How do I get Beamtime?:
So you want to come to X26A and do an experiment. Fantastic! We're very much a user resource and we'll try and make every possible effort to accomodate you. So how do you get beamtime? Well, you've got two primary avenues. As with most beamlines at the NSLS, the beamline itself is "owned" and operated by a Participating Research Team or PRT. Team members cooperate in the design, funding, fabrication, operation, and utilization of a specific beamline and in exchange get the lion's share of the beamtime available (in our case 75%). The PRT members for X26A are the University of Chicago's Consortium for Advanced Radiation Sources (CARS-Steve Sutton, Tony Lanzirotti, and Mark Rivers), The University of Kentucky's Depaertment of Plant and Soil Sciences (Paul Bertsch and Bill Rao), and Brookhaven Lab's Department of Environmental Sciences (Keith Jones). For our various contributions to the beamline we split up that 75%. The other 25% goes to the NSLS through the General User Program. Consider it our rent. The General User Program is a peer-reviewed proposal system for administering the beam time that is not allocated to the PRTs for their exclusive use. So what are your options? Well, you could try to become a collaborator of one of the PRT members. For example, CARS is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary consortium managed by the University of Chicago Center for Advanced Radiation Sources (not to be confused with CARS). The CARS mission is to operate National Synchrotron Resources available to the scientific community as National Facilities. If we agree that your project fits in with our research emphasis in the earth and environmental sciences, then we could agree to give you access to PRT time as a collaborator. Similar rules would apply to the other PRT members. In such cases you would want to contact us directly. General User time would be available to anyone in any research field through a peer-reviewed proposal system administered by the NSLS. Go to the NSLS Website to get information on how to become a general user (and yes, it's free). Now be warned, as of now we remain the only hard x-ray microprobe at the NSLS and are one of the most highly oversubscribed beamlines here. I'd like to think it's because we work hard at making the beamline of the highest quality and as user friendly as possible.

Safety Approval Forms:
Before your experiment begins it is required that you have a current and active safety approval form (SAF). It is YOUR responsibility to get it filled out and cleared with the NSLS Safety Coordinator (Andy Ackermann) before your experiment. You should therefore all take it upon yourselves to make sure that you have a VALID Safety Approval Form completed at least one week before the start of your experiment. If you're submitting a new General User Proposal, then submission of a new SAF is included as part of that process in PASS. Those with pre-existing proposals or PRT collaborators must also submit SAF's though PASS, but only the safety information is required. In order for you to have access to beam your SAF must be specifically for the experiment you want to conduct (including all current hazards, chemicals, etc.) and it must not be expired (please check beforehand, they expire after only one year). If you leave this till the last minute I'll almost guarantee you will not get approval. Experiments involving radioactive materials, human bodily materials, and biohazards need additional time to clear, so these should be submitted even earlier. Handling and shipping of radioactive materials must be coordinated through the Safety staff and shipped to Safeguards and Security (contact Gerry Shepherd, ext. 5233). DO NOT ship these directly to the NSLS. Analysis of human bodily materials typically requires an Institutional Review Board (IRB) exemption (contact Darcy Mallon, IRB/RDRC Secretary at ext. 3362). I try to check the SAF database when I schedule you for beamtime and let you know when it's expiring at this time by email. But the schedule on occasion does change and I do make mistakes, so it's up to you to ensure that your SAF is current and valid. Assume it will take at least 2 weeks to get your SAF approved, so it's best to apply for a new SAF as soon as possible.

BNL Gate Security and Foreign Nationals:
BNL has become much more stringent about access to the lab in order to comply with changes in DOE regulations. There are particularly stringent requirements with regards to foreign nationals. Please be aware that current BNL policy requires that new visitors and visitors with expired badges register for gate access at least 7 days before your arrival at BNL. All the necessary information on this can be found at the NSLS Webpage. Make sure you fill out the forms and bring proper documentation with you. Foreign Nationals that wish to come on site at BNL are required to receive approval for their visit prior to arrival. For citizens from non-sensitive countries this typically takes 30 days, however I’d recommend that citizens from "sensitive" nations should submit their forms at least 90 days in advance. Please note that this includes US residents of foreign nationality. Users who can’t meet this deadline are supposed to phone the NSLS User Administration office, during normal office hours, at (631) 344-7976 at least two (2) days prior to arrival at BNL. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST.

