203 IV-1. Program Overview JASRI calls for public use proposals twice a year. The submitted proposals are reviewed by the Proposal Review Committee (PRC). As for General Proposals, 560 proposals out of 782 submitted proposals were approved in the research term 2007B, and 558 out of 754 proposals were approved in 2008A. Since the start of the Long-term Program in 2000B, 22 Long-term Proposals have been implemented. In 2008A, three new proposals were approved. During the past year, a total of 11 proposals were carried out. During 2007B and 2008A, Nanotechnology Support Proposals, Industrial Application Proposals, Medical Bio Trial Use Proposals and Medical Bio EX Proposals were called for as the Priority Field Proposals. Out of 225 submitted proposals, 161 proposals were approved in 2007B, and 191 out of 255 proposals were approved in 2008A. The proposal statistics is shown in Table VI for the period from 1997B to 2008A, in which Power User Proposals and JASRI Proposals are excluded. During the period from 2003B to 2008A, 11 user groups have been designated as Power User groups (PUs), which include six PUs active in 2007B and 2008A. To date, a total of 2,226 shifts have been used by PUs, of which 579 shifts were spent from 2007B to 2008A. The SPring-8 consistently provided 2,140 hours of user beamtime in 2007B, and 2,231 hours in 2008A. Since the start of operation in 1997, the SPring-8 has succeeded in providing users with the total beamtime of 41,119 hours. In 2007B, 965 experiments were conducted by 6,752 users at public and contract beamlines, and 1,001 experiments by 6,731 users in 2008A. During the period from the start of operation in 1997 up to 2008A, a total of 13,551 experiments were conducted by 91,330 users. The beamtime available to the users, the number of experiments conducted, and the number of user visits at the public and contract beamlines are summarized in Table VII and in Fig. 3. Figure 4 shows the breakdown of the approved proposals sorted by user affiliation and of the number of experiments conducted at the public and contract beamlines during the period from 1997B to 2008A. The percentages of experiments conducted by users from abroad were 3.8% in 2007B and 6.9% in 2008A. Since the SPring-8 is a public facility widely open not only to academia but to industrial sectors, JASRI established the Industrial Application Division in 2005. The division's coordinators specializing in the fields of SR industrial applications are available for consultation with new users. The division also has the experiment support personnel who provide technical advice and support. Currently, Industrial Application Proposals account for approximately 20% of total proposals conducted at the public beamlines. From 2007B, the SPring-8 has introduced the SPring-8 Measurement Service, in which the personnel of the Industrial Application Division can carry out XAFS measurements on behalf of users at BL14B2. This new program is expected to provide convenience for companies that have difficulty in retaining their own specialized staff, and to meet the needs for quick access. Research Term Beamtime available to users at each beamline Submission deadline Number of submitted proposals Number of approved proposals 1997B: 1997.10 - 1998.03 168 1997.1.10 198 134 1998A: 1998.04 - 1998.10 204 1998.1.6 305 229 1999A: 1998.11 - 1999.06 250 1998.7.12 392 258 1999B: 1999.09 - 1999.12 140 1999.6.19 431 246 2000A: 2000.02 - 2000.06 204 1999.10.16 424 326 2000B: 2000.10 - 2001.01 156 2000.6.17 582 380 2001A: 2001.02 - 2001.06 238 2000.10.21 502 409 2001B: 2001.09 - 2002.02 190 2001.5.26 619 457 2002A: 2002.02 - 2002.07 226 2001.10.27 643 520 2002B: 2002.09 - 2003.02 190 2002.6.3 751 472 2003A: 2003.02 - 2003.07 228 2002.10.28 733 563 2003B: 2003.09 - 2004.02 202 2003.6.16 938 621 2004A: 2004.02 - 2004.07 211 2003.11.4 772 595 2004B: 2004.09 - 2004.12 203 2004.6.9 886 562 2005A: 2005.04 - 2005.08 188 2005.1.5 878 547 2005B: 2005.09 - 2005.12 182 2005.6.7 973 624 2006A: 2006.03 - 2006.07 220 2005.11.15 916 699 2006B: 2006.09 - 2006.12 