Users from European organisations continue to be welcome to submit proposals to Diamond. The same funding policy and procedure for expenses remains in place for any visit to Diamond as was in place before Brexit.
Diamond has updated its expense procedure for users and you can find a summary of this here.
There are changes to the way Users at UK affiliations will be funded from September 2024, non-UK users will be funded from April 2025, and changes to rules on taxi transfers from September 2024 that applies to all eligible users.
It is crucial that you familiarise yourself with the procedure as this is what your claims will be assessed against.
Diamond may provide Peer Reviewed Users with financial support for their Sessions at Diamond and reimburses certain costs in accordance with the Expenses Policy and this Procedure.
This Procedure should be read together with the Expenses Policy and has been compiled to assist you to comply with the Expenses Policy and to set out how expenses should be accounted for and claimed at Diamond.
If you submit an expense claim that is not in accordance with the Policy and this Procedure, we will not reimburse that expense.
The User Office may on a case-by-case basis use discretion to assess eligibility where particular requirements arise.
The User Office may request further evidence or further justification in relation to any expense claim under this Procedure.
The User Office reserves the right to evaluate and adjust an expense claim and cap particular costs where these do not comply with good management of public funds (e.g. costs that are not reasonable and cost effective).
We will reimburse the cost of necessary expenses, subject to the rules in this Procedure, incurred by certain Peer Reviewed Users for Instrument Time at Diamond to the extent that they are reasonable and wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in relation to Instrument Time and subject to the following:
At the point of submitting the Session Investigators Form on a Session in the UAS, the Principal Investigator or Alternate Contact will nominate members of the team for financial support, by designating them either ‘Diamond Pays’ or ‘User Pays’. The only Diamond Users entitled to receive financial support from us are those agreed as ‘Diamond Pays’ within the UAS in accordance with this Procedure.
When submitting the Session Investigators Form, the Principal Investigator or Alternate Contact is responsible for registering sufficient competent Peer Reviewed Users to safely resource their Instrument Time and/or other work to be carried out at Diamond. This includes considering necessary rest periods and lone working. It may therefore be necessary to bring further team members to Diamond, funded by the users themselves.
If the designation of 'Diamond Pays' or 'User Pays' is not in accordance with this Procedure, the User Office will contact the Principal Investigator and suggest an alteration to the designation. If the User Office does not receive a timely response, we will make the required adjustment so that it is in accordance with this Procedure.
Reimbursement of expenses and/or financial support cannot be shared between two or more Peer Reviewed Users attending the same Session at different times to one another.
The number of Peer Reviewed Users who will have their expenses reimbursed and/or who will be financially supported by Diamond shall not exceed:
Reimbursement of expenses and/or financial support cannot be shared between Peer Reviewed Users attending a Session at different times.
Users on Collaborations
We have collaborations with the University of Birmingham, the University of Oxford and the University of Leeds and we do not provide reimbursement of expenses or financial support to Diamond Users accessing Diamond through these collaborations.
Proprietary users
No financial support will be provided. For conditions relating to Proprietary users see here
No financial support will be provided where a user is only accessing an Offline Laboratory outside of an Instrument Session.
If required, additional access to labs for peer reviewed Instrument Time may be granted to you before or after your Session, or if you require separate laboratory access please contact your Local Contact and discuss your need for off-line lab time. For information on Diamond’s Off-line lab services, see here.
Diamond will fund a maximum of 2 Peer Reviewed Users for up to 5 days before the Session begins, or up to 2 days after the Session ends if the time is clearly associated with a particular session.
Unless associated with our scheduled Instrument Time, no reimbursement of expenses or financial support will be provided by us for any additional access. No financial support will be provided where a Diamond User is only accessing an Offline Laboratory outside of a Session.
Diamond will cover the cost of shipping up to two dewars of your samples (per 8 hour shift) to beamlines and eBIC microscopes if your establishment is in the UK or EU. Details of the shipping arrangements can be found here.
Where you ask Diamond to cover the costs of shipping samples and this is authorised by us, one person fewer (than outlined in section 2 above) will be financially supported by us.
