Closed:Second Call for 2023B Proposals the Beamlines with Sixannual Calls

Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) announces the call for proposals for the beamtime of the second period of 2023B at the Beamlines with sixannual calls (BL01B1, BL02B1, BL02B2, BL09XU, BL13XU, BL14B2, BL19B2, BL46XU, and BL47XU). For the second period of 2023B (from mid-November to mid-December 2023), General Proposals, Graduate Student Proposals, Proprietary Proposals, and Non-Proprietary Priority Proposals are accepted.

NOTE:
– Due to equipment adjustment, 21 shifts at BL46XU are subducted from 2nd period of 2023B Beamtime.
– Applications for General Proposals and Graduate Student Proposals are only to be reviewed in the designated fields. Please see the “3. The Review Fields for General Proposals and Graduate Student Proposals“.

Submission Deadline for Online Proposals: Tuesday, September 5, 2023, 10:00 am (Japan Time)

 IMPORTANT 

• Special policy will be applied to 2023B proposals in order to minimize the effects of beamtime cancellations. Please make sure to check here.
• 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. Beamlines and the Number of Shifts Available to Users

Research Period : 2nd period of 2023B from mid-November to mid-December 2023

Please note that proposals requiring special conditions, such as bunch mode designation, are highly recommended to contact the Beamline Scientist before applying for beamtime. The bunch mode schedule is available here.

^*1Due to equipment installment/adjustment, 21 shifts at BL46XU are subducted from 2nd period of 2023B Beamtime.
^*2Only for proposals using the installed imaging equipment
^*3Please contact SPring-8 Users Office (“13. Contact) for available dates.

For the specifications and status of experimental stations, please check the Beamline List. To see what kinds of experiments have been performed at SPring-8, please refer to SPring-8 Solution Database. If you have no experience using the desired beamline or if you have questions about the experimental stations, please contact the Beamline Scientist of the beamline of interest before applying for beamtime.

Please check below to see the availability/possibility of your intended experiments for 2023B.
＜List of Beamline Summaries＞

2. Types of Proposals Invited

2.1 General Proposals

The General Proposal is for non-proprietary research; users must publish their research result in a refereed journal or equivalent (refereed proceedings, Doctoral thesis, etc.) and are exempt from paying the beamtime fee. For research to be considered non-proprietary, users must submit a SPring-8 Experiment Summary Report within 60 days of the completion of each experiment to make the results available to the public.

2.2 Graduate Student Proposals

The Graduate Student Proposal is the research proposal using SPring-8 installed synchrotron radiation with a broad wavelength range spanning infrared light to X-rays and advanced measurement systems (same as General Proposals) and intends to encourage budding researchers who will shape the future of synchrotron radiation research. Under the program, we will support graduate students with an exploratory and original research proposal or theme.
Please confirm the eligibility at the “Call for 2023B Graduate Student Proposals“.

2.3 Proprietary Proposals

The Proprietary Proposal is for proprietary research. The submitted proposals are reviewed only from the viewpoint of feasibility, safety, and conformity to the Science and Technology Basic Law and social norms. A beamtime fee will be charged. Users have no obligation to publish their results. Proprietary research is recommended for users dealing with confidential information or experimental samples.

2.4 Non-Proprietary Priority Proposals

The Non-Proprietary Priority program intended for research proposals subject to pay the program fee (see 11.1 Fees) to prioritize using the beamtime. 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. Combined with the proprietary proposals, the beamtime for this program is limited to 40% of user beamtime for each beamline.
Please confirm the application requirements and beamtime limits at the “Call for 2023B Non-Proprietary Priority Proposals“.
Suppose the same research proposal is submitted as a Non-Proprietary Priority Proposal and a General Proposal. In that case, priority will be given to the Non-Proprietary Priority Proposal in selecting and allocating the beamtime.

3. The Review Fields for General Proposals and Graduate Student Proposals

Each Beamline has designated review fields for General Proposals and Graduate Student Proposals, indicated below. Please note that any proposal with the wrong review field selected is unaccepted and will be asked for change.
If you wish to submit a General Proposal / Graduate Student Proposal for Industrial Application, please select “Industrial Application” as the Group of the Review Field in the Basic Information of the application form. In addition, please read the instruction carefully in “General Proposals and Graduate Student Proposals Intended to Be Reviewed in the Industrial Application Field” for its peculiar conditions, including the affiliation of project leader/collaborator, review criteria, and reports. 

