Call for 2021A Non-Proprietary Grant-Aided Proposals Closed

Special Notes on COVID-19
Special policies will be introduced for research proposals and beamtimes for 2021A term in order to minimize the effects of beamtime cancellations due to COVID-19. Please make sure to check here.

Note
Please understand that there is a possibility that we cannot provide stable supply of Helium (both liquid and gas) due to the recent situation regarding global helium supply.

Contents

1.What is the Non-Proprietary Grant-Aided Program?

2.Period of Research

3.Beamlines Available to Users

4.Application Requirements

5.Application Method

6.Submission Deadline for Online Proposals: November 24, 2020, 10:00 am (Japan Time) Closed

7.Proposal Review

8.Notification of Review Results

9.Report Submission

10.Dissemination of Research Results

11.Fees (Tax Included)

12.Contact

1. What is the Non-Proprietary Grant-Aided Program?

The Non-Proprietary Grant-Aided Program is intended for research proposals that require the use of SPring-8 and have already been reviewed and approved for a large research grant. From 2008A, proposals with a large research grant designed to train researchers are also invited. Under the program, the proposals will be granted an exemption from scientific review; only the safety and technical feasibility of the experiment, the necessity to use SPring-8, and ethics (e.g. exclusively for peaceful purposes) are considered. The beamtime for this program is limited to 20% of user beamtime for each beamline (at RIKEN beamlines, 20% of each user beamtime for public use). The maximum beamtime allocated to a single research grant is half the limit above, including cases where more than one proposal has been submitted.

Interested and qualified parties are encouraged to apply. Please prepare your proposal application using the following guidelines and instructions.

2. Period of Research

From April to July 2021 (tentative)
(BL14B2, BL19B2 and BL46XU: From April to late May 2021 – tentative)

3. Beamlines Available to Users

All SPring-8 public beamlines and RIKEN beamlines are available.

Note:
– BL14B2, BL19B2 and BL46XU
These beamlines are exclusively intended for industrial use, and there will be 3 calls for proposals during 2021A: this time, JASRI invites proposals to be conducted during the first period of 2021A (from April to late May 2021 – tentative).

For the specifications and status of experimental stations, please check the Beamline List. If you have any questions, please contact the Beamline Scientist of the beamline of interest. To see what kinds of experiments have been performed at SPring-8, please refer to the SPring-8 Solution Database.

Several Bunch Mode Operation in 2021A

The several bunch modes scheduled for 2021A are as follows:
A-mode: 203 bunches
B-mode: 4-bunch train x 84
C-mode: 11-bunch train x 29
D-mode*: 1/7-filling + 5 bunches
E-mode*: 2/29-filling + 26 bunches
H-mode: 406 × 11/29−bunches + 1 bunch (Updated from 2021A)

Please note that there may be a possibility that the operation in above Bunch Mode can not be provided depending in the Accelerator Status.

* The filling modes of D- and E-modes are operated only in research term A (e.g. 2021A, 2022A). In research term B (e.g. 2021B, 2022B), the F-mode (1/14-filling + 12 bunches) and the G-mode (4/58-filling + 53 bunches) will be operated instead of the D- and E-modes. For details, click here.

If you have a preference for a particular operating mode, choose from the pull-down menu on the Basic Information page of the online application form, and explain the difference in efficiency between your first-choice and other modes in the box provided for “Others.”

4. Application Requirements (Unqualified applicants are immediately screened out.)

Applicants need to have:
a. obtained a research grant (see the applicable grant programs below) through an open and transparent review process, or
b. received an allotment from a person who has obtained a research grant or equivalent.
Note: The size of the grant should not matter.

Applicable grant programs are as follows:
• competitive research grant programs administered by the Japanese Government Ministries (Grants-In-Aid for Scientific Research funded by MEXT, Science and Technology Promotion Adjustment Funds of MEXT, etc.)
• competitive research grant programs administered by the Japanese Independent Administrative Agencies such as Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), etc.

Important Notes:
-Programs on the Comprehensive List of Competitive Funds posted by the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, Cabinet Office or equivalent, are considered the applicable grant programs. Please click here to see the list (PDF).

– Proposals with college/university grants, private grants, and grants from abroad are not accepted.

– If the program’s research purpose is irrelevant to your research purpose specified in your application for SPring-8 beamtime, your proposal will be disqualified.

– Proposals with a research grant designed to train young researchers are also invited.

5. Application Method

Applicants/project leaders are required to submit proposals online through the User Information Website (UI site) and send by post to the Users Office a SPring-8 Program Fee Payment Agreement and Supplementary Information and a copy of the research purpose and research plan from the application for the grant. Please note that in the case of a long-term grant program requiring beamtime in more than one research term, an application needs to be made every half-year research term.

5.1 User Registration (Not Required of Repeat Users)

To submit an application online, you need to have obtained a user account (user card ID number and password) by registering yourself. Please make sure that not only project leaders/applicants but also all project team members are registered as SPring-8 users. If you are not registered as a SPring-8 user, click here to register.

Note: Registration information is also used for contact. If your registration details change, please update your account from the User Information Website (UI site).
Log in to My Page > Search/Other > Edit My Details

5.2 Online Proposal Submission

Please submit proposals online through the UI site.

 Log in to My Page > Application/Reporting > Proposal/Use Plan Submission > New > Non-Proprietary Research > Non-Proprietary Grant-Aided Proposal

Log in to My Page with your user card ID number and password. Please note that only the project leaders can submit proposals.

To avoid losing work in the event of a browser crash or unexpected logout, you are strongly encouraged to first draft your application offline using the MS Word template available here.

