Becoming an ALS User

Qualified researchers work at the ALS as general users, members of an Approved Program, or members of participating research teams (PRTs). Costs to users depend on whether the research results are published in the open literature (nonproprietary) or not (proprietary).

General Users

General users are granted beam time through a peer review proposal process (see below). They may propose experimental programs or single experiments to be performed on existing beamlines. They may use endstations provided by the ALS facility, provide their own endstations, or negotiate access to a PRT-owned endstation. They may establish collaborations with PRT members.

Before submitting a General User Proposal, it is recommended that Principal Investigators (PIs):

Review ALS Beamlines, Contacts, and Technical Specifications to learn about research capabilities of the individual beamlines at the ALS and contact the beamline scientist, or the local contact listed in the tables, for addtional information about the beamline.
Contact the ALS User Services Group leader for information about beamlines available to General Users.
Read Making the Scientific Case for a Successful Proposal: Guidelines from the ALSProposal Study Panels.

Submit a Proposal

Proposal Review Process

All submitted proposals are reviewed by:

ALS personnel for technical feasibility and safety
Up to four external reviewers
the Proposal Study Panel (PSP), which rates the proposals and makes recommendations on the requisite beam time

For an overview of the review process, see the Experiment Proposal and Review Path for General Users Flowchart. Additional information about proposal procedures and policies is available in User Policy at the Advanced Light Source.

Responses to the proposals are given 3-4 months after the submission deadline. Each proposal is given a numeric rating that is then communicated to the investigator along with comments from the PSP. In some cases, a cutoff score, below which no beam time is allocated, is determined for oversubscribed beamlines. This score will be published on the Web so that general users may decide whether to rewrite their proposal, remove it, or keep it in the active pool. The most recent proposal scores for all beamlines and cutoff scores (where applicable) can be viewed at General Users: Scoring Information and Results

Allocating Beam Time for General Users

Once all proposals have been reviewed and assigned a score, beam time for general users is scheduled by the ALS User Services Office in consultation with the beamline scientist. This process is overseen by the ALS Scientific Advisor. The available beam time is allocated according to the rank order of score, i.e., beginning with the best score and continuing until the beam time allotment for general users has been met. Beam time schedules are finalized by the beamline scientist in consultation with users.

Maintaining an Active Proposal

All proposals for beam time will have the option to remain active for two years (i.e., four six-month cycles). Users with proposals eligible for renewal will be notified by the User Services Office during the regular proposal submission cycle.

Approved Program

An Approved Program (AP) enables an investigator or a group of investigators to receive an assured percentage of beam time for a period of a few years to carry out an extended program of research. More details can be found on the ALS User Policy Web page.

Participating Research Teams

PRTs (groups of researchers from one or more institutions) construct and operate beamlines and have primary responsibility for experiment endstation equipment. They are entitled to a percentage of the beamline's operating time based on the resources the PRT contributed to the beamline. To establish a PRT, team members submit a proposal in the form of a white paper outlining the scientific motivations for their request. The proposal is presented to the ALS Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) which reviews the submission and advises the ALS director on the formation of a new PRT. For more information on forming a PRT, contact ALS User Services Group Leader (see below). For information on joining a PRT, contact the appropriate PRT spokesperson (listed on the individual ALS Beamline Tables).

Costs to Users

Nonproprietary Research
All users are responsible for the day-to-day costs of research (supplies, phone calls, technical support, etc.). The ALS does not charge for beam time if the user's research is nonproprietary (results are published in open literature).

Proprietary Research
Users performing proprietary research pay a fee based on cost recovery for ALS usage. The user may then take title to any inventions made during the proprietary research program, and treat as proprietary all technical data generated during the program. Proprietary research is not intended for the open literature. For additional information about proprietary research, contact the ALS User Services Office (see below).

For information about beamlines available to general users or for information about APs and PRTs, contact

ALS User Services Group Leader
Advanced Light Source, MS 6-2100
Berkeley Lab
Berkeley, CA 94720
Tel: (510) 486-7727
Fax: (510) 486-4773

For information about proprietary research, contact

ALS User Services Office
Advanced Light Source, MS 6-2100
Berkeley Lab
Berkeley, CA 94720
Tel:(510) 486-7745
Fax: (510) 486-4773