We shall not be liable in any way for any loss, damage or delay arising out of the shipping of samples and it shall be your responsibility to ensure you have adequate insurance to cover these (or any other) eventualities.
Diamond will not fund the cost of consumables as part of your visit.
You will only be eligible to receive financial support for travel to and from a Session at Diamond if you are designated ‘Diamond Pays’ on the investigator list for a Session and are eligible according to this Procedure.
Users based at UK organisations will have their train, mileage and flight costs capped at the rates lists in the table in Section 7
These capped costs are maximum rates supported, and we expect users to seek the most economic travel possible.
Travel will be reimbursed for a maximum of one direct return trip to Diamond from the User’s home establishment or home address, whichever is closer, except where otherwise agreed in writing with the Diamond User Office in advance of travel.
Reimbursement of travel expenses will only be provided where:
If equipment is brought to Diamond, then the User Office must be provided with robust justification for why lone driving, taxi or car hire is to be used. If equipment can be brought on public transport (train, busses and similar), taxi/car hire/own car is unlikely to be approved. See sections on taxi usage (Sect. 10), car hire (Sect. 11) or use of own car (Sect. 12).
Congestion and toll charges may be claimed where appropriate, provided a receipt is submitted. Wherever possible, public transport should be used to avoid incurring these charges.
We will not be liable and will not reimburse costs that you incur in respect of accidents, penalty fares or fines for parking or driving offences. You should ensure that you are appropriately insured and that you pay any such fines or penalties.
If, due to a change in Diamond scheduling, a planned journey must be cancelled and rebooked this must be indicated in the claim submitted. Diamond will reimburse both the cancelled journey and the rebooked journey for each person involved. Diamond will not reimburse costs that you may incur as a because of changes that you make to your bookings that are not a result of a change in Diamond scheduling.
Diamond shall not be liable in any way for any loss, or delay consequent upon any circumstances beyond our reasonable control, and we will not reimburse insurance costs on travel. Please ensure you have adequate insurance for your travel to cover these eventualities.
Diamond will fund train journeys, mileage, car hire and flights between Diamond and the nearest or most convenient departure point from a UK User’s home organisation up to the capped costs set out in the below and accordance with this Procedure. Any alternative means of travel, or travel from an alternative address that is more economical should be considered and used as far as possible.
Reimbursement of car hire costs follows the rules set out here and in Sect. 11.
|
UK radius from DLS - up to |
Example of cities |
Funding up to (rtn) |
This funding supports |
|
0-75 Miles |
Southampton, London, Bristol, Bath |
£50 |
Train, car hire, coaches and/or mileage |
|
75-100 miles |
Cambridge, Birmingham |
£100 |
Train, car hire, coaches and/or mileage |
|
100-175 |
Nottingham, Sheffield, Manchester |
£150 |
Train, car hire, coaches and/or mileage |
|
175-200 |
Bradford, Liverpool, Leeds, York |
£175 |
Train, car hire, coaches and/or mileage |
|
200+ |
Durham, Newcastle, Glasgow St Andrews, Edinburgh, Belfast |
£200 |
Train, car hire and/or mileage, flights |
For reference, see map here
Public transport costs, including train and bus journeys will be assessed and capped against the rules in section 7 as appropriate.
Diamond will fund the most economic means of travel, including public transport such as bus and rail services. The User Office may request evidence of a planned journey to assess whether an economic fare has been achieved.
The nearest railway station to Diamond is Didcot Parkway. Busses are available from Didcot Parkway 6 days a week. Purchasing tickets in advance of your journey and use of fixed time or off-peak travel can result in significant reductions in ticket price.
See here for details on public transport to Diamond.
Costs will be assessed and capped against the rules in section 7 (for UK users) as appropriate.
Taxis should only be used where no other form of public transport is available. Exceptions where taxis may be used are when:
Taxis to or from Diamond must be approved and arranged in advance with our User Office and will not be authorised where the luggage can be transported by train or bus unless one of the above exceptions apply. Travelling with a suitcase or dewar is not a reason to use a taxi and will not be refunded.
Booking taxis through the User Office (or the EHC Office) enables us to take advantage of a reduced rate and pay the taxi company directly. Reimbursement of claims for use of taxis not approved by the User Office will be limited to the amount that Diamond would have paid if the taxi had been booked by Diamond.