For step-by-step instructions on how to submit proposals, please see this page.

5.3 Important Notes about Information Required on the Application

– Project Leader
A project leader is a person who will assume overall responsibility throughout the experiment at SPring-8.

– Use of Multiple Beamlines
Applicants wishing to use more than one beamline must submit a separate application for each beamline. Submitting multiple applications does not work against applicants if it is deemed appropriate to use more than one beamline.

– Number of Shifts Requested
Generally, beamtime is allocated in increments of three shifts (8 hrs/shift). Before making an application, please contact the Beamline Scientist and estimate the number of required shifts (Make sure not to request beamtime shifts that your competitive funds cannot cover.).

Please note that you may be allocated less beamtime than you requested.

– Information about Competitive Research Grant
Please be sure to enter all required information on the Non-Proprietary Grant-Aided Proposal page of the online application form: name of competitive grant program, name of organization inviting applications for the program, proposal title for which the grant has been approved, name of project leader, overview of the project, project period, amount of grant.

– High Pressure Gas Cylinder
If you wish to bring in a high-pressure gas cylinder, please make sure to provide all required information in the online application: [Known Safety Hazards & Measures to Be Taken]
“Does your proposed research involve any of the following?” > Check the box for “High pressure gas cylinder”. Then, fill out the “Details of samples” table properly. Please be advised that if you try to bring in a high-pressure gas cylinder without providing the required information in the application, there may be restrictions on the cylinder to be brought into the site during the administrative procedures required by the High Pressure Gas Safety Act.

5.4 Required Documents

a) SPring-8 Program Fee Payment Agreement and Supplementary Information
(submission required for each proposal application)
Please download an agreement form and a supplementary information sheet (PDF) from the UI site (Click here to download the PDF form), provide all the required information and send it to the Users Office by post (see 12.Contact) by the deadline specified in 6. Submission Deadline for Online Proposals.

b) Research Purpose and Research Plan
(submission required for each proposal application)
Please make a copy of the relevant pages of application for the grants and send it to the Users Office by regular mail or by courier by the deadline specified below. You can also convert the file to PDF and email it to us. If it is stated in the application that the use of SPring-8 is necessary for the research, please provide the page number in the supplementary information sheet attached to the agreement. If it is not stated, provide a supplementary explanation in the sheet. In case you need to apply for beamtime in more than one research term, please submit a copy of the relevant pages of the latest application every time.

6. Submission Deadline for Online Proposals

• Deadline for online proposal submission:
Tuesday, November 24, 2020, 10:00 am (Japan Time)

• Deadline for document submission (research purpose & plan, Fee Payment Agreement and Supplementary Information):
Tuesday, December 1, 2020

To avoid last-minute technical problems and possible network congestion caused by heavy online traffic, you are strongly encouraged to complete and submit your application well in advance of the deadline. If you have trouble completing/submitting your application online, please contact the SPring-8 Users Office (see 12.Contact)  before the deadline.

Upon successful submission, you will receive a confirmation email attached with a copy of the Agreement (Rules for Users) in PDF format. If you do not receive the confirmation email, please log in to My Page of the UI site and check if your proposal has been submitted successfully.

Log in to My Page > Application/Reporting > Proposal/Use Plan Submission > Submitted

7. Proposal Review

The safety and technical feasibility of the experiment, the necessity to use SPring-8, and ethics (e.g. exclusively for peaceful purposes) will be considered. Approved proposals are given beamtime so far as beamtime available to this program permits.

In the event that the total beamtime shifts required by all the approved proposals exceed the beamtime available to this program, approved proposals are prioritized in order of the size of the grant amount allotted to SPring-8 experiments. Please note, however, that this criterion does not apply when there is little likelihood that reasonable results will be delivered; the PRC determines which proposals are given priority.

8. Notification of Review Results

Users will be notified of review results by email or phone by Friday, December 4, 2020. When your proposal was not approved, you can resubmit the proposal as a General Proposal. In this case, please be sure to submit it through the web-based proposal submission system. An official notification of approval will be sent to project leaders mid-February 2021.

9. Report Submission

Users are required to submit an Experiment Summary Report online within 60 days of their experiment. Submitted reports are made publicly available online two weeks after the report submission deadline for the last experiment of the term (60 days after the end of each half-year research term + two weeks). For details, click here.

10. Dissemination of Research Results

Publish your results 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 half-year research term. In the publications, please clearly state that the results were obtained through the use of the SPring-8 specifying the relevant experiment title and number.

 Log in to My Page > Application/Reporting > After Experiment > Publications Entry

For details, click here.

11. Fees (Tax Included)

Successful applicants are required to pay the program fee and the user fees (a fixed fee charged for wear and tear on the facility and a variable fee charged for liquid He).

– Program Fee: 131,000 yen/shift, 16,375 yen/hour

– User Fees
Public beamline users are required to pay the fees to cover the costs of beamline maintenance/operation and consumables actually used (user fees). User fees are composed of a fixed fee charged for wear and tear on the facility and a variable fee charged for liquid He etc.

Fixed Fee: 10,720 yen/shift, 1,340 yen/hour
Variable Fee: calculated based on the amount actually used

Important: Please note that financial support of user fees for non-proprietary beamtime users from foreign organizations has not been available from 2019B term.

Click here  for more details.

12. Contact

SPring-8 Users Office, JASRI
1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun
Hyogo 679-5198 Japan
Fax: +81-(0)791-58-0965
E-mail: sp8jasri@spring8.or.jp