NSLS User Training:
If you will be using an NSLS beamline in an experiment, then you will need training. Aaahh, it's the way of the world. But luckily we now live in the grand world of the internet and it turns out you can do most of the required training from the comfort of your home PC before ever getting here. It also saves you alot of time so you can get to your experiment faster! So everything you need to know about this is on the NSLS Training website. They'll have links there to the training modules.

General User Program:
General Users are scientists interested in using existing NSLS facilities for experimental programs. At X26A, 25% of our beamtime is dedicated to General User experiments. This beamtime is allocated through a peer-reviewed proposal system. Proposals are rated by the Proposal Study Panels (PSP) three times a year. All General User beamline and beam time allocations for X26A are made by the NSLS Allocation Panel (AP).
    The NSLS accepts proposals for programs as well as for single experiments. Proposals are submitted through the on-line "Proposal Allocation Safety and Scheduling" system or PASS. Proposals are generally active for a two-year period and beam time may be requested in each of the six cycles within that two-year period. Please note, however, that the submission of a proposal is not an automatic request for beam time. The user will receive written notification of receipt of the proposal. After the initial proposal is submitted, beam time requests must be submitted in each subsequent cycle. LET ME REPEAT THAT! After the initial proposal is submitted, beam time requests must be submitted in each subsequent cycle. That means that you WILL NOT automatically receive beam time in upcoming cycles unless YOU REQUEST IT. This happens all the time and if you don’t put in the request there’s not much I can do. We typically turn general users away because of the high demand for beamtime at X26A, so if you don’t put in the request it’s unlikely we’ll have spare time for you. OK? So here’s the deadlines for beamtime requests:

Where to Stay, Where to Eat, How to Get Here, etc., etc:
All this information is accessible at BNL's Visitors Guide.

What do I do when I Get There?:
First thing you'll need to do is get to the NSLS (the guard at the gate will give you directions if you haven't been here before) and first time visitors (or those with expired badges) need to go to the second floor of the NSLS to User Administration (walk in the front door, take the door to your left, go upstairs, user admin is right there). For first time users, User Admin will confirm your information, take your photo, and issue you a temporary badge that will give you access to the experimental floor. Your permanent badge will usually be ready by 4pm. They'll verify your training is complete or give you training there if needed. Your training allows you to do work on the experimental floor. Returning users with valid badges and training can go directly to the beamline. Radiation badges (TLD's) are no longer issued to users, but you can request one at User Admin if you feel you'd like to have one. Once your badge is issued you can go down to the experimental floor. You can walk around until you see the X26A hutch (they're all labeled and the floor is a big circle, so just keep going around till you get to us) or find a phone and call us at the beamline (5626) and Bill or I will come and get you. You'll then need to undergo Beamline specific training (BLOSA) before you'll be allowed to run your experiment.

NSLS End of Run Form:
The NSLS is a national Department of Energy (DOE) user facility and, as part of an annual DOE reporting process, the NSLS and other DOE facilities are required to ask users to take part in a user satisfaction survey.  So the NSLS asks all users complete a survey after completion of each experiment. The forms can be found online on the End-of-Run webpage . You don't have to include your name, but they'll ask for your email address so they can contact you for clarification.

Computer Access when you Arrive:
We have the capability for you to set up your laptops at the beamline with internet access via DHCP at the laboratory. For offsite access while here you'll need to set your internet proxy correctly. Instructions can be found at the following hyperlinkfor ITD. You'll also be asked to register your laptop on the network.

Acknowledgment Paragraph:
All publications that include work done either in whole or in part at X26A must acknowledge both the NSLS funding sources and those of the beamline. In general, the following paragraph should do the trick. Also please send a reprint of the published paper to us at the beamline for our records:

[Portions of this work were]/[This work was] performed at Beamline X26A, National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), Brookhaven National Laboratory. X26A is supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) - Geosciences (DE-FG02-92ER14244 to The University of Chicago - CARS) and DOE - Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Environmental Remediation Sciences Div. (DE-FC09-96-SR18546 to the University of Kentucky). Use of the NSLS was supported by DOE under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886.