EMC Proposal Access Guidelines

One part of the EMC mission is to provide unique instrumentation and expertise to the scientific community. Important to achieving this goal is the effective management of EMC instrumentation and staff for maximum scientific impact. Broad and fair access to these resources is achieved through a proposal review process and scheduling and access policies. The type of access granted is based on the nature of the proposed work, the qualifications of the user, and the instrumentation requested. Research projects may be allocated a specific amount of instrument time or may be granted continuous access.

Allocated Access:
Under allocated access, a user is allocated a specific amount of instrument time to complete the proposed project. Allocated access is utilized primarily to manage instrument time for those instruments that have very high demand and for projects that require exceptional staff assistance.

All new users and new projects will be designated for allocated access during the qualification and feasibility period.

Allocated access is utilized for research on the IVEM-Tandem, FEI Tecnai F20ST, Zeiss 1540XB, and all assisted user research.

Continuous Access:
Continuous access allows a user to use specified EMC instrumentation without limits on the amount of instrument time. Continuous access is intended for those users for whom Argonne is their primary research home or who otherwise demonstrate a consistent need for access to EMC instruments. Continuous access proposals terminate at the end of each fiscal year and must be renewed annually.

A user must attain at least User status for each instrument utilized under continuous access. Typically, the Hitachi S-4700-II, FEI CM30T, and FEI Quanta 400F are utilized under continuous access for Users and Operators.

Research projects may operate under both allocated and continuous access policies. This may be the case when a research project requires the use of several instruments, for example.

Rapid Access:
Recognizing the occasional urgent need, a proposal may be granted rapid access at the discretion of the EMC Director. Rapid access is intended to facilitate discovery and dissemination of significant, new scientific results and may be granted if an exceptional case is presented. Rapid access is not intended to accommodate poor planning or other experimental difficulties.

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