The Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) invites 2010A industrial application proposals. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply. Please prepare your proposal application using the following guidelines and instructions.

Contents
1. Research Period
2. Beamlines and the Number of Shifts Available to Users
 2.1 Beamlines Accepting Proposals Semiannually
 2.2 Beamlines Accepting Proposals Quarterly
 2.3 Several Bunch Mode Operation in 2010A
3. Application Categories
4. Proposal Submission
5. Deadline: Thursday, December 17, 10:00 am (JST)
6. Proposal Review Process
7. Notification of Review Results
8. Publication of Research Results
9. Other
 9.1 User Fees
 9.2 Intellectual Property Rights
 9.3 Bioethics and Safety
 9.4 Protection of Human Rights and Interests
10. Consultation
11. Contact (for questions about online proposal submission)

1. Research Period

A certain amount of beamtime is allocated for 2010A industrial application proposals from April through July 2010.

Please note that as for BL14B2, BL19B2 and BL46XU, which are exclusively intended for industrial use, there will be two calls for industrial application proposals during 2010A: this time, JASRI invites proposals to be conducted during the first half of 2010A (April through mid-June 2010).

2. Beamlines and the Number of Shifts Available to Users

2.1 Beamlines Accepting Proposals Semiannually
At the following 12 beamlines, beamtime is allocated during the period from April through July 2010. Please note that the beamtime schedule is arranged after the proposal approval process.

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 questions about the experimental station, please contact the beamline scientist of the desired beamline before applying for beamtime.

2.2 Beamlines Accepting Proposals Quarterly
At the following three beamlines, there will be two calls for industrial application proposals during each half-year research term: there will be four calls for proposals annually. This time, beamtime is allocated during the period from April through mid-June 2010. The beamtime schedule is arranged after the proposal approval process. The deadline for the second call for 2010A industrial application proposals is scheduled for mid-March 2010.

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 questions about the experimental station, please contact the beamline scientist of the desired beamline before applying for beamtime.

2.3 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."

3. Application Categories

Industrial application proposals are categorized into four groups: New User, New Area, Industrial Base Consortium, and Advanced Technology Development.

The "New User" refers to first-time users (incl. users from business organizations); that is, applicants representing the project team have never used SPring-8. In such a case where a company (with extensive operation) has already used SPring-8, the applicant must be a first-time user from a different division/new business field to be eligible. If you are considering applying as a New User, please contact the Industrial Application Division in advance.

The "New Area" is a category for a new field of industrial research that has never been conducted at SPring-8, and other fields of industrial research where the use of a newly developed research method is expected to bring a new dimension. Examples of "New Area" are listed below for your guidance.
• Building materials such as concrete: X-ray computed tomography to capture the three-dimensional internal structure
• Health care: Analysis of skin/hair structures using X-ray diffraction, X-ray scattering, and transparent image
• Active pharmaceutical ingredient: Identification of polymorphism in active pharmaceutical ingredients using powder X-ray diffraction
• High-energy photoelectron spectroscopy: Interface state analysis of thin-film materials
• Environmentally hazardous substances: Chemical state analysis of heavy-metal pollutants in air and water
• Anti-corrosion materials: Structure/state analysis of metal surface and rust
• High-density recording media: Thin-film structure/state analysis of new recording materials such as DVD and HDD

The "Industrial Base Consortium" is intended for the research performed by a multi-company consortium collaborating to find solutions to their common problems or to co-develop a new research method that will contribute to industrial applications (e.g. development of new measurement techniques, establishment of database of common problems, etc.). Please make sure that one applicant represents one consortium to submit proposals. Please note that we expect each member company of the consortium to be equally entitled to the use of results obtained through research at SPring-8. In the case of an industry-academia-government collaboration, academic and governmental organizations are collectively counted as a single company.

The "Advanced Technology Development" refers to an innovative technology development research carried out by companies that aim to improve their corporate performance with results obtained at SPring-8 or to return such results to the public.

If you are not sure which category best suits your research, please contact the Industrial Application Division (see 10. Consultation). Although the consistency with the application category is reviewed, no special priority is given to any of the categories.

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

User Information Website (UI site) > Login > Proposal Submission > New > Non-Proprietary Research > Industrial Application Proposal > New (Select "Annual" to submit a one-year proposal.)

