New Proposals
Review deadlines and submit proposals before the deadline.
How to Wow! Secrets for a successful proposal. A good proposal answers all the ‘W’-questions. WHO is planning to WHAT, WHERE (beam line), WHEN, WHY, and HOW.
- Macromolecular Crystallography (PX). See also: proposal guide
- X-ray/VUV
Calls for standard GU proposals are distributed three times a year, with deadlines announced through the SSRL website, newsletter and by email to the user community. SSRL proposals are peer reviewed and competitively rated by the SSRL Proposal Review Panel (PRP).
Research teams are discouraged from submitting multiple proposals unless the proposed research is completely unrelated. Multiple proposals from members of the same research team will be flagged during the peer review process, and these may be combined, limited in lifetime or beam time allocations.
When submitting new proposals, prospective GUs indicate the total number of shifts desired for each beam line. For each proposal, the PRP provides a numeric rating as well as a recommended beam time allocation for the lifetime of the proposal.
Users are invited to submit separate beam time requests for each beam line, technique or time period desired. Beam time can be spread out over several scheduling periods during the lifetime of the proposal. However, requests for highly oversubscribed beam lines will likely be limited to one (in rare cases two) experiments per research group per run year.
Successful proposals will be awarded beam time on SSRL beam lines, with priority given to the proposals rated highest by the PRP and those which demonstrate efficient and productive use of beam time.
Proposal Extension Requests
Extension Forms - send via email attachment
- X-ray/VUV (download form)
- Macromolecular Crystallography (download form)
Requests for a one-time proposal extension (download forms from links provided above) may be submitted to SSRL before the initial two-year beam time eligibility period expires. Extension requests are reviewed by the PRP on the same schedule as new proposals submitted for the June 1, September 1, and December 1 deadlines (X-ray/VUV) or April 1, July 1 and December 1 (Macromolecular Crystallography). For example, if your X-ray/VUV proposal expires July 31, submit an extension request by June 1. If it's a macromolecular crystallography proposal expiring July 31, submit the extension request by July 1.
Extension requests must summarize:
- Progress accomplished to date
- New elements
- Future plans to be pursued under the existing proposal
- An updated list of collaborators
- A summary of how previous beam time at SSRL and other facilities was used
- And a list of publications related to work conducted at SSRL on the proposal. Based on the extension material, the PRP may extend the proposal for up to two years, change the rating, or terminate the proposal.
When submitting new proposals or extensions, keep in mind that attention will be given to proposals that have published results from experiments utilizing SSRL's unique facilities and that have appropriately acknowledged SSRL and funding agencies on all related publications. Updated publications and acknowledgements help to demonstrate the scientific achievements and productivity of users and of this facility. Contact us when exciting results are about to be published so that we can work with user's institutions to develop the story and to communicate user research findings to a broader audience through our newsletters and science highlights.
