Contents
1. Non-Proprietary and Proprietary Research
2. Research Period
3. Beamlines and Beamtime Available to Users
4. Several Bunch Mode Operation in 2010A
5. Proposal Submission
6. Submission Deadline: December 17, 10:00 am (JST)
7. Proposal Review
8. Notification of Review Results
9. Beamtime Fees
10. User Fees
11. Publication of Research Results
12. Deadline for Proposals 2010B (next half-year research term)
13. Contact

1. Non-Proprietary and Proprietary Research

There are two types of research at the SPring-8: proprietary and non-proprietary research. Users can use beamlines free of charge if their research is non-proprietary. For research to be considered non-proprietary, users must submit the SPring-8 Experiment Report within 60 days of the completion of each experiment to make the results available to the public. As for proprietary research, submitted proposals are reviewed only from the viewpoint of feasibility, safety, sociality, and ethics by a limited number of reviewers, who have accepted an obligation of confidentiality. Proprietary research is recommended for users dealing with confidential information and/or experimental samples. In this type of research, users are charged beamtime fee of 480,000 yen/shift based on cost recovery for the SPring-8 beamline operation. In return, the SPring-8 Experiment Reports need not be submitted. For proprietary proposals, up to 10% of total beamtime is allocated.

2. Research Period

From April through July 2010
(Engineering Science Research Beamlines I, II and III, accepting proprietary general proposals, industrial application proposals and non-proprietary grant-aided proposals, are available only during the first half of 2010A: from April through mid-June 2010.)

3. Beamlines and Beamtime Available to Users

Beamlines and beamtime available to users are listed below. For the specifications and status of experimental stations, please check with the Beamline List. To see what kind of experiments have been performed at SPring-8, please check with the 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 before applying for beamtime.

Public Beamlines:

*If you wish to use one of these beamlines for non-proprietary research, please consider submitting a non-proprietary grant-aided proposal or industrial application proposal.

RIKEN Beamlines:
Please contact the beamline scientist of the desired beamline before applying for beamtime.

4. Several Bunch Mode Operation in 2010A

 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

* The filling modes of D and E-modes operated in research term A (e.g. 2010A, 2011A). In research term B (e.g. 2010B, 2011B), D and E-modes will be 1/14-filling + 12 bunches and, 4/58-filling + 53 bunches, respectively. 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- and second-choice modes in the box provided for "Others."

5. 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 2010A SPring-8 Research Proposals -Overview-."

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 a working copy (MS Word) of the online application form.

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

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 December 24, 2009.

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

Important Notes
a. 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 (prospective) Ph.D. student, please consider submitting a budding researchers support proposal.

b. 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."

c. 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. In such case, applicants may use the same wording in the abstract page of the applications.

d. Past Research Results
Please be sure to provide the list of publications with brief descriptions 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.

e. Beamtime Allocation for Non-Proprietary General Proposals at BL38B1 (Structural Biology III) and BL41XU (Structural Biology I)
In view of effective allocation of beamtime and expected increase of proposals, beamtime for BL38B1 and BL41XU can be made available to users in increments of 1.5 shifts. Please note that this rule does not apply to other types of proposals or other beamlines.

f. 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.

g. One-year Proposal
There is no call for one-year proposals this time. 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

6. Submission Deadline

Thursday, December 17, 2009, 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 13. Contact) before the deadline.

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

7. Proposal Review

7.1 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.

7.2 Proprietary Research
Technical feasibility, safety of the experiment, public-spiritedness and ethicality of proposals are considered.

8. Notification of Review Results

Applicants will be notified of the review results in writing mid-February 2010.

9. Beamtime Fees

[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.

[Proprietary Research]
Regular Use: 480,000 yen/shift (8 hours)
Time-Designated Use: 720,000 yen (regular fee + 50% premium)/shift (8 hours)

10. 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.

Fixed Fee: 10,300 yen/shift (15,450 yen/1.5 shifts: BL38B1 and BL41XU*) incl. tax
Variable Fee: calculated based on the amount actually used
* See Beamtime Allocation for Non-Proprietary General Proposals at BL38B1 and BL41XU

Important: Supported by the Government's treasury, users affiliated with organizations outside Japan have been exempt from paying the user fees; at this point, however, it is uncertain if we will be able to obtain the necessary funding for 2010A.

Click here for more details.

11. 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.

12. Deadline for Proposals 2010B (next half-year research term)

Deadline for 2010B proposals (second half of fiscal 2010) is scheduled for late June 2010.

13. 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