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To meet increasing expectations for research outcomes in the field of medical bio, which will contribute to conquering plaguing diseases and to promoting healthier lives, the medical bio trial use program has been implemented at the SPring-8 beamlines mainly for imaging. Furthermore, a number of research results have been obtained relating to determining the causes of diseases and developing new drugs at the beamlines for diffraction and scattering. Given these circumstances, the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) invites 2008B medical bio EX proposals to expand the research target areas to include a wider variety of medical bio projects using the beamlines for small-angle scattering and crystal structure analysis. Since medical bio EX proposals are intended for particular areas of research and particular purposes, only non-proprietary proposals can be accepted. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply. Please prepare your proposal application using the following guidelines and instructions.

1. Eligible Areas of Research
Medical bio research aiming to discover the causes of major diseases and to develop their diagnostic and treatment methods.

2. Research Period
A certain amount of beamtime is allocated for 2008B medical bio EX proposals from October 2008 through March 2009.

3. Beamlines and the Number of Shifts Available to Users (8 hours/shift)

4. 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.

User Information Website (UI site) > Login > Proposal Submission > New > Non-Proprietary Research > Medical Bio EX Proposal

We have prepared the Word file for you to download and use as a working draft. To download, please click here.

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

Important Notes about Proposal Submission:
- Only non-proprietary research is accepted.
- You can submit a general proposal or a medical bio trial use proposal as well using the same application details, but please make sure to provide on each application form what other type of proposal you are submitting. Please note that as for medical bio trial use proposals, the priority is given to new users and new types of research.
- You cannot submit an industrial application proposal or nanotechnology support proposal using the same application details.
- On the online application form, please specify the significance of the proposal in the field of medical bio, namely, the contribution to determining the causes of major diseases and developing the diagnostic and treatment methods.
- In consideration of an effective allocation of beamtime and an expected increase of proposals, BL41XU accepts beamtime requests in units of 1.5 shifts from 2008A (e.g. 1.5 shifts, 4.5 shifts, etc.) as well as requests in units of one shift.

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 9. Contact) before the deadline.

5. Proposal Review Process
Review Criteria:
Submitted proposals are evaluated by a group of reviewers consisting of distinguished medical experts. In addition to the review criteria used to evaluate general proposals (scientific and technological relevance, necessity of SPring-8 as a research tool, technical feasibility and safety of experiment), special emphasis will be placed on the significance in the field of medical bio, namely, the contribution to determining the causes of major diseases and developing the diagnostic and treatment methods.

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

6. 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.
- Medical Bio EX Proposal Report
Please submit a " Medical Bio EX Proposal Report" by the submission deadline written in the official document sent after the proposal is approved. Please send your report as an electronic file preferably in MS Word format by email or post.

In addition, a briefing session on research results is held every fiscal year.

7. 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 (15,450 yen/1.5 shifts) incl. tax
  Variable Fee: calculated based on the amount actually used

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.

8. Consultation
If you have questions about the feasibility of your experiment, research methods, research planning, etc., please send your questions directly to med-support@spring8.or.jp.

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