159 2006.5.25 867 555 2007A: 2007.03 - 2007.07 246 2006.11.16 1099 761 2007B: 2007.09 - 2008.02 216 2007.6.7 1007 721 2008A: 2008.04 - 2008.07 225 2007.12.13 1009 749 Table VI . Numbers of submitted proposals and approved proposals in each research term IV IV. User Pr . User Program and Statistics ogram and Statistics Table VII. SPring-8 user operation results Experiments Experiments Users Users 1997B: 1997.10 - 1998.03 1,286 94 681 – – 1998A: 1998.04 - 1998.10 1,702 234 1,252 7 – 1999A: 1998.11 - 1999.06 2,585 274 1,542 33 467 1999B: 1999.09 - 1999.12 1,371 242 1,631 65 427 2000A: 2000.02 - 2000.06 2,051 365 2,486 100 794 2000B: 2000.10 - 2001.01 1,522 383 2,370 88 620 2001A: 2001.02 - 2001.06 2,313 474 2,915 102 766 2001B: 2001.09 - 2002.02 1,867 488 3,277 114 977 2002A: 2002.02 - 2002.07 2,093 545 3,246 110 1,043 2002B: 2002.09 - 2003.02 1,867 540 3,508 142 1,046 2003A: 2003.02 - 2003.07 2,246 634 3,777 164 1,347 2003B: 2003.09 - 2004.02 1,844 549 3,428 154 1,264 2004A: 2004.02 - 2004.07 2,095 569 3,756 161 1,269 2004B: 2004.09 - 2004.12 1,971 555 3,546 146 1,154 2005A: 2005.04 - 2005.08 1,880 560 3,741 146 1,185 2005B: 2005.09 - 2005.12 1,818 620 4,032 187 1,379 2006A: 2006.03 - 2006.07 2,202 724 4,809 226 1,831 2006B: 2006.09 - 2006.12 1,587 550 3,513 199 1,487 2007A: 2007.03 - 2007.07 2,448 781 4,999 260 2,282 2007B: 2007.09 - 2008.02 2,140 739 4,814 226 1,938 2008A: 2008.04 - 2008.07 2,231 769 4,840 232 1,891 41,119 10,689 68,163 2,862 23,167 User Time (hours) Public BL Contract BL Research Term Note: The numbers of long-term proposals are counted by beamline, that is, if two beamlines were used for one experiment, those are counted as two experiments. 204 Half-year Research Term 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1997B 1998A 1999A 1999B 2000A 2000B 2001A 2001B 2002A 2002B 2003A 2003B 2004A 2004B 2005A 2005B 2006A 2006B 2007A 2007B 2008A Number of Experiments 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 Number of User Visits 94 241 307 307 465 471 576 655 602 682 798 703 730 701 706 807 950 749 1041 965 1001 234 7 234 7 274 33 274 33 242 65 242 65 365 100 365 100 383 88 383 88 474 102 474 102 488 114 488 114 545 110 545 110 540 142 540 142 634 164 634 164 549 154 549 154 569 161 569 161 555 146 555 146 560 146 560 146 620 187 620 187 724 226 724 226 550 199 550 199 781 260 781 260 739 226 739 226 769 232 769 232 Contract BL Experiments Public BL Experiments Users 681 1252 2009 2058 3280 2990 3681 4254 4289 4554 5124 4692 5025 4700 4926 5411 6640 5000 7281 6752 6731 681 1252 2009 2058 3280 2990 3681 4254 4289 4554 5124 4692 5025 4700 4926 5411 6640 5000 7281 6752 6731 Half-year Research Term Number of Approved Proposals 100 1997B 1998A 1999A 2000A 1999B 2000B 2001A 2001B 2002A 2002B 2003A 2003B 2004A 2004B 2005A 2005B 2006A 2006B 2007A 2007B 2008A 0 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 Foreign Private Sector National or Public Research Institute University or Other Educational Institute Fig. 4 . Number of approved proposals by affiliation of applicants (public beamlines). Fig. 3 . Numbers of user visits and conducted experiments. 205 IV-2. Types of Research (Proprietary and Non-Proprietary Research) W ith respect to the handling of research results obtained by using the SPring-8, there are two types of research at the SPring-8: proprietary and non- proprietary research. For research to be considered non-proprietary, users must submit the SPring-8 Experiment Report within 60 days of the completion of each experiment to make the results available to the public. Users can use beamlines free of charge if their research is non-proprietary. As for proprietary research, the research proposals are reviewed only from the viewpoint of feasibility, safety, sociality, and ethics. In this type of research, users are charged beamtime fee of 480,000 yen/shift based on cost recovery for the SPring-8 beamline operation. In return, the SPring-8 Experiment Reports need not be submitted. IV-3. Types of Proposals A. General Research Program (i) General Proposal JASRI calls for