Booking taxis through the User Office enables us to take advantage of a reduced rate and pay the taxi company direct.
Reimbursement of claims for use of taxis not approved by the User Office will be limited to the amount that Diamond would have paid if the taxi had been booked by Diamond.
Travel to Diamond from a user’s home establishment (e.g. airport transfers)
Diamond will fund transport to Diamond or an airport/railway station for onward travel to/from Diamond as follows:
For this Section, costs will be assessed and capped against the rules in section 7 as appropriate.
Subject to Section 2 above, you may, where it is cost effective to do so, and where you have prior approval from Diamond’s User Office, hire an appropriate car for the purposes of travelling to Diamond for your Session, but solely for the duration of the trip and Session and no longer.
You will be asked to demonstrate the need for the car and/or the associated cost savings. You will only be reimbursed for the cost of the car hire and fuel costs related to your Session. For the avoidance of doubt, you will not be paid a mileage allowance.
Fuel costs for cars that you hire will be reimbursed provided an associated receipt is submitted. Unless specifically agreed in advance, Diamond will not pay any surcharges such as those incurred for not refuelling hire cars prior to their return.
Please ensure when hiring a car that appropriate insurance is obtained to drive for business use. If your organisation paid for your hire car, we cannot pay you though your expense claim. In this instance, your organisation should invoice Diamond as described in Sect. 17 below.
For this Section, costs will be assessed and capped against the rules in section 7 as appropriate.
Where it is cost effective for you to use your car for travel to your Session, a mileage allowance may be claimed, subject to eligibility.
When claiming for mileage, please ensure evidence is provided to reflect cost effectiveness. Please be aware that where there is more than one person driving from the same establishment, it is expected they will car share.
Car sharing should always be applied where possible. Use of own car will be rejected if no equipment is transported or robust justification is lacking.
Lone driving is strongly discouraged and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis against the capped cost comparisons in relation to train or plane fares outlined in this Procedure.
Peer Reviewed Users arriving at Diamond in their own car may claim a mileage rate for each mile travelled between their home establishment and Diamond (calculated using the shortest distance between the two points), and where necessary between Diamond and their place of accommodation, subject always to the claim being only for actual mileage.
The rates for mileage claims, in line with the HMRC tax free limits, are as follows:
Please keep your own record of business mileage incurred as you may need to provide this information to HMRC and confirm with your insurer that you are insured appropriately to drive for business with the equipment you are bringing.
Flight cost reimbursement will be assessed against the capped costs outlined in Sect. 7.
Where alternative to air travel is considered, in light of reducing carbon footprints, the capped cost assessment will be applied.
You should secure low-cost airfares by booking in advance and using economy seats. Diamond will only reimburse economy air travel. When booking, please consider the baggage you bring to Diamond and ensure you have adequate luggage allowance.
Where flight changes are made any difference in cost from the original booking cost will be assessed at Diamond on a case-by-case basis. Justification must be provided, and the relevant cost capping rules (see Sect. 7) will continue to be applied to any additional costs of fares being accrued.
The following non-exhaustive list of items will not be reimbursed by Diamond: flight upgrades, VIP lounges, priority boarding or seat selection.
The nearest airport to Diamond is Heathrow. There are public transport links from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, and Luton airports to Diamond. Please contact the Diamond User Office if you are considering any other means of travel between the airport and Diamond.
Diamond’s User Office will book accommodation for you according to the request set out by the Principal Investigator or Alternate Contact within the Session Investigators Form (available from Diamond’s UAS).
Accommodation requests should be submitted no later than 5 business days before your arrival date. After this deadline, it may not be possible to make the bookings or any changes you request, and Diamond will not be responsible for any accommodation requests that are not accepted by accommodation providers due to insufficient notice.
Whilst we understand that it is sometimes necessary to change the experimental team, please ensure all changes are made before this deadline and that an email is sent to the User Office setting out the change request. After this deadline, it may not be possible to make the bookings you request. No more than three change request emails will be processed per Session.
Where accommodation is no longer required, please email the User Office as soon as possible. Even providing a cancellation notice on the due day of arrival will reduce the costs incurred by Diamond. see sect 14.
