2021A Operation of Proposals in the field of Life Science/Protein Crystal Analysis

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Contents

1. Details

1.1 Operation method

The following operation methods will be applied to General Proposals (both Non-Proprietary and Proprietary). Budding Researchers Support Proposals are the same as those for General Proposals (Non-Proprietary research).

1. The SPring-8 Proposal Review Committee (PRC) will determine only the acceptance or rejection of the proposal and the order of priority (only Non-Proprietary research proposals).
2. The research period for the proposal is one year. All proposals which are accepted for 2020A term (incl. Additional Call for 2020A term) are valid for 2021A term.
3. Applicants are not allowed to designate the beamline. Applicants who have not obtained any measurable protein crystal should describe their activity for crystallization on the application form, although the possession of such a crystal is not required at the time of application.
4. A questionnaire on the beamtime allocation (the number of shifts, date of use, desired beamline) will be completed by project leaders 4 to 5 times a year (around March, May, August, October (and December, if applicable)). The beamtime of Non-Proprietary research proposals will be allocated based on priority through discussion by the Beamtime Allocation Meeting. For proprietary research proposals, a questionnaire on the desired beamtime allocation for each term will be carried out before the start of each term (your request for beamtime allocation can be changed by responding to later questionnaires).
5. The minimum beamtime allocation shift is 1 shift for BL26B1/B2, 1.5 shifts for BL32XU, and 0.25 shift for BL41XU and BL45XU.

1.2 Beamlines Available to Users

The following five Macromolecular Crystallography Beamlines (PX-BLs) are available to users.

• [Three undulator beamlines]
  • BL41XU Structural Biology I (Public)
  • BL45XU Structural Biology III (Public)
  • BL32XU RIKEN Targeted Proteins
• [Two bending-magnet beamlines]
  • BL26B1 RIKEN Structural Genomics I
  • BL26B2 RIKEN Structural Genomics II

For the percentage of beamtime available to users for each of beamlines, refer to “3. Beamlines and Beamtime Available to Users” in the “Call for 2021A General Proposals (excl. industrial application)”.

1.3 Research Period

The beamtime will be allocated for a year from 2021A to 2021B [April 2021 – February 2022]. The beamtime schedule is arranged upon the questionnaire on the date of use to be carried out 4 to 5 times a year (around March, May, August, October (and December, if applicable)).

For Non-Proprietary Grant-Aided Proposals with the use of PX-BLs, the research period will be half a year. This time, the beamtime is allocated during 2021A [April to July 2021]. A questionnaire on the date of use will be carried out 2 to 3 times in each research term to determine the date of use. For Long-Term Proposals, a similar questionnaire will be completed during each research term to allocate the beamtime. For proposals in the other fields with the use of PX-BLs, the beamtime will be allocated in 2021A (the date of use will be determined before the start of the research period).

1.4 Determination of Date of Use

A questionnaire on the shift allocation and desired beamline will be completed via email for the project leaders of accepted proposals 4 to 5 times a year (around March, May, August, October (and December, if applicable)). The periods covered by each questionnaire are planned as follows.

JASRI will send an email to the project leaders in each questionnaire completion period, so please answer the questions regarding the number of shifts, beamline, etc. When the total number of shifts requested by users exceed the total number of shifts actually available to users, the number of shifts and beamline for the Non-Proprietary research proposals will be adjusted by the Beamtime Allocation Meeting on the basis of the order of priority, and the number of shifts and beamline for Proprietary research proposals will be adjusted by JASRI on the basis of the comprehensive manner. For the beamtime of Proprietary research, the maximum allocated beamtime is set for each beamline. For further details, please confirm “6. Beamtime Available to Users: Call for SPring-8 Research Proposals – Overview –”. JASRI will notify the project leaders of the number of shifts, beamline, and the date of measurement by email when it is determined. In addition, when there are unallocated shifts after the shift allocation based on a questionnaire, JASRI may give additional questionnaire on the shift allocation. In that case, JASRI will inform it by an email.

[Note]
Beamtime schedule for Automatic Data Collection at BL45XU will not be strictly specified but measurements are allocated to a period of a few days. For details, click below.
http://bioxtal.spring8.or.jp/en/users/Auto/PXBL_Auto_measurement_en.pdf
When the total number of shifts requested by users exceed the total number of shifts actually available to users, the beamtime will be allocated on the basis of the order of priority or the comprehensive manner; therefore, some proposals may not be given any shifts.

