Proposals types
Standard
This type of proposal is a way to obtain free beamtime after peer-review committees evaluation of the project.
SOLEIL propose two calls for proposals per year and allocated beamtime is carried out during a 6 months period after peer-review committees decisions.
Submission modalities...
Block Allocation Group (BAG) classic or MX-BioSAXS
These proposals are a way to obtain free beamtime after peer-review committees evaluation of the project.
BAG submission is open only once a year during calls with a closure date in September.
There is two types of BAG proposals at SOLEIL:
- Classic BAG proposal: currently available for CRISTAL and SWING beamlines for specific research areas. For more information, please contact the beamline manager.
Duration: 1 year, beamtime allocation period from March 1st, YEAR N to February 28th, YEAR N+1.
- MX-BioSAXS BAG proposal: for protein cristallography experiment on PROXIMA-1 and PROXIMA-2A beamlines and/or for small angles X-ray diffusion on SWING beamline.
Duration : 2 years, for beamtime allocation from the 1rst of March, YEAR N to the 28th of February, YEAR N+2.
For each type of BAG, a mid-term experimental report is required in order to re-evaluate the number of allocated shifts regarding results obtained during the first half of allocation period : after 6 month for classic BAG proposals (re-evaluation in April) and after 12 month for MX-BioSAXS BAG proposals (re-evaluation in November of the following year).
More information about these mid-term experimental report forms…
ATTENTION: MX-BioSAXS BAG proposals can only be resubmitted every 2 years. If your team has a MX-BioSAXS BAG proposal ongoing and submit a new MX-BioSAXS BAG proposal, this one will be declined.
Submission modalities...
Rapid Access
This type of proposal is a way to obtain free beamtime on decision of the Experimental Division Direction.
Proposals are submitted continiously but are limited to a really small number of proposals, only for urgent work.
Submission modalities...
Access with charge for admission
These proposals are a way to obtain beamtime by paying charges for admission. They ensure confidentiality and intellectual property of results.
For more information, please get in touch with the Groupe des Relations Industrielles et de la Valorisation (GRIVAL)
Submission guide
Submission form is available online on the SUN set, it's divided on 6 tabs for each part of the proposal.
Proposals have to be fully written in english and every steps of the proposal has to be saved before continuation.
Standard proposal
General
This tab contains: the proposal title and keywords which are freely written by the proposal Main Proposer (MP).
The corresponding research area of the proposal has to be selected among a predefinied list of areas.
And the proposal team has to be descibed. Every team member has to be registered on the SUN set. The proposal team can be different of the team performing the experiment at SOLEIL.
Beamline(s)
Choice of beamline has to be consistent with proposal objective. This choice can be helped usind a diagram ranking beamlines per energy range.
Up to 3 beamlines can be selected with a satisfying explaination of your choice.
It is hightly recommended to get in touch with scientists of selected beamline(s) to check the adequacy between you proposal ans the beamlines and to help for the proposal writting. This local contact has to be indicated in the proposal form.
The experimental station or type of techniques has to be selected if necessary. The machine operation mode has to be choosen and the needed energy range has to be indicated.
And the number of shifts needed to perform the experiment has to be defined.
Experiment Requirements/Context/Framework
You can notify preferred or unacceptable dates to perform your experiment.
The choice of peer-review committee has to be in adequacy with the project: committe members, area of expertise, ...
Support laboratories are available at SOLEIL: biology laboratory, chemistry laboratory, surface laboratory, ... You have to indicate if you might be needing one for your experiment. It's not an access request, it's only a statement of intention.
The proposal context has to be detailled:
- is it a continuation of aprevious proposal ? a resubmission of a proposal which has not receive beamtime during a previous call ?
- why is synchrotron radiation needed ?
- etc...
And the proposal framework has to be filled :
- is the proposal supported by a contract (industrial, academic, ...) ? in collaboration with industrials ? a part of a PhD thesis ?
- do you intend to request European support (TNA programs) ?
Abstract/Description
An abstract of the proposal has to be written.
And the proposal description has to be described. This description is the biggest part of the committees evaluation: it has to be as precise and concise as possible.
