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Equipment Time Allocation Calculator

Work out equipment time allocation instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Equipment Time Allocation Calculator

Shared instrument time is almost always oversubscribed. Sixty hours a week less six for maintenance leaves 54 usable, but seven researchers requesting twelve hours each demand 84 - 156% of capacity. An equal split gives 7.7 hours each, a 4.3 hour shortfall per person, which is what prioritisation policies exist to resolve.

Formulas

Usable hours

usable = available hours - maintenance hours

Oversubscription

demand = total requested / usable hours

Worked example

With the default values below, Equipment Time Allocation Calculator returns Hours Available Per Researcher of 7.71. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Instrument hours available per weekminimum 1 h
60 h
Researchers requesting timeminimum 1
7
Hours requested eachminimum 0 h
12 h
Maintenance and calibrationminimum 0 h
6 h

Results

Hours Available Per Researcher
7.71 h
Demand Against Capacity
155.6%
Usable Hours After Maintenance
54.0 h
Shortfall Against Each Request
4.29 h

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Usable hours
  3. 3Oversubscription
  4. 4Hours Available Per Researcher= 7.71 h
  5. 5Demand Against Capacity= 155.6
  6. 6Usable Hours After Maintenance= 54.0 h
  7. 7Shortfall Against Each Request= 4.29 h

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How should oversubscribed time be allocated?

Common approaches are priority by grant contribution, rotating priority, or reserving a share for time-critical work with the rest booked first-come.

Why reserve maintenance time?

Because skipped calibration produces unusable data. Booking it as unavailable is the only reliable way to protect it.

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