass and where to park?

UF Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) https://taps.ufl.edu/decals/

As graduate students we get the “green” parking pass under the student sections of parking passes. It will take about 2 weeks to mail, you can also pick it up at the UF Taps office, during the wait-period the office will provide you with a printable temporary parking pass. 

UF Parking Map: https://taps.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/UFParkingMap.pdf

The new BME favorite parking lot are the 5th and 6th floors of the large parking garage on Gale Lemerand Dr. 

How to use the Gainesville Bus system?

The Gainesville bus system is RTS you can find their website here: http://go-rts.com/. You can also download their app: https://transloc.com/.

How to sign up for gator grad care?

The deadline to sign up for GatorGradCare is 60 days after your first day of employment. Please see the below link to see a step by step guide on how to sign up: https://benefits.hr.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/10/GatorGradCare-How-to-Enroll.pdf

How to gain access to the UF Gyms?

UF Recsports has all the information on gym hours, intramural sports, weekly fitness class schedules, etc. https://recsports.ufl.edu/
UF RecSports also has free fitness consultations (now online) that you can do twice a semester

How to reserve a study room at the library?

  1. Go to the George Smathers Libraries Website and navigate to the appropriate library https://cms.uflib.ufl.edu/studyroom
  2. Follow on-screen directions on reserving time slots 

***Note: Each UF student can reserve up to 2 hours of study room slots per day. 

How to access the Disability Resource Center (DRC)?

Information about the DRC and the services they offer can be found at https://disability.ufl.edu/. 

How to access the UF Counseling and Wellness Center (CWC)?

Information about the services that the CWC offers and contact information can be found at https://counseling.ufl.edu/. Due to the pandemic, all counseling services are currently held virtually.
Additionally, if you are on the GatorGradCare insurance, you receive free counseling through Talkspace. Registration link:  https://redemption.talkspace.com/redemption/gatorcare 

BME SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

How to access department equipment calendars?

  1. Go to the following url: https://uflorida.sharepoint.com/sites/HWCOE-BME/labequipment/SitePages/Home.aspx
  2. Note that any UF BME student can make reservations on a calendar, but must first be trained on how to use the specific piece of equipment and must be given access to any computers that are hooked up to equipment. Contact Kelley Hines for training info and computer access.

How to gain building access?

Building access is granted through Matt Taylor (mtaylor1@ufl.edu). There is a form that you will need to fill out, have your PI sign, and return to Matt.

How to get conference travel funding, and steps to take to clear travel with the department?

There are two main sources of travel grant funding outside of your PI. 

Follow the instructions on the websites for filling out the forms.

In addition, any time you travel to a conference/workshop you must follow the department guidelines (https://bme.ufl.edu/resources/student-travel/). These include notifying grad@bme.ufl.edu at least 5 weeks in advance, filling out a travel request form (https://bme.ufl.edu/resources/bme-forms/bme-travel-request-form/), and filling out a Travel Expense Reimbursement Request (https://bme.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/drupal-files/Expense%20Reimbersement%20Request.pdf) upon returning from travel. 

Note that anything purchased with a P-card (usually from your PI) cannot be reimbursed by either Graduate Student Council or Office of Research funding. The department may reimburse your PI’s account accordingly, but not you personally.

How to schedule conference rooms?

There are four main rooms that students can reserve. Two are on the ground floor (JG32 and JG35), one is on the second floor (J280), and the last is on the third floor (J380). To reserve JG32, contact Matt Taylor mtaylor1@ufl.edu. To reserve one of the other three rooms contact Kim Depue KDepue@bme.ufl.edu. 

How to print a poster for a conference/presentation?

  1. Go to this webpage (https://bme.ufl.edu/resources/bme-branding-guidelines-and-templates/) and download a poster template, or ensure that your presentation is in powerpoint and has the correct 4’x6’ or 3’x5’ dimensions. 

*** Note: This website also has templates for powerpoint presentations, etc. 

  1. Ensure that the BME logo “Engineers for Life” and the “UF” logo are both on the poster. 
  2. Send an email to ticket@bme.ufl.edu with the powerpoint file attached and they will have it printed for you as soon as possible. 

How to find important forms?

