User Services

The User Services Group, led by Gary Krebs, is a multifaceted group. Its main function is to provide an interface between the user community and the ALS facility. To better serve ALS users, the group was reorganized this year into three sections: the User Services Office, Beamline Coordination, and Technical Information.

The User Services Office, led by Ruth Pepe and located on the ALS mezzanine, assists users in a variety of ways. The User Services Office administrators coordinate all requests for independent-investigator beam time, help users find lodging in the new ALS user apartments, and provide new-user orientation, which includes the dispensing of building access key-cards. The User Services Office provides users with assistance throughout their visits to the ALS.

The Beamline Coordination section, led by Donna Hamamoto, assists users with shipping and receiving and various other on-the-floor needs. Section members help set up experiments and make sure that users’ equipment meets ALS safety standards. The Beamline Coordination section serves as a liaison between users and available ALS and Berkeley Lab resources.

The Technical Information section, led by Art Robinson, is responsible for the document you are reading and many others, such as the annual ALS Activity Report. These publications are available as hard copies and on our World Wide Web site. The Technical Information section also publishes special reports, creates illustrations and graphic designs, maintains the ALS Web site, writes and edits the electronic ALSNews, and manages a multifaceted outreach program to the local community. One of the priorities for the User Services Group this year has been to make full use of the capabilities of the World Wide Web to make information available to users and to permit electronic submittal of forms. We now have a suite of interactive pages, which can be reached through the main ALS Web site.

Home page	http://www-als.lbl.gov/
Activity Report 1996-97	http://www-als.lbl.gov/als/actrep/
Compendium of User Abstracts and Technical Reports	http://www-als.lbl.gov/als/compendium/
ALSNews	http://www-als.lbl.gov/als/als_news/
Beam time proposal submission	http://www-als.lbl.gov/als/quickguide/becomealsuser.html
New user registration	http://www-als.lbl.gov/als/quickguide/comingtoals.html

Becoming an ALS User

The ALS, a Department of Energy national user facility, welcomes researchers from universities, industry, and government laboratories. Qualified users have access either as members of participating research teams (PRTs) or as independent investigators. PRTs (groups of researchers with related interests from one or more institutions) construct and operate beamlines and have primary responsibility for experiment endstation equipment. Each PRT is entitled to a certain percentage of its beamline’s operating time according to the resources contributed by the PRT. The obligations of the PRT and the ALS are recorded in a Memorandum of Understanding. Through a peer-review process, the remaining beam time is granted to independent investigators who submit proposals.

Anyone wishing to explore the potential of synchrotron radiation in their research should review the beamline tables in the next section to gain some familiarity with the photon energy ranges and other individual capabilities of the beamlines. To inquire more specifically about a particular beamline, use the contact information given in the beamline tables.

The ALS Quick Guide for Users on the Internet (http://www-als.lbl.gov/als/quickguide/) provides the most up-to-date information on beamlines and the process of becoming an ALS user.

Independent Investigator Program

Independent investigators may propose experimental programs or single experiments to be performed on existing beamlines. Proposals may involve bringing experiment chambers to the ALS from other locations, or they may involve the use of chambers provided by the ALS facility or by a PRT. Independent investigators may also establish collaborations with PRT members.

In the physical sciences, the ALS has two semesters per year for independent investigator research: June-November and December-May. The deadlines for receipt of the beam time proposals for these two running periods are December 1 and June 1, respectively. Protein crystallography proposals have their own proposal submission deadlines. Those deadlines are March 15 and September 15 for the crystallography running periods of July-December and January-June, respectively. After the proposals are submitted, they are reviewed by ALS personnel for technical feasibility and safety, and PRT members from the appropriate beamline check the proposal for conformance to the beamline’s capabilities. If a particular beamline is specified in the proposal, it is strongly recommended that the independent investigator contact the appropriate PRT spokesperson before submitting the proposal. Contact information for the PRT spokespersons and local contacts for each beamline are given in the beamline tables. For information on beamlines available to independent investigators, contact the ALS User Services Office; for information on the submission process and deadlines, contact the ALS User Services Administrator (see inside back cover for contact information) or check the Web at http://www-als.lbl.gov/als/quickguide/independinvest.html.

After the ALS and PRT review, the proposals undergo peer review by a Proposal Study Panel, which rates the proposals and makes recommendations for the beam time to be granted. Highly rated proposals are allocated beam time by the User Services Office in consultation with the PRT members and the beamline scientists.

Non-Proprietary Research

The ALS does not charge users for beam time if their research is non-proprietary. However, they must sign a user agreement which, among other things, requires the experimenter to send the ALS copies of all publications resulting from data collected at the ALS. For research to be considered non-proprietary, the research results must be published in the open literature. All users are responsible for the day-to-day costs of research (e.g., supplies, phone calls, and technical support).

Proprietary Research

Proprietary research can also be performed at the ALS. Users performing proprietary research will be charged a fee based on cost recovery for the beam time provided. In return, the user may choose to take title to any inventions made during the proprietary research program and treat as proprietary all technical data generated during the program. Contact the ALS User Services Administrator for information on proprietary research proposals (see inside back cover for contact information).

1998 Compendium Index