Apply for Access

The NNUF funded user access scheme is open to UK-based university researchers (and employees of other organizations eligible to apply for UKRI funding). Diamond do not charge facility access fees for peer-reviewed academic research, but there may be other costs associated with your time at Diamond (namely sample transport and T&S) for which you may like to apply for NNUF support.

Workflow to follow when applying for access and funding for the Diamond Active Materials Laboratory

To apply for use of the Active Materials Laboratory as part of an experimental programme on the synchrotron, you should apply as usual via the Diamond user office, and follow the normal Diamond application process. If you are successful in your application to Diamond, T&S for three users for both beamtime and use of the Active Materials Lab immediately prior to synchrotron use, will be covered by Diamond.

You may wish to apply for NNUF funding in the following cases:

1.    To apply for T&S/sample transport to DLS when accessing the Active Materials Laboratory without using the synchrotron, please follow the workflow laid out on the access page of this website (i.e. first discuss the practical feasibility of your research with Diamond via their Offline Laboratories scheme, and then complete the NNUF application form for T&S/sample transport funding).

2.    To cover sample transport to DLS. (You must have already secured time at Diamond via their user office for the synchrotron + Active Materials Lab, or this could be part of your request for NNUF funding for standalone use of the Active Materials Laboratory under case 1).

3.    To cover T&S for a further visit or visits to the Active Materials Laboratory, in addition to one visit immediately prior to awarded beamtime. (Please mention that you will require this additional visit or visits when you put in your initial application for beamtime via their user office, so that Diamond can schedule time for this).

4.    If you wish to apply for more than three users to attend a session in the active laboratory immediately followed by beamtime. If you are successful in your application to Diamond, funding for three users will be covered by Diamond as usual, but T&S for any more than three individuals would need to be funded by NNUF. (Please mention that you will require the presence of these additional researcher(s) when you submit your initial application for beamtime via their user office, so that Diamond is aware that they may be in attendance).

 

In order to avoid multiple levels of scrutiny of your proposed work, and recognising that Diamond rigorously peer-review beamtime proposals, if you have been awarded beamtime by Diamond it is expected that reasonable costs for sample transport and/or T&S for extra users/visits will be funded by NNUF without requiring a separate application. In order to arrange this funding, please forward to francesca.mcgowan@materials.ox.ac.uk the email you receive from the Diamond user office granting you beamtime at Diamond, explaining clearly which of the cases listed above applies to you. (If you are applying for four or more researchers to attend, please include in your email to francesca.mcgowan@materials.ox.ac.uk a clear scientific case for why this is required, which the NNUF Management Group will assess before releasing T&S funds).

For case 1 where a beamline application will not have been completed and reviewed, you will need to complete the NNUF application form.

The NNUF Management Group will transfer any sample transport funds (case 2) and T&S (cases 1, 3 and 4) directly to your institution.

After your time in the lab

Please note that after you have completed your access you will be asked, as a condition of receiving funding from the NNUF access scheme, to:

•    Complete a feedback form detailing the research undertaken, the number of days for which you used the facility, how many members of your research team took part in the experiment etc.

•    Cite NNUF in any publications, reports, patents or other “outputs” which result from your research, and notify the NNUF Management Group (by emailing francesca.mcgowan@materials.ox.ac.uk) when any such “outputs” occur. This is in addition to acknowledging Diamond in the normal way. Please respond in a timely manner to enquiries from the NNUF Management Group on these matters, as this information is required for our reporting to EPSRC and the UK government.

Further information

Please do feel free to contact Francesca McGowan, NNUF Administrator (francesca.mcgowan@materials.ox.ac.uk) if you are thinking of applying for access to the Diamond Active Materials Laboratory and have any questions about the access/funding process – we would be more than happy to help and advise.