This call has been closed.

The Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) is calling for 2017B (October 2017 – February 2018) Social Interest proposals. Interested parties are encouraged to apply. Before preparing your application, please read the following instructions. Please also refer to the "Call for 2017B SPring-8 Research Proposals -Overview-."

[IMPORTANT]
From 2017B, SACLA (X-ray Free Electron Laser facility) is added to J-PARC MLF and the K computer as a Complementary Use facility with SPring-8. Click here to see the details.

Contents
1. What is the Social Interest Program?
2. Supporting Themes and Examples
3. Research Period
4. Beamlines and Beamtime Available to Users
5. Proposal Submission
6. Submission Deadline for Online Proposals: June 8, 2017, 10:00 am (Japan Time)
7. Proposal Review
8. Notification of Review Results
9. Report Submission
10. Publication of Research Results
11. Others
12. Consultation
13. Contact

1. What is the Social Interest Program?

SPring-8, regulated under the Act on the Promotion of Public Utilization of Specific Advanced Large Research Facilities (Public Utilization Promotion Act), aims to develop science and technology through public utilization of this facility and is expected to produce research achievements that will dramatically increase Japan’s international competitiveness, enhancing its status as a world leader of research. To actively obtain more research achievements, SPring-8 has designated some research fields expected to produce outstanding achievements and complement the measures for scientific, technological, and industrial development as priority fields. For SPring-8, which is publicly funded, it is essential to promote research activities that produce a wide range of benefits for the public and gain public support, in addition to those in the above priority fields. Therefore, SPring-8 has designated the Social Interest Program as a new priority field to support research proposals with themes that attract public interest and meet social requirements. Research proposals whose novelty and social significance are difficult to evaluate similarly to existing fields will be strategically promoted by this program.
Applicants with proposals associated with high public interest related to the promotion of a healthy and active aging society, and industrial development should apply to General Proposals in the research fields of (a) L3: biomedical imaging/medical research, or (b) I: industrial application.

2. Supporting Themes and Examples

3. Research Period

2017B: From October 2017 to February 2018 (tentative)

4. Beamlines and Beamtime Available to Users

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

Four percent of the entire 2017B public beamline user beamtime will be made available to the Social Interest Program at the following 32 beamlines. Please note that the beamtimes available at RIKEN beamlines are less than those at public beamlines.

Public Beamlines

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

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.

For several bunch modes, click here.

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 of interest before applying for beamtime. To find out which beamline is best suited to your research, please contact the Research & Utilization Division (see 12. Consultation).

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 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 Social Interest Proposals (See 7. Proposal Review): so please download the 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 > Social Interest Proposal

If you are a doctoral student at the time of experiment, please apply to the Budding Researchers Support Proposal for Social Interest Application and also read the “Call for 2017B Budding Researchers Support Proposals.”

In addition to the items required for General Proposals, you are also required to state concretely the social significance and public interest of the proposed research in the Abstract section on the Abstract page.

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

Important Note about Multiple Applications:
You may not submit another proposal with the same application details as a General Proposal or other priority proposals (New Industrial Area). If your Social Interest Proposal is rejected, it will then be automatically reviewed as a General Proposal.
Even if you are a master’s or doctoral student, the above multiple applications are not allowed. If your Budding Researchers Support Proposal for Social Interest Application is rejected, it will then be automatically reviewed as a general Budding Researchers Support Proposal.

Note for Proposals in the Field of Life Science (L1)/Protein Crystal Analysis:
From 2015A, there have been changes in the operation of shift allocation and the adjustment of beamtime for General Proposals and Budding Researchers Support Proposals of studies in the field of Life Science (L1)/Protein Crystal Analysis with the use of SPring-8 Public Macromolecular Crystallography Beamlines (BL41XU, BL38B1, BL32XU, and BL26B1/B2). When a proposal submitted as a Social Interest Proposal/Budding Researchers Support Proposal for Social Interest Application in the L1 field is rejected as a priority proposal but is accepted as a General Proposal/Budding Researchers Support Proposal, the new operation method will be adopted. For details, refer to “2017B Operation of Proposals in the Field of Life Science (L1)/Protein Crystal Analysis.”

6. 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 13. 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

7. Proposal Review

8. Notification of Review Results

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

9. Report Submission

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.

10. Publication of Research Results

Publish your results in the form of a refereed journal (incl. refereed proceedings and dissertation), a SPring-8/SACLA Research Report refereed by JASRI, or a technical journal approved by JASRI, and register the published works with the Publications Database within three years from the end of the half-year research term. In the publications, please clearly state that the results were obtained through 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.

11. Others

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

- Deadline for 2018A Proposals (next half-year research term):
Deadline for 2018A proposals (First half of fiscal 2018) is scheduled for early December 2017.

12. Consultation

Naoto YAGI
Coordinator
Research & Utilization Division, JASRI
1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo-cho, Sayo-gun
Hyogo 679-5198 Japan
Tel: +81-(0)791-58-0908
E-mail: yagi@spring8.or.jp

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
E-mail: sp8jasri@spring8.or.jp