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Access and funding

Australian Synchrotron

The Australian Synchrotron has 3 access routes:

  1. Merit-based access, where users from any research institution make an application which is assessed on a competitive basis according to established criteria. This comprises 50% of the available user time at the facility.
  2. Preferred access, shared by the 11 Foundation Investors, including Monash University, comprising a total of 30% of the available user time. Monash's share of this allocation is 2.73% of available time per beamline per annum, for the initial suite of 9 beamlines. Award of this beamtime will be administered by the Monash Centre for Synchrotron Science.
  3. The remaining 20% of user beamtime is 'Facility' beamtime to be used at the discretion of the Australian Synchrotron, and includes proprietary access (i.e. fee paying commercial customers).

Most Monash researchers will access the Australian Synchrotron via the Merit-based or the Preferred access route. Information for Monash researchers on the application processes for these two routes can be found here.

All Monash staff and students who use the Australian Synchrotron will be required to sign a User Access Agreement Acknowledgement Form, which governs all access to and use of the facility. A draft of the User Access Agreement is available here. This draft Agreement is currently the subject of consultations between the AS and the Foundation Investors.

Australian Synchrotron Research Program

The Australian Synchrotron Research Program (ASRP) administers access to the Commonwealth funded capabilities at the Photon Factory (Japan), Advanced Photon Source (USA) and the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Centre (Taiwan). Access to these facilities is open to any researcher at an Australian research institution under a merit based scheme, and includes travel funding as part of the award.

Applications to ASRP facilites are submitted via the Synchrotron Customer Portal. They have the same format as those submitted via the Merit-based access route at the Australian Synchrotron.

Access to Major Research Facilities Program

Even when the AS is fully mature, some users may elect to continue to make use of unique technical capabilities only available at overseas synchrotrons, either at ASRP supported facilities or at other facilities via the Access to Major Research Facilities Program (AMRFP).

The AMRFP provides travel support to researchers who have been granted time at a facility not available in Australia, following a peer reviewed application process. Users should first apply for access via the facility's merit based access route and then to the AMRFP for support. Users must provide evidence that access has been granted before support will be given. A list of supported facilities is available here.

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