Access
Who can become a SuperSTEM user?
The SuperSTEM laboratory serves the world-wide scientific community: U.K. and international researchers alike are welcome to apply for instrument time.
Short studies by any academic user, e.g. a set of experiments of up to a few days of beamtime, or a proof-of-principle experiment, are entirely free of charge, thanks in part to support from EPSRC through a National Research Facility (NRF) grant. An example of a successful proposal can be found here.
Longer studies (EPSRC-funded) can include a significant amount of pre-allocated beamtime through the "Research Facilities" access buget in Funding System (TFS) submissions. The submission of a proposal for internal SuperSTEM evaluation is still required, with the procedure detailed below. Due to on-going changes and a lack of clarity on TFS, prospective collaborators are encouraged to discuss facility access eligibility directly with the funding opportunity manager. Do also feel free to contact us directly.
Longer studies (non-EPSRC-funded) by any researcher are also strongly encouraged. Here, prospective collaborators should discuss the allocation of SuperSTEM time directly with us . Collaborative contributions to the facility running costs will be estimated at the EPSRC-equivalent academic rate.
Industrial and proprietary research applications are welcome: please, contact us for our commercial rates.
Proposal submission
The next section provides a step-by-step guide to submitting a proposal and becoming a SuperSTEM collaborator. The assessment of proposals is carried out according to the following criteria:
Merit. This is to be taken in the broadest sense: impact on your research (e.g. need to gain access to instrumentation and expertise otherwise not available to you), scientific merit (research and academic impact of the expected scientific results, in the context of the wider project), societal or industrial impact, etc…
Technical feasibility and instrumentation suitability. This includes a general feasibility assessment, but also a discussion of needs for specialised sample preparation to meet the stringent requirements for low-kV high-resolution STEM-EELS, and the fit of technical capabilities available at SuperSTEM to address the scientific question most efficiently.
Timeliness, and in particular considerations of the amount of beamtime required to reach the full expected outcomes, within the necessarily limited experimental bandwidth of the facility.
Fit with current projects and facility strategic plans, so expertise is available or being developed, to assist applicants with data analysis and interpretation, and to promote the establishment of long-lasting, fruitful scientific collaborations.
Step 1 (Optional but highly recommended) : Contact us
Feel free to contact us informally to talk about your intended project before submitting a formal proposal. In fact, we strongly recommend you do so: this is the most efficient way to design a set of experiments that both suits our instruments' specific capabilities and helps you answer your scientific questions.
Find an example proposal here
Step 3 : Review process
Proposals are assessed on a rolling basis (no submission deadline) by the facility technical committee, along with up to two external peer-reviewers drawn from the wider international scientific community, using the criteria described above, who may recommend and initiate further interactions with you to assist in developing and conceptualising a set of experiments that both addresses your scientific questions and makes best use of the facility’s capabilities.
Our aim is to ensure that every prospective collaborator is offered relevant and timely beamtime at the facility, and/or that you receive advice and assistance in further developing the electron microscopy component of your projects (e.g., help with carrying out further initial characterisation through referrals to partner facilities, offer of providing contacts with other domain experts, etc…).
We aim to provide feedback to prospective users at intervals no longer that six weeks. As discussed above, proposals are assessed on merit, tehcnical feasibility, suitability and fit to available expertise on the basis of your submitted scientific proposal.
If your application is unsuccessful. You can still become a SuperSTEM user. The reviewers may have felt that our instruments could not suitably address your scientific proposal at this point. They will always try to provide you with detailed explanations for their decision as well as suggestions on how to refine your proposal so it can qualify for SuperSTEM time in the future.
All users must register for themselves.
Anyone who is added to a proposal as a principal, co-investigator, or other visiting users coming to the experiment, must be registered in the SuperSTEM online system before coming to SuperSTEM.
Step 5: Leave Feedback
At the end of your stay please provide feedback via this access feedback form .
Data protection notice:
When you contact us by email about a possible proposal the email correspondence will be stored for the duration of SuperSTEM research facilities contracts in order to be able to cross-reference any future proposals.
When you submit a proposal we will store names, email addresses and affiliations for the duration of SuperSTEM research facilities contracts in order to be able to cross-reference any future proposals.
When your proposal is accepted the personal details of the main project contact, PI and any visiting users will be registered in our SuperSTEM database. We may use that information for recording and tracking microscope sessions, providing statistics and reports for EPSRC under our contractual obligations.