Shipping Samples

UK and EU based academic users can ship using Diamond's DHL account via ISPyB. Only shipments undertaken using this method will be able to be reimbursed by Diamond.

Non EU based academic users, and all industrial users can also arrange their shipment with DHL in ISPyB but must supply their own DHL account number. Alternatively, they can arrange their own courier for incoming and outgoing shipments.

All users must specify full details of their shipment in ISPyB before shipping. This is neccesary to confirm safety of samples being shipped to Diamond. Explicitly, all samples in all pucks must be defined.

These pages are about Academic (non-proprietory) shipments. Industrial Users should use this link.

All EU and NI Users, arranging their shipment with DHL in ISPyB should be aware that they cannot create an airwaybill in ISPyB and should contact [email protected] (Academic MX) or [email protected] (Academic eBIC) respectively. Industrial Users should follow the instructions at this link and contact [email protected] if needed.

After your experiment if you wish to keep your dewar(s) at Diamond for another visit.

• If beamtime was allocated in responsive beamtime allocation, contact [email protected] (Academic MX), [email protected] (Industrial MX).
• If you have a future visit scheduled then fill out the internal transfer form

Your dewar(s) will be stored properly and topped up regularly with liquid nitrogen until your next visit.

• Request the dewar for dispatch: shipping your dewar home

You can pre-schedule visits by contacting us at [email protected] - which can be for any reason such as arranging a time to train colleagues, or because you have a busy work/life schedule and need time to arrange the necessary logistics. If you do so, please ensure you ship your dewar to arrive by at least two working days prior to your visit:

• one working day for it to arrive, get booked in and be topped up with liquid nitrogen
• the following working day for it to be taken to the beamline and loaded during standard working hours

So for beamtime in the early hours of Tuesday morning, this would mean the dewar needs to arrive on site on the preceding Friday, but this is the most extreme example. 

When there are unforseen delays, we will make every reasonable endeavour to get your samples onto the beamline prior to, or during your visit, but please help us to help you by shipping your samples early. 

If you are coming onsite for a visit, we still encourage you to ship your dewar ahead of your visit, because that keeps it within our tracking systems, and it is likely to be unloaded on the day after your beamtime and thus shipped back to you. You are welcome to view inside the experimental hutch of the beamline while you are here, but it is likely that the samples will be loaded by your Local Contact, becase this is needed in a high-throughput facility, and with Unattended Data Collections filling spaces in the schedule.

You can bring your dewar to the synchrotron yourself, which is often done by local Users and can be done for on-site visits (though we do prefer you to ship them). They need to be delivered to the Goods Handling Department, in Zone 8 of the Synchrotron, and not to the MX beamlines, so it can be correctly booked in. You can contact them here if needed:

• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone: +44 1235  395381

If you are coming for an onsite visit, please ensure your dewar is delivered to Goods Handling by 10am, and that you have liaised with your Local Contact so that they are aware that this is happening. 

Dewars and cases still need to be labelled with the Shipping Labels from in ISPyB, as this is used to track them around site.