Access to I15

Standard access is the typical route to experiments at Diamond.

Calls for standard access proposals are part of the main call. Two calls per year will be issued with deadlines usually around the first week of April and the first week of October. Successful experiments will be scheduled 6-12 months after the call deadline.

The vast majority of proposals to I15 are standard access. Your proposed experiment will take 1-6 days of beamtime in one session. Proposals should be submitted via the UAS, and you should use the standard science case template which can be downloaded from there once you have started creating your proposal. 

For more details of the workflow, please see the user office guide. 

Objective

The Rapid Access Route is available for

• data collections on samples that are timely and of high scientific interest.
• measurements that will be included in a publication as a reply to referees’ comments.
• a pilot or proof-of-concept study to evaluate feasibility before submitting a future full proposal.

It is NOT to be used for

• routine measurement of samples
• large numbers of samples
• lengthy experiments
• complex experimental setups

These experiment types should be applied for using other access modes.

These are guidelines only, and applicants with proposals or experiments that lie outside of these are encouraged to contact I15 beamline staff to discuss their requirements before submitting a request.

Criteria

• Rapid Access mode is available for academic use only; industrial users should contact the Industrial Liaison Office.
• Applications will not be accepted from research groups who have scheduled beamtime in the same AP for the same/very similar proposal(s).
• Rapid access proposals are judged both on scientific merit and on the genuine and demonstrable need for rapid access.
• Available slots for rapid access are limited and awarded on a first-come-first-served basis.
• As soon as a proposal has been deemed successful, the experiment will be scheduled in the next available rapid access slot.

Workflow

• There will not be a call for proposals with set deadline. Preliminary Rapid Access days for each AP will be advertised on the I15 website as soon as the user schedule for the respective allocation period has been published. Experiments will be scheduled on those days or when time and experimental setup permits.
• It is not feasible to guarantee that experiments run on the scheduled day due to the possibility of unforeseen machine or beamline problems. If this occurs, experiments that have been allocated time will be run during the next available rapid access slot.
• Rapid Access on I15 is generally normal instrument access; not remote, not sample based. Please see the user office guide. A typical time slot allocated to one rapid access user group is 3 shifts or 24 hours.

Please contact Annette Kleppe before submitting a proposal.

Long-term proposals are for experiments that need to be performed over multiple sessions over a period of up to 2 years. They can also cover multiple instruments.

Calls for long-term access proposals are part of the main call. Two calls per year will be issued with deadlines usually around the first week of April and the first week of October. The first session of successful experiments will be scheduled 6-12 months after the call deadline.

Proposals should be submitted via the UAS, and use a special template which can be downloaded from there once you have started creating your proposal. 

For more details of long-term proposals, please see the user office guide. 

A Block Allocation Group (BAG) is an access route for consortia of users who require regular access to I15 over the course of 2 years. The group is awarded time and the users then organise themselves and set their own individual priorities for how to use the allocated time. 

Calls for BAG access proposals are part of the main call. Two calls per year will be issued with deadlines usually around the first week of April and the first week of October. The first session of successful experiments will be scheduled 6-12 months after the call deadline.

Proposals should be submitted via the UAS, and use a special template which can be downloaded from there once you have started creating your proposal. 

For more details of the workflow, please see the user office guide.

Projects and results are confidential and available only to the user group. There is a fee for beamtime used and services provided.

Please contact the Industrial Liaison Office if you wish to use this access route.