Call for 2018B Social Interest Proposals
This call has been closed.
Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) is calling for 2018B (October 2018 – February 2019) 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 2018B SPring-8 Research Proposals -Overview-."
Note Please ensure to refer to the List of Beamline Summaries before preparing application because there may be possible changes in available experimental devices at Beamlines due to replacements, removals and other reasons. In addition, prior consultation with Beamline scientist is essential for some Beamlines.
BL27SU plans to have a monochrometer upgrade after 2018A research period. Due to the commissioning, two weeks (42 shifts) at the beginning of 2018B term is not available for users.
In addition, BL45XU is planned to be reconstructed as a Macromolecular Crystallography Beamline from January 2019 and hence beamtime will not be allocated thereafter.
We appreciate your kind understanding.
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 7, 2018, 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
| The following are examples of priority themes that attract public interest and social requirements. | ||
| (1) Security and Safety of People’s Everyday Lives | ||
| <Themes and keywords> | ||
| 1) Environmental Conservation and Decontamination | ||
| 2) Disaster Preparedness | ||
| 3) Civil Engineering | ||
| 4) Forensics | ||
| 5) Food Safety (Technology for Determining Areas of Production) | ||
| (2) Cultural Interest | ||
| <Themes and keywords> | ||
| 1) Arts | ||
| 2) Cultural Heritages | ||
| 3) Archeology | ||
| 4) Paleontology (e.g., Fossils) | ||
| 5) Space Science | ||
| (3) Other Themes on Science and Technology Attracting Public Interest | ||
| <Themes and keywords> | ||
| 1) Food Science (Agricultural, Marine, and Animal Products) | ||
| 2) Science in Livelihood | ||
3. Research Period
2018B: From October 2018 to February 2019 (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 2018B 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
| Beamlines | Expected Available Beamtime |
|
| BL01B1 | XAFS | 8% |
| BL02B1 | Single Crystal Structure Analysis | 8% |
| BL02B2 | Powder Diffraction | 8% |
| BL04B1 | High Temperature and High Pressure Research | 8% |
| BL04B2 | High Energy X-ray Diffraction | 8% |
| BL08W | High Energy Inelastic Scattering | 8% |
| BL09XU | Nuclear Resonant Scattering | 8% |
| BL10XU | High Pressure Research | 8% |
| BL13XU | Surface and Interface Structures | 8% |
| BL20B2 | Medical and Imaging I | 8% |
| BL20XU | Medical and Imaging II | 8% |
| BL25SU | Soft X-ray Spectroscopy of Solid | 8% |
| BL27SU | Soft X-ray Photochemistry | 8% |
| BL28B2 | White Beam X-ray Diffraction | 8% |
| BL35XU | High Resolution lnelastic Scattering | 8% |
| BL37XU | Trace Element Analysis | 8% |
| BL38B1* | Structural Biology III | 8% |
| BL39XU | Magnetic Materials | 8% |
| BL40B2 | Structural Biology II | 8% |
| BL40XU | High Flux | 8% |
| BL41XU* | Structural Biology I | 8% |
| BL43IR | Infrared Materials Science | 8% |
| BL47XU | HXPES·MCT | 8% |
*Users who wish to apply for BL38B1 or BL41XU, make sure to read here.
RIKEN Beamlines
Please contact the Beamline Scientist of the desired beamline before applying for beamtime.
| Beamlines | Expected Available Beamtime |
|
| BL05XU | RIKEN Diagnosis Beamline I | 2% |
| BL17SU | RIKEN Coherent Soft X-ray Spectroscopy | 2% |
| BL19LXU | RIKEN SR Physics | 2% |
| BL26B1** | RIKEN Structural Genomics I | 8% |
| BL26B2** | RIKEN Structural Genomics II | 2% |
| BL29XU | RIKEN Coherent X-ray Optics | 2% |
| BL32XU** | RIKEN Targeted Proteins | 2% |
| BL44B2 | RIKEN Materials Science | 1%* |
| BL45XU | RIKEN Structural Biology I | 2% |
*Minimum number of beamtime available to users is 3 shifts.
**Users who wish to apply for BL26B1/B2 or BL32XU, make sure to read here.
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 2018B 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 2018B 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 (Cross-SR Facility Proposal for Industrial Application). 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 “2018B Operation of Proposals in the Field of Life Science (L1)/Protein Crystal Analysis.”
6. Submission Deadline for Online Proposals
Thursday, June 7, 2018, 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
The SPring-8 Proposal Review Committee evaluates proposals focusing on the following points:
1. Scientific and technological significance
- Especially 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
8. Notification of Review Results
Users will be notified of review results in writing late August 2018.
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 2018B SPring-8 Research Proposals - Overview -."
Click here for more details.
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