To apply for beamtime at the Australian Synchrotron, please submit an application via the online proposal system, the Portal. Information to assit can be found here, along with key proposal submission dates.

Merit Access

Merit proposals are peer-reviewed for scientific merit and technical feasibility by external scientific reviewers and a specialist committee.

Based on these reviews, proposals are then ranked for each beamline, and all applicants are notified by the User Office of the outcomes.

MX Collaborative Access Program

The standard way of accessing beamtime on the macromolecular- and micro-crystallography beamlines at the Australian Synchrotron is via Collaborative Access Program proposals.  The implementation of CAPs recognises that this system better reflects the needs of the MX community where labs require regular access to beamtime in order to progress their research activities.  Sharing beamtime between different laboratories allows the CAP to have the flexibility to optimally utilise beamtime allocations dependent on sample and team member availability. More information is accessible via the MX CAPs page.

Rapid Access

To provide quick access to the macromolecular crystallography beamlines, Users can apply for rapid access to the facility. Rapid Access (RA) gives users a route for urgent access to beamtime in certain circumstances.

Approximately three shifts of RA time per month will be reserved on each MX beamline on days to be announced in advance. The call for proposals will open approximately one month before the RA day and close approximately two weeks prior. RA proposals will be assessed by the Program Advisory Committee on the basis of merit.

Priority for RA time will be given to those researchers who are not members of a Collaborative Access Program (CAP). CAP members will be required to demonstrate a need for urgent access to beamtime.

Examples of urgency include, but are not limited to:

• High profile work in danger of losing out to international competition.
• Risk of losing precedence in intellectual property (e.g. a patent position).
• Critical time-limited work for inclusion in a graduate student's thesis.
• A new project for a user with no existing Program allocations who may have to wait an unreasonable amount of time for access to Project or Program beamtime.

A successful application must also demonstrate feasibility. The status of the crystals and detail of the experiment to be carried out must be clearly stated.

If a proposal for RA time is unsuccessful due to RA time being allocated to other requests then that proposal will be removed from the system and will need to be resubmitted for the next RA round.

The shifts which will be made available for RA in the 2018/2 round are as follows:

Proprietary Research

Beamline Updates

For information on current beamline capabilities please click here

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Proposal Round Deadlines

Preparing your proposal

MX Collaborative Access Program