Go to this website to find forms such as registration, petitions, etc. https://bme.ufl.edu/resources/student-forms/

REMOTE WORK QUESTIONS 

How to set up your VPN?

  1. Download and install the client for your device. If you already have the client installed you can skip this step.
  2. Open and run the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client.  Server address is “vpn.ufl.edu”.  If you have been using “vpn.health.ufl.edu”, delete that address and replace it with “vpn.ufl.edu”.
  3. At the login prompt, put in your UF GatorlinkID in this format: “GatorlinkID@ufl.edu/health”.  The /health is important, as it provides you access to protected UFHealth resources that the normal Gatorlink VPN tunnels do not.
  4. Enter your password as normal. If you are using UF two-factor authentication, the first time you login you will get a Duo prompt that will need to be acknowledged quickly. Subsequent logins will have a longer Duo timeout. If you are not yet enrolled in two-factor, the connection should proceed as normal.

How to access UF Apps?

UF Apps provides access to software applications (over 150 including MatLab, Comsol, RStudio, and Microsoft Office products) from any computing device – PC, Mac, tablet, or even phone. It is free to use for all students.

Go to https://info.apps.ufl.edu/ and click on “Login to UFApps” in the top right corner. You will be directed to a page prompting you to input your Gatorlink ID and password. If it’s your first time accessing UFApps, you will be directed to a page asking you to download a Citrix Receiver. You must do this in order for UFApps to run correctly. Follow the instructions provided. Once done, you will have access to all of the Apps on the Cloud. UFApps will remember your Citrix Receiver for all future logins.

LAB SPECIFIC QUESTIONS 

Common lab training modules

There are a variety of online training modules required in order to meet requirements as a researcher in BME. These can be accessed through :

my.ufl.edu website >> My self service >> Training and Development >> myTraining 

Courses:

  • EHS 809 – Hazardous Waste Management 
  • EHS 851 – Biomedical Waste Training 
  • EHS 863 – New Researcher Overview of EH&S
  • EHS 862 – Lab Safety Actions and Reactions 

Typically once these courses are completed you should email your lab safety manager and schedule a lab safety tour and walkthrough. 

How to conduct Animal Training?

ACS Courses are only necessary for lab members who plan on handling animals. Exams cannot be taken while the course is still open. These courses are difficult. If you do not pass, you will be required to re-register for the course, but you can just click to the end of the course prior to opening the exam.

Courses: 

  • ACS 800
  • ACS 802 Aseptic Technique *
  • ACS 804
  • ACS 806 

* ACS 802 cannot be taken until after your “Risk Assessment for Animal Contact Form” has been filled out and processed. This form can be found at http://www.ehs.ufl.edu/programs/bio/animal/. It is best to do this course last after IACUC training (below) is complete as your name must be added to the protocol prior to attending. ACS 802 is the “Aseptic Technique Workshop” and can be found by going to acs.ufl.edu and clicking on the “training” tab.

Setting up AALAS Account for IACUC Training

You will also be required to set up an AALAS account to take the IACUC training modules.

  • Go to https://iacuc.ufl.edu/secure/
  • Follow the directions under “Instructions for “working with UF IACUC” Training” to create account. It will take you to a page and assign you a username and password. Hit “continue” to accept and enter AALAS training website. 

How to order lab supplies?

Your PI must first request that you be given access to myUF Marketplace. Once given, go to https://my.ufl.edu/ and sign in with your Gator Link credentials. Click on the navigation bar in the top right corner and navigate to Main Menu → My Self Service → myUF MarketPlace. Once there you can use any of the punchouts to put together a shopping cart (or use the “non-catalog item” option under the search bar at the top), which you then assign to one of the BME fiscal staff for purchasing.

If you forget your ID Card?

In the event that you forgot your ID card and need to get into a lab space, DO NOT KNOCK ON THE DOOR TO THE LAB. There are phone numbers on the doors for each lab – try calling that number first. If nobody picks up you can call Kelley Hines (352-273-7231) and she can let you in, provided that it is during regular business hours.

How to get trained on the autoclave?

Official autoclave training is conducted by EH&S (usually Idania Alvarez). This is usually done twice per year and you can contact Matt Taylor to find out the dates and mark your spot. In the meantime, it is acceptable to receive training from a lab mate who has already received EH&S training. 

IMPORTANT BME CONTACTS