Important Note about Multiple Applications:
If your proposal is not selected as a result of shortage of beamtime for industrial application proposals due to a large number of outstanding proposal applications, and if there is beamtime left for general proposals, your proposal may be selected as a general proposal. If you wish to have your proposal selected as a general proposal when your industrial application proposal is unsuccessful, please add "(may be selected as a general proposal)" at the end of the "Title of Experiment" on the "Basic Information" page of the online application form. If your proposal is selected as a general proposal, you are not eligible for Postponement of Report Publication.

You cannot submit the same application for 2010A beamtime as a general proposal, priority nanotechnology support proposal, or an industrial application proposal of a different category.

Click here to download a working copy (MS Word) of the online application form.

For step-by-step instructions on how to submit proposals, please see this page.

5. 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 11. 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.

6. Proposal Review Process

The submitted proposals are evaluated by the Proposal Review Committee (PRC) consisting of experts from industry and academia. The review sessions are closed to the public; however, we make sure that a reviewer having interests in a proposal would not be assigned to review the proposal in question. In addition, all current and retired reviewers are under an obligation of confidentiality: they are required not to disclose to any third party any information relating to the submitted proposals and the proposal review/selection process acquired as reviewers and to manage such information with the care of a good manager.

The PRC evaluates proposals focusing on the following points:
- Cutting edge approaches to science and technology
- Contribution of expected research results to industrial applications
- Consistency with the application category
- Necessity of SPring-8 as a research tool
- Technical feasibility of the proposal
- Safety of the experiment

7. Notification of Review Results

Applicants will be notified of the review results in writing mid-February 2010.
Please note that we do not respond to inquiries about the review status of proposals.

8. Publication of Research Results

After the experiment is completed, project leaders are required to submit the following two reports:
- SPring-8 Experiment Report
Please submit a "SPring-8 Experiment Report" online within 60 days after the experiment. For more details, please click here.
- Industrial Application Proposal Report
Please submit an "Industrial Application Proposal Report" by the submission deadline written in the official document sent after the proposal is approved. Please send your report as electronic data preferably in MS Word format by email or post.

Two weeks after the deadline for all 2010A Experiment Report submissions (60 days + two weeks after the end of 2010A), experiment reports with database search functions are made available to the public on the UI site, while industrial application proposal reports will be available in print. You may make a request that either of your reports remain unpublished on the website or in print to obtain a patent, and if your request is accepted, the publication of both reports will be postponed for up to two years. (Please note that the report submission deadlines may not be extended.) When the postponement ends, please report to the Industrial Application Division the consequences of the postponement (e.g. A patent was granted, etc.)

A briefing session is scheduled after a certain number of reports are submitted, and you will be required to give a presentation on your research results unless you are granted a postponement. Please make sure to report to the Industrial Application Division immediately in writing after filing or obtaining a patent or in the case of commercialization of intellectual property.

Please note that we sometimes consult users about the use of research results for PR purposes.

9. Other

9.1 User Fees
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 (8 hours) incl. tax
  Variable Fee: calculated based on the amount actually used

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.

9.2 Intellectual Property Rights
Any intellectual property rights resulting from the use of SPring-8 belong to those who conducted the research. If JASRI staff are included in the project team members, please contact the Industrial Application Division (see 10. Consultation).

9.3 Bioethics and Safety
To ensure bioethics and safety, some types of experiments require the approval, document submission, and confirmation of the director of an applicant's organization. If you wish to conduct such experiments, please make sure to follow the established procedures. In the event that users fail to follow the procedures or to conform to the guidelines of Japan, their proposals will be removed from consideration or the approval for beamtime will be cancelled.

9.4 Protection of Human Rights and Interests
If a proposed research involves R&D or research activities requiring the agreement/cooperation from the other parties or social consensus, please make sure to implement appropriate procedures before proposal submission regarding the protection of human rights and interests.

10. Consultation

The coordinators of Industrial Application Division are available for consultation. If you have questions about the feasibility of your experiment, research methods, research planning, etc., please send your questions directly to support@spring8.or.jp.

11. Contact (for questions about online proposal submission)

SPring-8 Users Office/JASRI
1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5198 Japan
email: sp8jasri@spring8.or.jp