ALBA Synchrotron
To apply for beam time, please register on the ALBA User Office Portal and follow the proposal workflow which is described below:
A clearly written proposal will greatly increase the chances that the Peer Review Committee will recommend you get allocated beam time.
Before you write a proposal, we advise you to talk to ALBA beamline scientists to discuss the technical feasibility of your experiment. They will help you to decide on the amount of time you will need, and will help you verify if suitable sample environment equipment is available.
Create your User Account and Register your Laboratory
We invite you to register all users who will be taking part in the proposal and their laboratories as soon as possible, as new laboratories must be validated by ALBA User Office prior to the proposal submission.
Create a draft proposal
Proposals must be written in English.
At the heart of your proposal there should be a scientific case. "One of the main reasons for not obtaining the support of the panel is the lack of a clear statement on how the proposed work will result in significant advances", Sue Kilcoyne, University of Salford.
Please provide an abstract of around 300 words and a description of the proposed experiment. In the description, you should explain the background, objective and, if possible, test measurements demonstrating that the experiment is feasible at a synchrotron facility e.g. lab. XPS measurements, method, expected results, justification of the beamtime requested and references.
The description text shall be of 2000 words with a 3 page pdf maximum for a standard proposal.
You should give a clear account of the aims of the experiment and set it within the broader scientific context. You should also indicate if there could be a potential economic impact of your research.
To receive future call notifications, please register on ALBA User Office Portal.
Once the call is closed, submitted proposals will go through an evaluation procedure based on:
- Technical feasibility
- Scientific merit, assessed by international experts
- Previous record at ALBA
- Availability of resources required
Proposals will be ranked and graded as follows:
A+ | The proposal is accepted and beamtime has been granted. |
A | Reserve list. The proposal is accepted but no beamtime is available. The proposal may proceed if a cancellation or change of circumstances releases sufficient beam time to allow the proposal to be carried out. Failing the above, the proposal should be submitted again. |
B | Proposal refused. |
Around four months after the Call submission deadline, the Call Results will be published on the ALBA website.
All main proposers will receive an email notification with the grading of their proposal, the number of shifts finally allocated and a safety evaluation if A+, or a copy of the comments from the evaluation panel if ranked as B.