This call has been closed.

From 2014A, the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) launches the call for New Industrial Area Proposals for BL14B2 (Engineering Science Research II), BL19B2 (Engineering Science Research I) and BL46XU (Engineering Science Research III), which are intended exclusively for industrial applications. 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 2017B General Proposals for Industrial Application)."

We also accept applications for the SPring-8 measurement service: XAFS Measurement Service at BL14B2, Powder X-ray Diffraction Measurement Service at BL19B2, Small Angle Scattering (SAXS) Measurement Service at BL19B2, HAXPES Measurement Service at BL46XU and Thin Film Analysis Measurement Service at BL46XU. Interested parties are encouraged to apply.

Before applying, please also read the "Call for 2017B SPring-8 Research Proposals -Overview-."

Contents
1. What is the New Industrial Area Program?
2. Research Period, Beamlines and Beamtime Available to Users
   2.1 Research Period
   2.2 Beamlines and Beamtime Available to Users
   2.3 Two-Quarter Proposals
3. Several Bunch Mode Operation
4. Proposal Submission
5. Submission Deadline for Online Proposals: June 8, 2017, 10:00 am (Japan Time)
6. Proposal Review
7. Notification of Review Results
8. Publication of Research Results
9. Experiment Summary Report
10. New Industrial Area Proposal Report
11. Others
   11.1 User Fees
   11.2 Intellectual Property Rights
   11.3 Bioethics and Safety
   11.4 Protection of Human Rights and Interests
12. Complementary Use
13. Deadline for Proposals 2017B Second Half
14. Consultation
15. Contact (for questions about online proposal submission)

1. What is the New Industrial Area Program?

SR utilization of SPring-8 has become more popular in certain areas of industry by the results of our efforts toward promotion of industrial utilization engaged so far at SPring-8. On the other hand, the structure of domestic industries has been greatly changed reflecting the globalization of economy, and there is a growing need for research and development expected to create all-new industrial area. To this end, the New Industrial Area Program has been launched to facilitate research and development in new industrial areas toward proposals newly using SPring-8. Experiments in multi-organizational collaboration will be particularly welcome to apply.

The New Industrial Area Program was designated as and added to the Priority Research Program on September 24, 2013.

IMPORTANT:
This program is intended for research using synchrotron radiation in the industrial areas that are comparatively new to SR use at SPring-8 (e.g. food/food processing, metal processing, resource development, and resource recycling, etc.) If you are not sure that your research will be eligible for this program, please contact the Industrial Application Division (see 14. Consultation). If you wish to submit a non-proprietary proposal for industrial application that does not fall in the scope of this program, please consider submitting a General Proposal for Industrial Application.

Application requirement has changed from 2017A and your application must include at least one person out of a project leader and project team members who is an employee of a private company or related institution. Related institutions by our definition are (1) public testing laboratories, and (2) incorporated foundations/associations whose main business are contract services of experiments/researches for private companies.

Note 1: We categorize national/private universities, independent administrative institutions, special public corporations, and public corporations as neither (1) nor (2).
Note 2: JASRI falls into neither (1) nor (2).

If you are not sure that your research group will meet this requirement, please contact the Industrial Application Division (see 16. Consultation).

2. Research Period, Beamlines and Beamtime Available to Users

2.1 Research Period
First-half of 2017B (from October to late November 2017, tentative)

There are two calls for New Industrial Area Proposals during each half-year research term (four calls for proposals annually). This time, beamtime is allocated during the above period. The beamtime schedule is arranged after the proposal approval process.

2.2 Beamlines and Beamtime Available to Users

*1, X-ray imaging device will be relocated to BL14B2 from BL19B2.
*2, Existing Powder diffractometer with imaging plate is being replaced with a new equipment with semiconductor micro slip detector. Both equipments will be available for a while.

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 the SPring-8 Solution Database.

If you have questions about the experimental station, please contact the Beamline Scientist of the beamline of interest before applying for beamtime.

2.3 Two-Quarter Proposals
Two-quarter proposals are intended for research projects that require multiple experiments spanning two quarters (six months) for smooth progress of R&D activities. Under this program, beamtime is allocated for the first- and second-halves of a research term (The beamtime schedule of the second half will be determined after the proposal selection process for the second half). The call for two-quarter proposals is announced only for the first half of each term; and there is no call for the proposals for the second-half.

3. Several Bunch Mode Operation

Since the influences of Several Bunch Mode Operation on experiments at BL14B2, BL19B2 and BL46XU are negligible, requests for Several Bunch Mode Operation will not be considered in Proposal Review.

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 2017B SPring-8 Research Proposals -Overview-."

