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Contents
1. Research Period
2. Proposal Submission
3. Deadline
4. Beamlines Available to Users
5. Exceptional Access to Beamtime
6. Beamtime Allocated to Users
7. Several Bunch Mode Operation in 2008B
8. Online Application Form
9. Proposal Review
10. Notification of Review Results
11. User Fees
12. Beamtime Fees
13. Publication of Research Results
14. Deadline for Proposals 2009A (next half-year research term)
15. Calls for Other Types of Proposals

1. Research Period
From October 2008 through March 2009

2. Proposal Submission
Applicants/project leaders are required to submit proposals online through the web-based proposal submission system. First, log in to the system with your user card ID number and password. If you have not obtained your user card ID number, please complete user registration first. Please note that only the project leader can submit proposals: if a project team member needs to submit a proposal in place of the project leader, he or she must log in to the project leader's account. In this case, the project leader is responsible for managing his or her account information. Before starting the application process, project leaders must make sure that all project team members have completed user registration.

[Non-Proprietary Proposal]
User Information Website (UI site) > Login > Proposal Submission > New > Non-Proprietary Research > General Proposal

Click here to download draft application form.

[Proprietary Proposal]
User Information Website (UI site) > Login > Proposal Submission > New > Proprietary Research > General Proposal

Click here to download draft application form.

If you are applying for proprietary beamtime, you need to submit a "Proprietary Use Agreement for Public Beamline." Please download the agreement from the UI site, have it signed by the person who is responsible for the payment, and send it to the SPring-8 Users Office by post no later than July 3, 2008.

For step-by-step instructions on how to submit proposals, please see this page and Guidelines for Completing Application Forms.

3. Deadline
Thursday, June 26, 2008, 10:00 am (Japan standard time)
To avoid last minute technical problems and possible network congestion caused by heavy 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 Contact) before the deadline.

4. Beamlines Available to Users
Beamlines available to users are listed below. Please click on the links to see the specifications and status of experimental stations. 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 before applying for beamtime. To see what kind of experiments have been performed at SPring-8, please check with the SPring-8 Solution Database.

Public Beamlines:

RIKEN Beamlines:

Please note that the beamlines BL14B2, BL19B2 and BL46XU accept only proprietary general proposalsto be conducted during the period from October through December 2008; if you wish to use these beamlines for non-proprietary research, please consider submitting an non-proprietary grant-aid proposal or industrial application proposal. Also note that WEBRAM beamline (BL15XU), and four JAEA beamlines (BL11XU, BL14B1, BL22XU, and BL23SU) accept nanonet support proposals only.

5. Exceptional Access to Beamtime
5.1 Beamtime Allocation for BL41XU (Structural Biology I) Non-Proprietary General Proposals
In view of effective allocation of beamtime and expected increase of proposals, beamtime for BL41XU can be made available to users in units of 1.5 shifts, starting from 2008A. Therefore, if you request BL41XU only, apply for beamtime in units of 1.5 shifts; but if your second-choice beamline is BL38B1, please apply for beamtime in units of 3 shifts as before. In this case, your BL41XU beamtime may be allocated in units of 1.5 shifts, and BL38B1 beamtime in units of 3 shifts, respectively. Please note that this rule does not apply to other types of proposals or other beamlines.

5.2 Beamtime for Preliminary XAFS Experiments
When deemed necessary, a certain amount of beamtime is provided for preliminary XAFS experiments requesting longer hours of beamtime; e.g. The beamtime is necessary to explore a new field of application, to challenge something new, or to acquire experimental/analytical techniques. Firstly, a part of requested beamtime is allocated for successful applicants to conduct a preliminary experiment. They are required to report the results to JASRI and subject to review. Then, the number of shifts necessary for the rest of the experiment is determined based on the review results.

5.3 One-year Proposal
The following four beamlines, primarily used for diffraction scattering/spectroscopy experiments, which often require beamtime in two consecutive research terms (one year) for the success of proposed research, accept one-year proposals starting only from research term B.

BL02B1 Single Crystal Structure Analysis
BL04B1 High Temperature and High Pressure Research
BL10XU High Pressure Research
BL27SU Soft X-ray Photochemistry

To submit a one-year proposal, choose "Annual" for the "Attribute of Application" on the online application form.

