Use of Contract Beamline

Before using contract beamlines

If you wish to use a contract beamline, contact the relevant Contract Beamline Office.

Beamtime fees

1. Non-proprietary use (research results disseminated): not charged

Non-proprietary research refers to research whose results are disclosed and disseminated. No beamtime fees are charged for non-proprietary research in principle. For your research to be considered non-proprietary, you must submit online an Experiment Summary Report within 60 days after the end of the half-year research period and publish your work in a refereed journal and register the published work with the SPring-8 Publications Database within three years from the end of the research term.
From 2011B, you may request to switch the research type from non-proprietary to proprietary within 60 days after the completion of the experiment or the end of the fiscal year (the end of March), whichever comes first.

2. Proprietary use (research results not disseminated): charged

For proprietary research, beamtime fees are paid and there is no obligation to disclose research results. This system is popular when confidential information for commercial purposes is obtained from experiments and samples.
Prior to the use of contract beamlines, you are required to submit a Proprietary Use Agreement for Contract Beamline that includes an agreement form on the fee payment for an experiment and the protection of confidential information. Once you submit the Agreement, you need not submit the Experiment Summary Report or disclose your research results.

Procedures

User registration

To carry out experiments at SPring-8, the project leader (applicant) and project team members must have completed user registration to obtain a user card ID number in advance. If you have not completed user registration, go to the User Registration page from the UI site and fill out the registration form.
User registration is also required for users who already have an ID card for SPring-8 staff (staff of RIKEN and JASRI) and visiting researchers: if you have your SPring-8 card, enter the ID number in the box provided for the user card ID number to avoid multiple registrations.
Should any of your registration information change due to transfer or employment, log in to your account and check/update your information on the User Registration page.

Submission of use plan (project leader)

Before you visit SPring-8, submit a use plan providing an outline of your research for each half-year period through the relevant Contract Beamline Office. The use plan should include the title of the research proposal, the type of research proposal (proprietary/non-proprietary), the purpose of the research, a summary of the experiment, safety issues and measures, and other required information.
The submitted use plan is valid for only half a year. If you wish to conduct the same proposal in the next half-year period, the use plan must be submitted again. For instructions on how to submit use plans, refer to the Proposal Submission Procedures for Public Beamlines.
On the basis of the Project Team Members List included in the use plan, JASRI will confirm that you are a contract beamline user. In the case of any change in the list, the project leader is required to update the list.
To conduct proprietary research, the project leader is required to fill in and submit a Proprietary Use Agreement for Contract Beamline, which specifies the beamtime fees, immediately after the submission of the use plan. For further information about the preparation/submission of the Agreement, contact the relevant Contract Beamline Office.

Safety review

JASRI conducts safety reviews of experiments on the basis of the use plan. You can conduct your experiment at SPring-8 only when the research proposal passes the review. If JASRI considers the safety measures described in the use plan to be inappropriate, the User Administration Division will contact the project leader through the relevant Contract Beamline Office asking him/her to revise the use plan and/or provide additional information.

Submission of required documents

Before using the contract beamline, the project leader must submit the required documents. The procedures could take some time, so please make sure that these documents are submitted to the relevant Contract Beamline Office by the deadline. The submission method may vary depending on the beamline. Please check with the relevant Contract Beamline Office in advance.

Procedures upon arrival

See the Procedures for Public Beamlines.