General Proposals twice a year. Once approved, the validity of each proposal is six months. Up to 10% of total beamtime is allocated to proprietary proposals. (ii) Long-term Proposal Beamtime is reserved for Long-term Proposals for three years in order to promote research expected (a) to produce outstanding results in the field of science and technology, (b) to establish a new research field or experimental method, and (c) to significantly improve industrial base technology by fully utilizing the characteristics of the SPring-8. The call for Long-term Proposals and the review process take place twice a year prior to those for General Proposals. For this type of proposal, proprietary research is not available. The review process consists of two steps: application forms are reviewed initially and applicants who meet certain criteria will proceed to the interview. (iii) Urgent Proposal This system is designed for users with urgent needs to conduct experiments of great scientific significance. The PRC reviews the submitted proposals on a rolling basis and promptly determines whether to approve or reject them. (iv) Budding Researchers Support Proposal The Budding Researchers Support Program intends to encourage doctoral students with an exploratory and original research proposal or research theme who are expected to contribute to the development of synchrotron radiation research. Under the program, successful applicants will be provided with domestic travel and lodging expenses. At the time of experiment at the SPring-8, applicants must be doctoral students who can show initiative, work independently, and be self-reliant when conducting research at the SPring-8. All applicants are required to obtain permission to apply from their Ph.D. advisor, who must be included as a project team member. (v) Non-proprietary Grant-aided Proposal The Non-Proprietary Grant-Aided Program is intended for research proposals that have been reviewed and approved for a large research grant available in Japan. Under the program, the proposals are exempt from scientific review process; and only the feasibility and the safety of the experiment are considered. These proposals are given priority consideration up to 5% of entire user beamtime, and 20% of user beamtime for each beamline. Instead, users are required to pay a program fee of 131,000 yen/shift. (vi) Time-designated Proposal The time-designated use is intended for users wishing to conduct proprietary research in a particular time period. Submitted proposals are promptly reviewed through a simplified process. Users are charged beamtime fee of 720,000 yen/shift for proprietary use (incl. 50% premium). (vii) SPring-8 Measurement Service The staff of JASRI perform measurements on behalf of users, and users can choose whether to come to the SPring-8 and be present during the measurements or to simply send their samples to the SPring-8. The service is intended to provide convenience for companies and research institutes that find it difficult to retain specialized staff and to accommodate the need for quick access. Application for the service is considered a proprietary proposal and is subject to the proprietary beamtime fee and user fee applicable to Time-designated Proposals (calculated in two-hour increments). B. Priority Research Program The Priority Research Program is categorized into the following two types: the priority field type and the priority user type. As for the priority field type, JASRI designates the research fields of strategic importance. As for the priority user type, eligible candidates, who are highly familiar with the public beamlines and their methodological approaches, and who are expected to deepen the academic fields of SR science and technology, are designated as power users. JASRI has been providing active support for this program to produce a number of high-quality results. B-1) Priority Field Type Currenty, the following three types of research are designated under the priority field type: (i) Nanotechnology Support Proposal (period of designation: FY2007-FY2011) Based on the achievements gained through the Nanotechnology Support Project (a national project from FY2002 to FY 2006), the research field of nanotechnology and nano-materials has been designated as the priority field. The purpose of this system is to support research in the field of nanotechnology and nano-materials for innovation creation in 5-10 years time. (ii) Industrial Application Proposal (period of designation: FY2007-FY2011) This field is aimed at promoting the expansion of industrial application fields by attracting new users, developing basic technology through the industry- academia-government cooperation, and promoting the project whose achievements contribute to companies and society. JASRI provides intensive support in the categories of “new users,” “new area,” “industrial base consortium,” and “advanced technology development.” To meet the needs of industrial users, JASRI calls for Industrial Application Proposals four times a year for the three public beamlines (BL14B2, BL19B2 and BL46XU) dedicated to industrial applications. (iii) Medical Bio Trial Use Proposal and Medical bio EX proposal (period of designation: FY2006-FY2009) Aiming at establishing new experimental methods in the field of medical bio, there are two types of proposals in this field: Medical Bio Trial Use Proposal and Medical Bio EX Proposal. The Medical Bio Trial Use Proposal is intended for the promotion of the beamline use by new users, who seek to develop and establish a new approach to solving problems at the forefront of medical biology research. The Medical Bio EX Proposal, which is an expanded and developed form of the Medical Bio Trial Use Proposal, is designed for research aiming to discover the causes of major diseases and to develop their diagnostic and treatment methods. B-2) Priority User Type (i) Power User Proposal Power User Proposals are non-proprietary proposals designed for designated power user groups (PUs) to produce outstanding results in the field of pioneering use of SR using up to 20% of beamtime allocated to beamlines accepting PUs. The power user designation period is five years. PUs are subject to an interim review of research achievements, equipment development, and user support by the Power User Review Committee at the end of the third year and whether to continue or discontinue the power user status is determined. W hen the designation period is completed, a post implementation review is conducted by the Committee. JASRI invites applications for power user positions once a year, which takes place before the proposal calls for research term A. IV-4. Beamtime Allocation The beamtime allocation of public beamlines is arranged in a way that more than 50% of the total beamtime is allocated to the public use proposals (proposals submitted in response to the calls for proposals and approved by the PRC), while up to 20% is allocated to JASRI's own research proposals. The remaining beamtime is used for seminars, trainings, setup/removal and adjustment of equipment for user experiments, and proposals with special needs and requirements (Urgent, Time-designated, and Power User Proposals). The conceptual scheme of the beamtime allocation at the public beamlines is shown in Fig. 5 below. ❍ JASRI Proposal ❑ Priority Research Program ❑ Priority Field Type ❍ N anotechnology S u pport Proposal ❍ Ind u strial Application Proposal ❍ Medical Bio Trial Use Proposal/ Medical Bio EX Proposal ❑ Priority User Type ❍ Po w er User Proposal ❑ General Research Program ❍ General Proposal ❍ Long-term Proposal ❍ Urgent Proposal ❍ B u dding Researchers S u pport Proposal ❍ N on-proprietary Grant-aided Proposal ❍ Time-designated Proposal ❍ SPring- 8 Meas u rement Ser v ice - Seminars and Trainings - Set u p and Remo v al of E qu ipment For JASRI For P ub lic Use (Beamtime for Registered Instit u tion for Promoting Facility Utilization and Research) 8 0 % 20 % Allocation Rate Cap or More Fig. 5. Conceptual scheme of beamtime allocation at public beamlines. 206
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