1.5 Research Proposals with Use of PX-BLs

1. General Proposals (Non-Proprietary Research / Proprietary Research) and Budding Researchers Support Proposals
   • [L1 field]
     The operation method will apply for proposals in the field of Life Science/Protein Crystal Analysis. For details, refer to the guidelines on this website. If you have any questions about the operation, contact “6. (1) Information Desk for Protein Crystal Analysis“.
   • [Fields other than L1]
     This operation method is not applicable.
2. Non-Proprietary Grant-Aided Proposals
   • [All fields]
     The allocated shifts and the date of use will be determined by the Beamtime Allocation Meeting.
     • Information on the number of allocated shifts, which is the maximum allowable number of available shifts, will be sent together with the review results. When high-quality crystals are not obtained during the research term and the allocated shifts remain unused, the unused shifts will be canceled and fees will be reduced.
       *Note that the unused shifts cannot be transferred to the next research term.
3. Long-Term Proposals
   • [L1 field]
     The allocated shifts and the date of use will be determined by the Beamtime Allocation Meeting.
     • Information on the number of allocated shifts, which is the maximum allowable number of available shifts, will be sent together with the review results and also during each research term after the acceptance of the proposal. When high-quality crystals are not obtained during the research term and the allocated shifts remain unused because of the lack of measurable crystals, the shifts will be canceled and the user fee will be reduced.
       *Note that the unused shifts cannot be transferred to the next research term.
   • [Fields other than L1]
     This operation method is not applicable.
4. Epoch-Making Initiatives proposals and Partner User Proposals
   • [All fields]
     This operation method is not applicable.

2. Notes on the Preparation of Application Form

Applicants are required to submit proposals using the web-based proposal submission system, similarly to the usual submission of proposals. Take note of the following points in the preparation of the application form. For the usual procedure of proposal application, read through the “Call for 2021A SPring-8 Research Proposals – Overview –“.

<<Note 1>>

Select the type of proposal and be sure to check “Macromolecular Crystallography Experiment”.

◆ User Information Website (UI site):
Top Page > Log in to My Page > Application/Reporting > Proposal/Use Plan Submission > New

 
•  Step 1 (Type of research): Check “Non-Proprietary Research” or “Proprietary Research”.
•  Step 2 (Type of proposal): Select “General Proposal“*.
•  Check “Macromolecular Crystallography Experiment”.
  *If you are a doctoral student (at the time experiment), select “Budding Researchers Support Proposal”.

<<Note 2>>

The information required in the application form for proposals in the field of Life Science/Protein Crystal Analysis is different from that for proposals in other fields. Please download a MS Word template, General and Budding Researchers Support Proposals (Protein Crystal Analysis, non-proprietary) or General proposals (Protein Crystal Analysis, proprietary) , provide all required information according to the instructions provided in the template, and copy and paste into the online application form.

[Review Field] (Only Non-Proprietary Research Proposals)

The group is [L] Life Science and the subgroup is [L1] Macromolecular crystallography, which are displayed as default settings.

[Choice of Beamline]

“PX-BL” is displayed as default settings. Applicants are not allowed to designate the beamline. Describe in detail your request for the beamline in the “Reason for your choice of Beamline” box.

[Reason for your choice of Beamline]

State the reason why the beamline(s) is required for your measurement.

[How you calculated the overall beamtime requested]

As a reference, provide the number of shifts required to use the first-choice beamline (selected from among PX-BLs) for this term and next term, and describe how the number of required shifts was calculated.

[Comprehensive application]

Although applicants are allowed to submit a proposal for multiple proteins, these proteins must be related to a single biological study. Crystallography of unrelated proteins should not be submitted as a single proposal.

3. Proposal Review

3.1 Non-proprietary Research

The scientific and technological value, the degree of expectation to produce results, as well as the scientific feasibility, safety of the experiment, and ethics are comprehensively reviewed, as is the case with General Proposals and Budding Researchers Support Proposals in other fields, and priority order will be determined.

3.2 Proprietary Research

Technical feasibility, safety of the experiment, and ethics of proposals are reviewed.

Note:
Both Non-Proprietary and Proprietary research proposals will be accepted excluding (a) those which are judged by the Review Committee that description provided in a proposal application are extremely insufficient, (b) those having serious problems in the feasibility or safety of experiments, or (c) those which are judged by the Review Committee to be multiple applications. The allocated shifts and the beamline to be used will be determined together with the date of use.

4. Notification of Review Results

Review results will be available in “My Page” of UI site at mid-February 2021. The notice only informs the order of priority. The allocated shifts and the beamline to be used will be determined with the date of use after the completion of the questionnaire on beamtime allocation, as stated in “1.4. Determination of Date of Use“.

5. Others

1. Fees
   Instructions related to the fees are the same as those for General Proposals and Budding Researchers Support Proposals in other fields. For details, refer to those guidelines.
   Important: Although JASRI will support users by covering the user fees for certain types of proposals, there has been no financial support available for non-proprietary beamtime users from foreign organizations, including Budding Researchers Support Proposals, from 2019B term.
2. Publication of Research Results
   Instructions related to the publications of research results are the same as those for General Proposals and Budding Researchers Support Proposals in other fields. Please note: although 2 different proposal numbers will be formally given for each research terms (2021A and 2021B) to proposals approved in the field of Life Science (L1), these are considered to be one proposal. For details, see this page.
3. Report Submission (Non-Proprietary Research Only)
   Users are required to submit Experiment Summary Reports online within each 60 days of the end of research term A and B. However, this shall not apply to the case that users do not conduct experiment during the research term.
4. PX-BL Automatic Data Collection
   The automatic data collection using ZOO system developed by RIKEN and JASRI has been available from 2019B. Users only need to send samples to SPring-8 to obtain data (no visit or Radiation Worker Registration required). For details, please refer to this page.

6. Contact

(1) Information Desk for Protein Crystal Analysis

(2) Information Desk for Procedure of Proposal Application