The Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) calls for 2012A general proposals (excl. industrial application). Interested applicants are encouraged to apply. Please read the following instructions in full before preparing your application. If you wish to submit a general proposal for industrial application, please read the "Call for 2012A General Proposals for Industrial Application."

Contents
1. Non-Proprietary and Proprietary Research
2. Research Period
3. Beamlines and Beamtime Available to Users
4. Several Bunch Mode Operation in 2012A
5. Proposal Submission
6. Submission Deadline: December 8, 2011, 10:00 am (Japan Time)
7. Proposal Review
8. Notification of Review Results
9. Report Submission
10. Publication of Research Results
11. Fees
12. Deadline for Proposals 2012B (next half-year research term)
13. Contact

1. Non-Proprietary and Proprietary Research

There are two types of research at SPring-8: non-proprietary and proprietary research. Users are exempt from paying the beamtime fee if their research is non-proprietary. For research to be considered non-proprietary, users must submit a 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.

IMPORTANT:
From 2011B, users may request to switch the research type from non-proprietary to proprietary within 60 days after the completion of the experiment or the end of the fiscal year (the end of March), whichever comes first.

2. Research Period

[Non-Proprietary Research]
- At all beamlines except BL14B2, BL19B2 and BL46XU
From April through July 2012 (to be finalized)
- At BL14B2, BL19B2 and BL46XU (BLs intended for industrial applications)
From April through mid-June 2012 (first half of 2012A) (to be finalized)
(We will call for proposals to be conducted during the second half of 2012A in spring 2012. Please note that for this period, beamtime is available only for industrial application.)

[Proprietary Research]
- At all beamlines except BL14B2, BL19B2 and BL46XU
  From April through July 2012
- At BL14B2, BL19B2 and BL46XU (BLs intended for industrial applications)
  From April through mid-June 2012 (first half of 2012A)
(We will call for proposals to be conducted during the second half of 2012A in spring 2012.)

To see beamlines available for 2012A beamtime by type of proposal, click here.

3. Beamlines and Beamtime Available to Users

For beamlines available to users and beamtime allocated to each beamline, click the link below.

Public Beamlines

Please contact the Beamline Scientist of the desired beamline before applying for beamtime.

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.

4. Several Bunch Mode Operation in 2012A

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."

For several bunch modes, click here.

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 2012A SPring-8 Research Proposals -Overview-."

[Non-Proprietary Proposal]
User Information Website (UI site) > Log in to My Page > Proposal Submission > New > Non-Proprietary Research > General Proposal
[Proprietary Proposal]
User Information Website (UI site) > Log in to My Page > 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 15, 2011.

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

Important Notes about Information Required on the Application:
- For instructions on how to fill out an application form, click here.
- If you wish to submit a proposal for industrial application, please follow the instructions detailed in the "Call for 2012A General Proposals for Industrial Application" (The information required on the online application form is different).

6. Submission Deadline

Thursday, December 8, 2011, 10:00 am (Japan time)
(Proprietary Use Agreement for Public Beamline: December 15, 2011)

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 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 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 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; and applicants with a poor track record of registering publications are rated lower.

If you have publications to register, please do so at the UI site:
UI site > Log in to My Page > Application/Reporting > After Experiment > Publications Entry

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

8. Notification of Review Results

Applicants will be notified of the review results in writing mid-February 2012.

9. Report Submission (Non-Proprietary Research Only)

From 2011B, users are required to submit an Experiment Summary Report online within 60 days after 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.

10. Publication of Research Results (Non-Proprietary Research Only)

Publish your research in a refereed journal or equivalent (refereed proceedings, dissertation, etc.) and register the publications with the Publications Database within three years after the end of the research term. If the proposed research did not result in a publication, please publish your research results in a SPring-8 Research Report or a corporate technical journal article (industrial users only).

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

For details, please click here.

11. Fees

For information about the beamtime fee and user fees, please see the "Call for 2012A SPring-8 Research Proposals - Overview -."

Click here for more details about the user fees.

12. Deadline for Proposals 2012B (next half-year research term)

Deadline for 2012B proposals (second half of fiscal 2012) is scheduled for late June 2012.

13. Contact:

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