180 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, 659 proposals out of 1163 submitted proposals were approved in the research term 2008B, and 654 out of 979 proposals were approved in 2009A. Since the start of the Long-term Program in 2000B, 24 Long- term Proposals have been implemented. Two new proposals were approved in 2009A, and 8 and 9 proposals were carried out in 2008B and 2009A, respectively. In 2008B and 2009A, Nanotechnology Support Proposals, Industrial Application Proposals, Medical Bio Trial Use Proposals and Medical Bio EX Proposals were called for as Priority Field Proposals. Out of 314 submitted proposals, 166 proposals were approved in 2008B, and 172 out of 254 proposals were approved in 2009A. The proposal statistics are shown in Table IV for the period from 1997B to 2009A; Power User Proposals and JASRI Proposals are excluded. During the period from 2003B to 2009A, 17 user groups were designated as Power User groups (PUs), which include six PUs active in 2009A. To date, a total of 2763 shifts have been used by PUs, of which 537 shifts were spent from 2008B to 2009A. SPring-8 consistently provided 1,879 hours of user beamtime in 2008B and 1,927 hours in 2009A. Since the start of operation in 1997, SPring-8 has succeeded in providing users with a total beamtime of 44,925 hours. In 2008B, 889 experiments were conducted by 5,955 users at public and contract beamlines, and 907 experiments by 6,001 users in 2009A. From the start of operation in 1997 to 2009A, a total of 15,347 experiments were conducted by 103,286 users. It was on the 5th of June 2009 that the total number of user visits to SPring-8 reached 100,000. 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 V 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 from 1997B to 2009A. The percentages of experiments conducted by users from abroad were 5.7% in 2008B and 6.1% in 2009A. Since SPring-8 is a public facility widely open not only to academia but also 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. Currently, Industrial Application Proposals account for approximately 20% of the total number of proposals conducted at the public beamlines. From 2007B, 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. SPring-8 has expanded the measurement service to Mail-in Protein Crystallography Data Collection at BL38B1 and powder X-ray diffraction at BL19B2 since 2009B. 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 2008B: 2008.10 - 2009.03 189 2008.6.26 1163 659 2009A: 2009.04 - 2009.07 195 2009.12.11 979 654 Table IV. Numbers of submitted proposals and approved proposals in each research term IV. User Program and Statistics IV. User Program and Statistics Table V. 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 2008B: 2008.10 - 2009.03 1,879 672 4,325 217 1,630 2009A: 2009.04 - 2009.07 1,927 669 4,240 238 1,761 44,925 12,030 76,728 3,317 26,558 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. 181 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 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 Number of Experiments 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 234 234 234 7 7 274 274 274 33 33 33 242 242 242 65 65 65 365 365 365 100 100 100 383 383 383 88 88 88 474 474 474 102 102 102 488 488 488 114 114 114 545 545 545 110 110 110 540 540 540 142 142 142 634 634 634 164 164 164 549 549 549 154 154 154 569 569 569 161 161 161 555 555 555 146 146 146 560 560 560 146 146 146 620 620 620 187 187 187 724 724 724 226 226 226 550 550 550 199 199 199 781 781 781 260 260 260 739 739 739 226 226 226 769 769 769 232 232 232 2008B 889 672 672 672 217 217 217 2009A 907 669 669 669 238 238 238 Contract BL Experiments Public BL Experiments Users 681 681 1 252 2009 2058 328 328 3280 0 0 2990 3681 3681 4254 4289 4554 5124 4692 4692 5025 4700 4700 4926 5411 1 664 6640 0 500 5000 0 000 7281 675 6752 2 6752 673 6731 1 6731 5955 5 6001 681 1252 2009 2058 3280 2990 3681 4254 4289 4554 5124 4692 5025 4700 4926 5411 6640 5000 7281 6752 6731 5955 6001 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 2008B 2009A Fig. 4. Number of approved proposals by affiliation of applicants (public beamlines). Fig. 3. Numbers of user visits and conducted experiments. 182 IV-2. Types of Research (Proprietary Research and Non-Proprietary Research) With respect to the handling of research results obtained by using SPring-8, there are two types of research at SPring-8, namely, proprietary research 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 a beamtime fee of 480,000 yen/shift based on cost recovery for SPring-8 beamline operation. In return, 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 the 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 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 is intended to encourage doctoral students with an exploratory and original research proposal or research theme that is expected to contribute to the development of synchrotron radiation research. Under this program, successful applicants will be provided with domestic travel and lodging expenses. At the time of the experiment at SPring-8, applicants must be doctoral students who show initiative, can work independently, and are self-reliant when conducting research at SPring-8. All applicants are required to obtain permission to apply from their Ph.D. adviser, 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 this program, the proposals are exempt from a scientific review process, and only the feasibility and safety of the experiment are considered. These proposals are given priority consideration for up to 5% of the entire user beamtime and 20% of the user beamtime for each beamline. However, 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 a 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 SPring-8 and be present during the measurements or to simply send their samples to 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 and user fees 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. For the priority field type, JASRI designates research fields of strategic importance. 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 Currently, the following three types of research are designated under the priority field type: (i) Nanotechnology Support Proposal (period of designation: FY2007-FY2011) On the basis of the achievements gained through the Nanotechnology Support Project (a national project from FY2002 to FY2006), the research field of nanotechnology and nanomaterials has been designated as the priority field. The purpose of this system is to support research in the field of nanotechnology and nanomaterials 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 a basic technology through the industry academia-government cooperation, and promoting projects 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 medical bio field, there are two types of proposal 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 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 aimed at discovering the causes of major diseases and to develop their diagnostic and treatment methods. This program was successfully finished at the end of FY2009. 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 the 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 to determine whether to continue or discontinue the power user status. When 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 such that more than 50% of the total beamtime is allocated to public use proposals (proposals that are submitted in response to 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. ❍ J ASRI Proposal ❑ Priority Research Program ❑ Priority Field Type ❍ Nanotechnology Support Proposal ❍ Industrial Application Proposal ❑ Priority User Type ❍ Power User Proposal ❑ General Research Program ❍ General Proposa l ❍ Long-term Proposal ❍ Urgent Proposal ❍ Budding Researchers Support Proposal ❍ Non-proprietary Grant-aided Proposal ❍ Time-designated Proposal ❍ SPring-8 Measurement Service - Seminars and Trainings - Setup and Removal of Equipment For JASRI For Public Use (Beamtime for JASRI : Registered Institution for Facilities Use Promotion) 80% 20% Allocation Rate Cap or More Fig. 5. Conceptual scheme of beamtime allocation at public beamlines. 183
home
- JP
- EN