Abstract: An incubation segment in a microfluidic chip for microbiological assays, wherein said incubation segment is formed in a substrate with an upper major face and a lower major face, said segment includes an incubation well, an inlet channel through which a sample may be inputted into said incubation well, and a gas cavity connected to said incubation well by a microfluidic communication channel, wherein said gas cavity is unvented and the base of the gas cavity is connected to the base of the incubation well by the communication channel.

Abstract: A microfluidic chip for conducting microbiological assays, comprises a substrate in which incubation segments, a sample reservoir and microfluidic channels connecting said sample reservoir with said incubation segments are arranged. Said microfluidic chip further comprise a non-aqueous liquid reservoir for containing non-aqueous liquid wherein said reservoir is connectable via a releasable airtight and liquid-tight valve with said microfluidic channels connecting said sample reservoir with said incubation segments each incubation segment comprises an incubation well (113) connected by a gas-exchange channel (115) to an unvented gas cavity (111).