Details: Graduate Student Proposals

Graduate Student proposals are non-proprietary and intended to encourage graduate students who will shape the future of synchrotron radiation research to take the initiative in developing and carrying out original research. Please note that all applicants must be doctoral students at the time of the experiment.
For research to be considered non-proprietary, users must (1) submit a SPring-8 Experiment Summary Report within 60 days of the completion of each experiment and (2) publish their research in the form of a refereed journal (incl. refereed proceedings and Doctoral thesis), a SPring-8/SACLA Research Report refereed by JASRI, or a technical journal approved by JASRI, and register the published works with the Publications Database within three years from the end of the research term.

Users are supposed to submit applications as project leaders; however, all applicants must obtain permission to apply from their Ph.D. supervisor, who must be included as a project team member.

Application Requirements

Applicants must be either
a) Ph.D. students or
b) Master’s students, who will be PhD. students at the time of experiment at the SPring-8.
Applicants are required to show initiative, work independently, and be self-reliant when conducting research. All applicants must obtain permission to apply from their PhD. advisors, who can be responsible for the experiment at SPring-8.

IMPORTANT:
Users must maintain their student status at the time of experiment. Otherwise, users are required to carry out their approved Graduate Student Proposals as General Proposals and are no longer eligible for reimbursement of domestic travel and lodging expenses.

Proposal Review

Submitted Graduate Student Proposals are subject to review as General Proposals at the SPring-8 Proposal Review Committee (SPring-8 PRC). At the SPring-8 PRC, the scientific and technical value, the degree of expectation to produce results, the necessity of Spring-8 as a research tool, ethics (e.g., exclusively for peaceful purposes), and the technical feasibility and safety of the experiment are comprehensively peer reviewed. If the research area of your proposal is Industrial Applications, the review of the scientific and technical value will be focused on the potential and significance of the expected results in terms of technologies for industrial base, the social significance of the proposal, and the contribution to social economy. Please read the instruction of “General Proposals and Graduate Student Proposals Intended to Be Reviewed in the Industrial Application Field.”

Support for User Fees

Supported by the Government’s treasury, users of Graduate Student Proposals from domestic universities are exempt from paying user fees (fixed and variable fees) within the budget. Please note that the variable fee is not always covered when it exceeds the limits of the budget.

Support for Travel Expenses

We will cover the domestic travel expenses including the SPring-8 Guest House lodging expenses for two people (a project leader and one student as a project team member) for applicants from domestic universities.

Fees (Those who belong to overseas universities)

* 1 shift is 8 hours and for any proposals that are allocated by the hour, the fees are charged by the hour.

• A variable fee will be calculated and added in accordance with the amount of liquid helium actually used.

Fees (Those who belong to overseas universities) (from 2025A Term)

* 1 shift is 8 hours and for any proposals that are allocated by the hour, the fees are charged by the hour.

• A variable fee will be calculated and added in accordance with the amount of liquid helium / sample preparation service actually used.

Submission Deadline for Online Proposals

Twice a year

Six times a year

Proposal Application Templates