6. Beamtime Allocated to Users
6.1 Public Beamlines

6.2 RIKEN Beamlines

7. Several Bunch Mode Operation in 2008B
    A-mode: 203 bunches
    B-mode: 4-bunch train x 84
    C-mode: 11-bunch train x 29
    D-mode*: 1/14-filling + 12 bunches
    E-mode*: 4/58-filling + 53 bunches

* The filling modes of D and E-modes operated in research term B (e.g. 2008B, 2009B). In research term A (e.g. 2009A, 2010A), D and E-modes will be 1/7-filling + 5 bunches and, 2/29-filling + 26 bunches, respectively.

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- and second-choice modes in the box provided for "Others."

8. Online Application Form
8.1 Proposal Type (New/Continuation)
Choose "Continuation" if you were unable to finish your experiment in the previous research term for compelling reasons, and wish to continue the experiment. When you wish to continue research after using up all the beamtime allocated in the previous research term, please choose "New."

8.2 Project Leader
A project leader is a person who will assume overall responsibility throughout the experiment at the SPring-8. Please note that students are not eligible to be a project leader. If you are a doctoral student, we recommend that you consider submitting a budding researchers support proposal.

8.3 Use of Multiple Beamlines
Applicants wishing to use more than one beamline must submit separate applications for each beamline. Submitting multiple applications does not work against applicants if it is deemed appropriate to use more than one beamline. In such case, applicants may use the same wording in the abstract page of the applications.

8.4 Past Research Results
Please be sure to provide the list of publications with abstracts in chronological order - most recent first: please list as many as space permits. As for applicants who have conducted experiments at the SPring-8 in the past, the number of papers registered with the SPring-8 Publications Database is considered during peer review in determining, in part, the merits of your proposal.

9. Proposal Review
9.1 Non-proprietary Research
The scientific and technological significance, the necessity of the SPring-8 as a research tool, the scientific feasibility and safety of the experiment are comprehensively reviewed. If the research area of your proposal is Industrial Applications, the review of scientific and technological significance 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. As for applicants who have conducted experiments at the SPring-8 in the past, the number of papers registered with the SPring-8 Publications Database is also considered during peer review in determining, in part, the merits of your proposal.

9.2 Proprietary Research
Technical feasibility, safety of the experiment, public-spiritedness andethicalityof proposals are considered.

10. Notification of Review Results
Applicants will be notified of the review results in writing mid-August 2008.

11. 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, He gas, and the stockroom reagents, parts, and stationeries.

Important: Supported by the Government's treasury, 2008B users affiliated with organizations outside Japan are exempt from paying the user fees; foreign nationals affiliated with Japanese organizations are required to pay the user fees. However, project leaders are required to determine and report the number/amount of shifts, stockroom supplies, and liquid He/He gas actually used to the SPring-8 Users Office by submitting the Beamtime Report online.

Click here for more details.

12. Beamtime Fee
Non-proprietary Research: Free of charge
Note: Please submit a "SPring-8 Experiment Report" online within 60 days after the experiment for your research to be considered non-proprietary. You are also required to make the research results available to the public in the form of publications such as journal articles.

13. Publication of Research Results
Please submit a "SPring-8 Experiment Report" online within 60 days of the completion of the experiment. Two weeks after the deadline for all Experiment Report submissions (60 days + two weeks after the end of each half-year research term), experiment reports with database search functions are made available to the public on the UI site. Please also be sure to disseminate your research results through publication in peer-reviewed journals, oral conference presentations, etc. and register the results with the SPring-8 Publications Database as soon as they are published.

14. Deadline for Proposals 2009A (next research term)
Deadline for 2009A proposals (first half of fiscal 2009) is scheduled for early December 2008.

15. Calls for Other Types of Proposals
Please use the following links to see the calls for other types of Proposals:
- Nanotechnology Support Proposal/Nanonet Support Proposal
- Industrial Application Proposal*
- Medical Bio Trial User Proposal
- Medical Bio EX Proposal
- Budding Researchers Support Proposal
- Non-Proprietary Grant-Aid Proposal
- Long-term Proposal
* You cannot submit an industrial application proposal using the same application details as a general proposal.

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