4. Proposal Submission

Applicants/project leaders are required to submit proposals online through the web-based proposal submission system. Before starting the application process, please first carefully read the “Call for 2023B SPring-8 Research Proposals -Overview-“.

♦ User Information Website (UI site) › My Page Login › Create and Edit Proposal Application Form › New

Attention:
　To apply for the 2023A second period, you must select “2023B-II” as the Term when creating an online application.

For step-by-step instructions on how to submit proposals, click here.

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.

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 the system and check if your proposal has been submitted successfully.

5. Required Documents for Each Proposal Type

– General Proposals

No accompanying documents are necessary.

– Graduate Student Proposals

Agreement (Rules for Users)
Upon successful online proposal submission, you will receive a copy of it attached in a confirmation email. Please sign by the project leader and his/her Ph.D. advisor.

– Proprietary Proposals

Proprietary Use Agreement for Public Beamline
Please make sure to sign the document.

– Non-Proprietary Priority Proposals

SPring-8 Program Fee Payment Agreement
Please make sure to sign the document.

To submit the document(s), visit the webpage below and click the “Agreement” button for the submitted proposal and upload the PDF file. If there is any problem with uploading a file, please send the PDF file by email to the Users Office (see 13. Contact).
♦ User Information Website (UI site) › My Page Login › Create and Edit Proposal Application › Submitted Proposals

6. Deadlines

6.1 Submission Deadline for Online Proposals

Tuesday, September 5, 2023, 10:00 am (in Japan time)

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 13. Contact) before the deadline.

6.2 Submission Deadline for Required Documents

Must arrive by Tuesday, September, 12, 2023, 10:00 am (in Japan time)

7. Proposal Review

– General Proposals and Graduate Student Proposals

The scientific and technological value, the degree of expectation to produce results, the necessity of SPring-8 as a research tool, the scientific feasibility, safety of the experiment, and ethics are comprehensively reviewed. If the research area of your proposal is Industrial Applications, the review of scientific and technological 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“.

– Proprietary Proposals

Technical feasibility, safety of the experiment, and ethics of proposals are reviewed. In case the total beamtime shifts required by all the applied proposals exceed the designated percentage indicated below, the PRC determines in a comprehensive manner which proposals are given priority.

– Non-Proprietary Priority Proposals

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. In case the total beamtime shifts required by all the applied proposals exceed the designated percentage indicated below, the PRC determines in a comprehensive manner which proposals are given priority.
Suppose the same research proposal is submitted as a Non-Proprietary Priority Proposal and a General Proposal. In that case, priority will be given to the Non-Proprietary Priority Proposal in selecting and allocating the beamtime.

NOTE: Maximum percentages of Allocable Beamtime
Up to 40% of total beamtime per beamline can be allocated for Proprietary Proposals and/or Non-Proprietary Priority Proposals.

8. Notification of Review Results

Review results will be available on the “My Page” of the UI site in early October 2023.

9. Publication of Research Results (All Non-Proprietary Proposals)

Publish your 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. 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.

♦ User Information Website (UI site) My Page Login > Publications Entry

For details, click here.

10. Experiment Summary Report (All Non-Proprietary Proposals)

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, please click here.
In addition to an experiment summary report, users with a non-proprietary General Proposal for Industrial Application also need to submit an Industrial Application Proposal Report. Please refer to the details here.

11. Others

11.1 Fees

For information about beamtime fee and user fees, please see the “Call for 2023B SPring-8 Research Proposals -Overview-“.

11.2 Complementary Use with SACLA, J-PARC MLF or HPCI including the K computer / the supercomputer Fugaku

We also invite SPring-8 non-proprietary General Proposals and Graduate Student Proposals for complementary use with SACLA, J-PARC MLF (neutron facility) or HPCI including the K computer / the supercomputer Fugaku (public computational resource of High-Performance Computing Infrastructure including the K computer / the supercomputer Fugaku). For details, please refer to the “Call for 2023B SPring-8 Research Proposals in Complementary Use with SACLA, J-PARC MLF or HPCI including the K computer / the supercomputer Fugaku“

11.3 Switch from Non-Proprietary to Proprietary Research

You may request to switch the research type of your approved non-proprietary proposal(s) except for Graduate Student Proposals from non-proprietary to proprietary by shift unit within 60 days of the completion of the experiment or the end of the fiscal year (the end of March), whichever comes first. For details, click here.

12. Advance Notice of Call for Proposals 2023B Third Period (late January – late February 2024)

The deadline for proposals to be carried out during the third period of 2023B is scheduled respectively as below.
All proposal types: in late October 2023

13. Contact