Guide of RIKEN beamline experiment

To use RIKEN Beamlines

RIKEN Beamlines (BLs) are open to all the research projects authorized by RIKEN. This document page aims at providing information on the processes needed to perform an experiment at RIKEN BLs, the project proposal is required to be reviewed and approved for beamtime allocation. Researcher, who wants to perform his/her experiment at RIKEN BLs, is required to submit a project proposal by referring the following User's Guide.
Research Infrastructure Group of Advanced Photon Technology Division of RIKEN SPring-8 Center (RSC) and RIKEN BLs Operating Group will act as an interface and support the applicant's researches at RIKEN BLs. New users are encouraged to contact the beamline scientists in charge or RIKEN BLs Operating Group (rikenbl@spring8.or.jp).

Flowchart of Procedure to perform experiments at RIKEN Beamlines

Procedure to perform experiments at RIKEN Beamlines

Registration as a spokesperson of the proposal

To perform an experiments at RIKEN BLs, researcher, who becomes to a spokesperson, must register on RIKEN BLs Users Portal.

Registration as a radiation worker

　It is necessary to be registered as a radiation worker to enter the experimental hall of SPring-8. Those who are belonging to RSC and are visiting investigators of the laboratory in RSC, please go through the registration procedure at your laboratory. Those who are working outside RSC should consult with Research Infrastructure Group of RSC. It usually takes about one month for the registration.
Please refer web site of RIKEN Harima Safety Center (https://harimariken01.spring8.or.jp/english/) for more information.

Call for proposals

Early in February, RSC will start to call for proposals for the coming fiscal year. Issuance of the call will be announced by emails to all the researchers belonging to RIKEN. After the call, the details on proposal submission will appear in the web page. One can fill out the application form through the on-line submission system in RIKEN BLs Users Portal.
The applicant, in principle, must belong to RIKEN. In the application form, title of proposal, beamlines to be used, name of spokesperson of the research project, spokesperson’s affiliation in RIKEN, telephone number and email address of the spokesperson, purpose of the research, experimental method, list of all project team members, experimental samples, proprietary or non-proprietary, and so force, should be clarified. RIKEN BLs Committee reviews submitted proposals based on their scientific merits and feasibilities. The approved proposal is valid, in principle, for the corresponding fiscal year, and the spokesperson will receive an email containing the number of approved proposal. Furthermore, the spokesperson will receive a PDF file for the approved proposal, he/she has to print it out. Then he/she has to get a private seal of the head of his/her affiliation and send it back to the Research Infrastructure Group of RSC.
All the spokespersons for the non-proprietary proposal are requested to submit a report for the research project at the end of the corresponding fiscal year. In the case of the non-proprietary proposals, the applicants can use the beamtime without fee. In the case of proprietary proposals, on the other hand, the applicants are required to pay the fee for the beamtime used.

Beamtime request

Spokespersons of the approved proposals will be contacted by Research Infrastructure Group of RSC for the beamtime request. Schedule of the call for beamtime request as well as that of beamtime allocation are different for each beamline. Details of the schedule will be announced in the following web-site :

https://beamline.harima.riken.jp/en/allocation_en.html

Those schedules will be also announced by emails to all the spokespersons of the approved proposals and the table of the schedule will be also available on the web page of RIKEN BLs. Beamtime request can be submitted through the on-line submission system in RIKEN BLs Users Portal. Please be sure to submit the beamtime request form before the deadline, otherwise the beamtime will not be allocated.
Beamtime schedule will be decided by the RIKEN BLs Operating Group by considering the contents of the experiment and the period of the beamtime requested. For the allocated beamtime, spokespersons will receive an authorized number for the corresponding beamtime. Beamtime schedule will be announced to all the spokespersons from the RIKEN BLs Operating Group by emails and will appear on the web page of the RIKEN BLs.

Beamtime Reconfirm Form

The spokesperson who receive the authorized beamtime must submit a "Beamtime Reconfirm Form" via the online submission system in RIKEN BLs Users Portal at least 14 days before the start of the experiment. In the form, the spokesperson informs all collaborators of the beamline experiment with their visit duration, lending of personal dosimeters, and reservation of SPring-8 Guest House etc.

Chemical handling form

As a general rule, the representative should submit an “Application to bring chemicals into the beamline” via the online submission system in RIKEN BLs Users Portal at least 14 days before the start of the experiment. Permission is required for any chemicals that have been assigned a rank of 2 or 3 under the JASRI safety regulations. (Chemicals classified as rank 3 have acute toxicity, equivalent to that defined under the Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Law. Chemicals classified as rank 2 are those with chronic toxicity or carcinogenicity, and those which require fire prevention measures. Protein crystals and protein crystals labeled with heavy-atom reagents are excepted from this requirement.)
If you plan to bring Rank 4 chemicals into the beamline, you will need to consult the JASRI Safety Office (and get the JASRI president’s permission) in advance. Rank 4 chemicals are those for which you must obtain permission for use from the prefecture or country.
You must get the approval of the JASRI Bio-safety Committee before bringing infectious biological samples into the beamline.
If you plan to bring high-pressure gas canisters into the facility, you must notify the prefectural authorities at least one month before the start of the experiment.

Utilization of lasers in SPring-8/SACLA beamlines

To take in and/or use laser equipment at beamlines, spokesperson must submit an application form. Please refer the PDF document (in Japanese only) in detail.

Experimental Report

After your experiments, promptly submit an “Experimental Report” via the on-line submission system in RIKEN BL Users Portal. If the reports are not submitted, your next beamtime request may not be accepted.

Annual Reports

Those who carry out experiments at RIKEN BLs are requested to submit an Annual Report for the corresponding research proposal at the end of the fiscal year. It will be published in “Activity Report of RIKEN Beamlines” and web page of RIKEN BLs. A call for contribution to the Report will be sent to all the spokespersons of the research project at the end of February in the corresponding fiscal year.

About publishing your papers

When you publish a paper on experiments at RIKEN BLs, please specify in your paper that the results were obtained through the use of RIKEN BLs at SPring-8 and provide the beamline name or number, proposal number, and quote the treatise of the beamline. For example, “The synchrotron radiation experiments were performed at BL#### of SPring-8 with approval of RIKEN SPring-8 Center (Proposal No. 2008****).”

Others

If you forgot your password.

Please contact system administrator (rikenbl@spring8.or.jp). Registered email address is required to specify your account and reset password.