Diamond will only pay for accommodation for those who are designated ‘Diamond Pays’ on the investigator list for a Session (see section 2 above). Where accommodation is no longer required, please email the User Office as soon as possible and no later than 12noon on the day before your arrival. Where you fail to make use of the accommodation we have booked and/or no cancellation notice is received by the User Office, a non-arrival charge may be applied by the accommodation provider.
Diamond will seek to recover any non-arrival charges that have been applied.
We will book accommodation for up to 4 Peer Reviewed Users per Session for Diamond Users accessing Diamond through the collaborations that we have in place with the University of Birmingham and the University of Leeds. These Diamond Users will be required to pay for their accommodation at the point of use. Should these Diamond Users fail to make use of the accommodation we have booked or leave without paying, their contact details will be passed to the third party accommodation provider to secure payment.
Non-arrivals
Where Diamond is charged for non-arrival, we will contact the User to understand the reason for this. Where insufficient justification has been provided, and Users fail to make use of the accommodation, we have booked or leave without paying, their contact details will be passed to the third party accommodation provider to secure payment. Users should let the User Office know as soon as possible if the accommodation is not needed.
Every effort will be made to accommodate ‘Diamond Pays’ Users in Ridgeway House on the Harwell Campus however this is not guaranteed. Where alternative arrangements are put in place, you will be expected to use the bus services to and from the Harwell Campus. Open taxi bookings may be made for you to facilitate easy travel between your accommodation and Diamond where a bus service is not available. Where a partial stay at Ridgeway House is possible, we will do our best to move you from your off-site accommodation if no costs will be incurred.
Proprietary Users are managed by the Industrial Liaison team. Where you require accommodation, please submit a request through the UAS and your accommodation and associated payment arrangements will be managed by Diamond’s User Office and Industrial Liaison team.
If you are designated as ‘Diamond Pays’ on the investigator list for a Session, you will receive a contribution of up to £18 per day for the duration of the Session. This will be loaded onto your Diamond User card in daily amounts which may be used at the R22 restaurant, in the R1 building and at Diamond’s vending machines. The daily allowance is solely for use during the time of your session.
Funding of subsistence is not available when travelling to and from Diamond nor during time spent at Diamond outside of session time.
For an evening meal taken on-site the night before the start of your Instrument Time, a contribution of up to £9 will be provided by Diamond. This cost must be self-funded in the first instance. Please seek reimbursement of this cost using Diamond’s online claims system once your Instrument Time has ended.
Where it has not been possible to provide accommodation on site, reimbursement is available for up to £15 per person, for a meal taken off site. Only Peer Reviewed Users accommodated off site will be reimbursed for meals taken off site. It is expected that you will use the R22 restaurant where possible, taking meals off site only where eating on site would be particularly inconvenient.
The following non-exhaustive list of items will not be reimbursed by Diamond: food or drink consumed on your journey to or from Diamond; movies; alcohol or accommodation minibar costs; phone call charges; mobile accessories; laundry services; personal hygiene items.
The User Office reserves the right to evaluate an expense claim and cap particular costs where these do not fulfil the spirit of this Procedure (e.g. costs that are not reasonable, economic, and cost effective).
Diamond will provide a letter of support for any visa application that you may need to make to enter the UK once the Session Investigators Form has been submitted. We will however not reimburse any visa or passport costs.
User claims for reimbursement of expenses must be made using Diamond’s online claims system, which can be accessed via the UAS. Only authorised expenses as outlined below will be considered, please see in particular sections 9 and 10 on the use of taxis and hire cars. If the expenses were incurred by your establishment or a third party, it is their responsibility to raise an invoice attaching all associated receipts and send it to expenses@diamond.ac.uk. The invoice must reference the Session number and include the names of the Peer Reviewed Users for which the costs were incurred.
All expense claims submitted via the online claims system must be properly identified and accounted for before they are approved. You should only submit one claim per Session and must present your expenses in chronological order so that they can be followed accurately. Each expense line should match a receipt. The receipt dates entered on the claim should show the actual date of the expenditure, not claim submission date. Please do not leave these fields blank and ensure adequate detail is provided to explain the expense.