The description has to be written on a Word file donwladable on the SUN set. This file is restricted to 2 pages (figures included). The number of pages depends on the number of selected beamlines (1 BL = 2 pages ; 2 BL = 3 pages, ...).
Under no circumstances the file structure can be modified (titles, spaces, police, ...) ! Otherwise the file will not be uploadable in the SUN set once completed and converted in PDF.
Samples
Samples and ancillary equipments that might be brought at SOLEIL for the experiment have to be declared.
But first you have to read SOLEIL safety requirements for each kind of sample: biologic sample, chemical, radiological, ...
Results from previous proposals
If the proposal is a continuation of a previous proposal which was allocated beamtime, an experimental report of the previous experiment is mandatory . This report has to be uploaded in the SUN set and corresponding publications have to be included before submitting the next proposal.
The absence of this report is an eliminatory criteria during committees evaluation if not clearly justfied.
BAG proposal
Submission modalities are the same as the ones for Standard proposals, exept for details described below:
Each BAG identifies one person acting as the "BAG Coordinator" and each BAG members identifies one person who will act as “Principal Investigator” (PI).
The BAG coordinator and the PIs have dedicated duties which are described in the following paragraphs:
BAG Coordinator
The BAG coordinator is the person in charge of submitting and managing the BAG proposal.
He/she is the only contact person to SOLEIL for all administrative issues related to the BAG proposal and he/she is responsible for collecting and transmitting all information between the BAG Members and SOLEIL (e.g. User Office, Travel Office, beamline manager and safety staff).
All correspondence will be sent by SOLEIL to the BAG coordinator who must inform the BAG members about the beam time allocation periods and organise their visits accordingly.
Cancellation of the allocated beam time should be made at least 2 weeks before the experiment. Shorter notice may result in the loss of beam time.
The BAG coordinator is in charge of providing all requested documents (eg. experimental report, publication list, end of run report, …) when requested after the experiment.
Principal Investigator (PI)
The PI or his/her named representative must be present at SOLEIL throughout a BAG session. He/she is the designated by the BAG coordinator when he/she declares the participants for each session. The PI or named representative is responsible of the activities carried out during the beamtime session.
The PI or its representative must know how to operate the beamline and stays on site during the entire beamtime session. His/her duties are the following:
act as the spoke person with the local contact,
insure that each team is technically able to properly handle the beamline and perform their experiments,
ensure the smooth changeover between successive teams,
act as a contact person for all matters concerning safety issues at SOLEIL.
Data Access Rights for Team members (Applies only to MX/BioSAXS BAG proposals)
Teams setting up (‘team members’ associated to a ‘BAG member’) allows to manage data confidentiality (specific access rights) between the teams of a BAG within ISPyB, permitting, for example, access to sample preparation forms or to see results related to a BAG member.
A researcher associated to a ‘BAG member’ (PI) belongs to a BAG member and is named ‘team member’.
The BAG Coordinator has, by default, access rights to all BAG members (i.e. can access all sample declarations and results).
A Principal Investigator has, by default, access rights to his/her BAG member.
A team member has, by default, access to ISPyB to see sample preparation details and results related to his/her BAG member (only for BAG proposals in ‘Accepted’ or ‘Finished’ status).
A collaborator, from another BAG member, can carry out an experiment for a specific beam time session only if the BAG coordinator gives him/her the relevant access rights in the Authorization Management section in her/his participant form (in SUN set: Before experiment / Participants declaration).
Experimental report
For each type of BAG, an experimental report is required at mid-term and at the end of the BAG.
- Classic BAG proposal: for other fields if the beamline offers this access mode.
An experimental report should be submitted at the end of the first 6 months, and then at the end of the year, with updated information according to the period, with the following experimental report form.
- MX-BioSAXS BAG proposal: for Macromolecular crystallography experiments on PROXIMA 1 and / or PROXIMA 2A, and / or for Small Angle X-ray Scattering experiment on SWING,
An experimental report should be submitted at the end of the 1rst year, and then at the end of the 2nd year, with different forms corresponding to the appropriate period.
Rapid Access proposal
To submit a Rapid Access proposal, you first have to get in touch with the beamline manager, discuss your project with him/her and get his/her approval to submit it.
Once you get the agreement of the beamline manager, submission modalities are the same as the ones for Standards proposals.
