Useful Tips for Proposal Preparation
Users applying for the first time, or submitting a proposal for a new experiment must contact a member of the IRM group to discuss the experiment prior to submitting their proposal.
Note: Please remember that the IRM beamline and the THz/Far IR Beamline are two separate beamlines that perform very different experiments.
Below are some suggestions to ensure your beamtime proposal is favourably viewed.
Clarity. Ensure your ideas for your experiment are expressed clearly without contradictions. Especially important in the Methodology section for Technical Feasibility Review.
Feasibility/Methodology.
Is the acquisition mode (e.g. transmission, macro-ATR) clearly stated?
If a non-standard configuration of the microscope is required, have you discussed this with a beamline scientist?
Explicitly state the non-standard configuration in the proposal including justification of why the set-up is required (e.g. extended range into low wavenumbers)
Is the amount of time requested appropriate? Things to consider:
Number of scans
Size of mapped area
Number of sample changeovers
Appropriate samples to answer research question?
Is it appropriately designed to apply statistical analysis?
Will it give all of the (synchrotron-FTIR) results required for one (or more) publications?
Have all accessories been listed (e.g. Linkam stage, offline FPA, compression cell)?
Is there an appropriate number of attending people listed for the time requested and the type of experiment?
More people will be required for experiments with a short measurement times and a high number of sample changeovers versus an experiment that does long maps (e.g. 5+ hours) on only a few samples
The need for synchrotron radiation. Include any known details of the sample either from the literature or your own laboratory measurements that provide evidence to support the need for synchrotron radiation.
During the technical review process a major question is “can this be done on a laboratory-based instrument?”
Past performance. Have you had beamtime before? It will be viewed favourably if you can show:
Publication/s containing data acquired at the Australian Synchrotron (AS)
That unpublished data acquired at the AS is being analysed and is actively being prepared for publication, especially important if the new proposal is a related experiment