To submit an application online, you need to have obtained a user account (user card ID number and password) by registering yourself. Please make sure that not only project leaders/applicants but also all project team members are registered as SPring-8 users. If you are not registered as a SPring-8 user, click here to register.

IMPORTANT:
Unlike other types of proposals, emphasis is placed on particular criteria in reviewing New Industrial Area Proposals (see 6. Proposal Review): so please download a MS Word template, provide all required information according to the instructions provided in the template, and copy and paste into the online application form (since there are discrepancies between the required items on the online application form and in the template).

User Information Website (UI site) > Log in to My Page > Application/Reporting > Proposal/Use Plan Submission > New > Non-Proprietary Research > New Industrial Area Proposal > New

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

[Multiple Applications]
You cannot submit the same application for 2017B beamtime as a General Proposal, or a priority Social Interest Proposal. If your New Industrial Area Proposal is rejected, it will then be reviewed as a General Proposal for Industrial Application.

5. Submission Deadline for Online Proposals

Thursday, June 8, 2017, 10:00 am (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 15. Contact) before the deadline.

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.

UI site > Log in to My Page > Application/Reporting > Proposal/Use Plan Submission > Submitted

6. Proposal Review

The submitted proposals are evaluated by the SPring-8 Proposal Review Committee (SPring-8 PRC) consisting of experts from industry and academia, and proposals that are rated excellent in light of the aims of the New Industrial Area Program are selected. The review sessions are closed to the public; however, we make sure that a reviewer who has a conflict of interest with 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. Please note that questions about the status of review process are not acceptable.

The SPring-8 PRC evaluates proposals focusing on the following points:
1. Scientific and technological significance
　- Potential and significance of the expected results in terms of technologies for industrial base
　- Social significance of the proposal and the contribution to social economy
2. Necessity of SPring-8 as a research tool
3. Technical feasibility of the proposal
4. Safety of the experiment

7. Notification of Review Results

Applicants will be notified of the review results in writing late August 2017.

8. Publication of Research Results

You are mandated to (1) publish your research outcomes from the use of SPring-8 in a refereed journal (incl. refereed proceedings, and dissertations), a SPring-8/SACLA Research Report (SRR) refereed by JASRI, or a technical journal approved by JASRI, and then (2) register the publications with the Publications Database within three years after the end of the research term. In the publications, please clearly state that the results were obtained from the use of the SPring-8 specifying the relevant experiment title and number.

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

For details, click here.

9. Experiment Summary Report

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, click here.

In addition to an experiment summary report, users also need to submit an New Industrial Area Proposal Report as explained below.

10. New Industrial Area Proposal Report (NIAPR)

In order to efficiently promote industrial researches at SPring-8, we will ask for your contribution to the NIAPRs summarizing the outcomes from your individual General Proposal for Industrial Application. We will accept an e-copy of the report preferably in MS-Word format by email or post. Detailed instruction will be included in the document to be sent by the Users Office after the proposal’s approval.
After an editorial review, not peer-reviews, by a coordinators in charge, every report will be made available online and in print later than six months after the end of the research term. You will have a good chance to present your research outcomes at SPring-8 Industrial Application Symposium to be scheduled after the NIAPRs have been accumulated to a certain number. Besides, we may ask for your permission to appropriately utilize your research outcomes for our PR purposes.

[Relationship of New Industrial Area Proposal Report (NIAPR) and SPring-8/SACLA Research Report (SRR)]
An NIAPR does not fall into any type of “publications” defined in “8. Publication of Research Results”. Examples of “publications” are a scientific paper in refereed journals, refereed proceedings, the SRRs, and technical journals. If you wish to publish your research outcomes in the SRRs, you need to notify the Users Office of your will when you submit an NIAPR. In this case, your NIAPR will not be issued as a original one. The SRR will be reprinted in an issue of the NIAPRs instead of your original NIAPR. We do not treat your NIAPR in this way without your notification to the Users Office upon the submission.

11. Others

11.1 User Fees
For information about User Fees, read the "Call for 2017B SPring-8 Research Proposals - Overview -."
Click here for more details.

11.2 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 14. Consultation).

11.3 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.

11.4 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.

12. Complementary Use

From 2014A, we also invite SPring-8 General Proposals for complementary use with J-PARC MLF (neutron facility) and/or the supercomputer (K). SACLA has been added to those facilities for complementary use from 2017A. For details, please refer to the "Call for 2017B SPring-8 Research Proposals in Complementary Use with SACLA, J-PARC MLF or the K computer."

13. Deadline for Proposals 2017B Second Half

Deadline for proposals to be conducted during the second half of 2017B, from late November 2017 to February 2018 (tentative), is scheduled in August 2017.

14. Consultation

The coordinators and other Industrial Application Division staff 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.

15. Contact (for questions about online proposal submission)

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