All claims require an electronic copy of the receipt indicating the cost and for claims where specific authorisation is required, a copy of that authorisation must be included. Where travel is involved, the receipt should also show the start and end of the journey and the date of travel.
We will not reimburse any expenditure without the appropriate receipt. Credit card statements are not receipts and you must always provide an itemised receipt.
Your claim, once submitted, will be sent through the approval workflow and then to our Finance team for payment. During the approval workflow, we may raise a query with you which will be emailed to you through the claims system. It is your responsibility to promptly respond to this query. If a query remains unanswered by you 90 days after the date the expense was incurred and at least 30 days from the date of our query, your claim will be rejected and you will no longer be entitled to receive the reimbursement.
You may find it convenient to take a photograph of each receipt as you incur expenses. This is often particularly useful in the case of train tickets (which may not be returned at the end of your journey) or you could choose to exit through the manned gate so that you are able to retain your ticket. Our claims system allows you to upload photos of your receipts in order to match them to your expense items. We will not reimburse your train fare without the receipt for the ticket.
You may request that a business-related visit is extended for recreational purposes, or you may ask to be accompanied by your partner or dependants. We will not reimburse or contribute to travel, accommodation or subsistence costs for family members who may be accompanying you. A request must be made to the User Office for authorisation and the arrangements for separating business and non-business expenditure arising from the visit must be documented. These travel arrangements will be subject to approval by our User Office in advance of any expenditure being incurred and you will be required to pay for all resulting incremental expenditure arising from the visit.
In the normal course of events, we would not expect children to accompany you to Diamond. However, we recognise that in certain limited and exceptional circumstances, this may be necessary. Provided this has been pre-authorised by us, the following shall apply:
Please keep in mind that in the normal course of events, children are not permitted on site, either in Diamond House or the synchrotron building.
If you have any queries related to the claiming reimbursement of expenses or financial support from Diamond, please contact Diamond’s User Office at useroffice@diamond.ac.uk.
We will endeavour to make payment within one month of your claim being approved via electronic bank transfer and you will receive an email confirming payment.
We will only make payment to the person who incurred the costs. If, for example, one person paid for a meal for two people, that person needs to claim reimbursement of the expense incurred (naming the two individuals to whom the claim relates).
We will use our default monthly exchange rate for foreign payments where necessary.
Bank Charges – You are responsible for any charges that are applied to your expense claim by your own bank. This can result in the payment you receive from Diamond being less than you claimed.
SWIFT Codes – When entering your swift code, it should either be 8 or 11 characters long (generally a mix of letters and numbers). If your Swift code has three XXX’s at the end, please DO NOT enter the XXX when entering your bank details. This could result in a delay in payment of your expense claim.
Diamond shall not be liable in any way for any loss, or delay consequent upon any circumstances beyond our reasonable control, and we will not reimburse insurance costs on travel. Please ensure you have adequate insurance for your travel to cover these eventualities.
Diamond will not reimburse any fines relating to non-payment of congestion charges.
We will not be liable and will not reimburse costs that you incur in respect of accidents, penalty fares or fines for parking or driving offences. You should ensure that you are appropriately insured and that you pay any such fines or penalties.
Please note that it is illegal to hold a phone or satellite navigation device while driving in the UK.
If, due to a change in Diamond scheduling, a planned journey must be cancelled and rebooked this must be indicated in the claim submitted. Diamond will reimburse both the cancelled journey and the rebooked journey for each person involved subject to the capped costs in Section 7. Diamond will not reimburse costs that you may incur because of changes that you make to your bookings that are not a result of a change in Diamond scheduling.
This procedure may be amended by Diamond from time-to-time and it shall be your responsibility to comply with the terms of the amended procedure from the date of publication on our website.
This procedure was last updated on 02.09.2024.
For the purposes of the Expenses Policy and this Procedure, the following definitions shall apply:
Alternate Contact: Any number of people on a proposal can be identified as Alternate Contacts. Within Diamond’s User Administration System (UAS) they can carry out all the functions of a Principal Investigator and are considered to do so at the discretion of the Principal Investigator.
BAG Access: A proposal submitted to the BAG access route in Diamond’s User Administration System. A BAG (Block Allocation Group) is a group of scientists, potentially from more than one institute, who compose a joint proposal to Diamond, to receive regular access to Diamond over a two-year period.
Commissioning Call: When an instrument is new or developing a new technique, it is customary to appeal to the user community for relevant proposals. This call to users is known as a Commissioning Call. Proposals submitted in response to a Commissioning Call will be in the commissioning access route in Diamond’s User Administration System (UAS).
Diamond: Diamond Light Source Ltd, a company incorporated and registered in England and Wales, with company number 04375679 and with registered office at Diamond House, Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 ODE, United Kingdom.
Diamond Users: Diamond Users shall include Peer Reviewed Users, Proprietary Users and the following persons making use of Diamond Facilities: scientists and engineers from academia, research councils and charitable organisations, researchers from commercial and non-commercial organisations and Diamond Employees.
Diamond Employee: Any person working for Diamond under a contract of employment and any Diamond director or office holder.
Diamond’s Instruments: Beamlines and electron microscopes made available by Diamond.
Diamond Pays: In the UAS funding by Diamond will be indicated on session investigators for whom Diamond will provide funding in accordance with this Procedure
Instrument Time: Time awarded to a Diamond User on Diamond’s Instruments.
In-house Research: The allocation of Instrument Time for Diamond Employees and their collaborators.
Local Contact: The beamline staff working with the user investigative team before and during a session and user visits.
Long Term Proposal (LTP): A proposal submitted to the Long Term access route in Diamond’s User Administration System. A number of proposed experiments require regular access to Diamond over a two-year period to carry out a more significant experiment.
Offline Laboratory: Any laboratory or instruments at Diamond that are made available by Diamond to Users and that do not require submission of a proposal and is not part of a Session. This is typically access to equipment that is not attached to the synchrotron machine, eBIC or ePSIC.
Peer Reviewed User: A researcher, conducting research using Diamond Facilities that has been evaluated by others working in the same field, is conducted under an Experimental Proposal and for which there is an obligation to publish publishable results.
Principal Beamline Scientist (PBS): A Diamond member of staff who is overall accountable and responsible for the technical, safety and staffing of a beamline. They oversee scheduling of sessions and ensure sufficient support is available to session investigators whilst on a session. The operational support on a session may be delegated to a Local Contact who is commonly a beamline member of staff, and a PBS may or may not be a Local Contact on a session.
Principal Investigator: One person is identified as Principal Investigator on every proposal. They are considered as the person ultimately responsible for the proposal and all experimental Sessions carried out under that proposal.
Proprietary User: A researcher conducting research using Diamond Facilities and for which there is no obligation to publish the results as a result of to an agreement which Diamond has entered into with a third party or where the research is not Peer Reviewed Research.
Rapid Access: A proposal submitted to the Rapid Access route in Diamond’s User Administration System. These are usually for an experiment that needs to be carried out urgently to complete a paper or thesis or to provide initial data or proof-of-principle for a standard proposal.
Standard Access: A proposal submitted to the Standard Access route in Diamond’s User Administration System. Most proposals submitted to Diamond are within this category and are usually for one or two Sessions at Diamond in a specific six-month time period.
Session: A period allocated to a Diamond User which is associated with a Proposal using one of Diamond’s Instruments.
Session Investigators: Peer reviewed Diamond Users assigned to a Session to undertake research activities. Session investigators may be provided funding for their expenses if the ‘Diamond Pays’ tick box indicates funding can be sought to cover expenses, and the expenses accrued will be assessed against the current Procedure.
User Administration System (UAS): The technical system through which Diamond manages proposals and session administration. Diamond Users are registered in UAS and will take on various roles depending on which part of the proposal lifecycle they are involved in, such as Session Investigator.
User Pays: In the UAS session investigators will be indicated for whom Diamond will not provide funding and the User will need to arrange for their own funding of expenses.
Use of “we”, “us” or “our” shall refer to Diamond Light Source Ltd.
Use of “you” or “your” shall refer to Peer Reviewed Users.
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Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
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Oxfordshire
OX11 0DE
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