User Guide

Before Your Experiment

What to do once your proposal has been accepted.

1Register for a User Appointment

All facility users performing experiments at CFN are required to have an active appointment with Brookhaven National Laboratory. Requests are submitted through Brookhaven Lab's Guest Information System. Before registering, please ensure that the following criteria are satisfied.

• You have an active proposal.
• You are listed as an Experimenter on the active proposal. Please ask the proposal PI to add your name prior to registering.
• You are registering at least 45 days prior to the start of your experiment. Any registrations submitted less than 45 days in advance may not be approved in time.

When registering in the Guest Information System, please enter responses as follows.

Question	Response
Purpose of Visit	Research
Visit Justification	EXAMPLE: I am a user at the CFN under approved Proposal 123456.  I will be using the Nanofabrication Facility and will include …
Name of Host	Naem of Point of Contact / Host
BNL Department	CFN Facility Users
Research Facility	CFN
Proposal Number	Enter your active proposal number for the experiment you will be running. If you do not have an active proposal, please wait to submit your registration until you have one. IMPORTANT: You must be listed as an Experimenter on that proposal in the CPP system. To avoid delays, please ensure the proposal PI has included you on the proposal before submitting your registration.

2Complete required online training

Once your guest appointment has been approved, you must complete the online training modules before experiments may begin. The user training modules described in this section must be completed online prior to the start of beam time. Please complete the following training courses. Returning users may check their training status online.

• Cyber Security Training (GE-CYBERSEC)
• Computer Use Agreement (GE-COMPUSE-AGREE)
• Guest Site Orientation (TQ-GSO) Not required for remote acccess users
• CFN Safety Module for Users (NC-ESH-USERS)
• Nanotechnology in the Workplace (TQ-NC-HS2)

These training modules can be accessed through the Training Course Catalog. Additional training may be required, depending on the specific laboratories or facilities that the user needs access to.

3Submit Safety Approval Form

All materials, equipment, and researchers involved in the experiments are listed on the Safety Approval Form (SAF), which includes an explanation and risk analysis for the tasks to be completed during the beam time (at the beamline and within the set-up laboratories). SAFs are submitted via the CFN Proposal Portal after the proposal has been allocated.

SAFs must be submitted at least 14 days prior to the start of an experiment. Failure to submit a SAF at least 14 days in advance can result in cancellation of your experiment. All SAFs are valid for one year except Rapid Access, which are valid for one cycle. Risks outside the standard hazard envelope (e.g. work with biohazards, nanomaterials, radioactive materials, pressure systems, electrical equipment, etc.) require more processing time. If electrical equipment is brought to the facility, it may require additional inspections; therefore, users should review the electrical safety instructions and reach out for inspection if appropriate. In all cases outside the standard hazard envelope, users should contact the Experiment Review Coordinator as early as possible during experiment planning.

For all users shipping samples to and/or from Brookhaven Lab, a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) is required for all samples. You will be prompted to attach your SDSs in the Proposal Portal during the SAF submission process.

4Prepare for your experiment

Reserving Accomodations

There are a number of hotels near Brookhaven National Lab and the Laboratory also offers inexpensive onsite housing.

Shipping and transporting materials to CFN

If you need to ship samples, work with your CFN Point of Contact. See guidance for transporting materials to and from Brookhaven Lab.

Checking in at the Guest, User & Visitor (GUV) Center

If you are traveling to BNL to finalize or renew your appointment, bring required identification to the Guest, User & Visitor Center to receive a Brookhaven Lab photo badge. Ensure that all your documents are valid; expired documents will result in delays in accessing the BNL site and may prevent entry. Foreign nationals are strongly encouraged to bring their valid passport and all visa documents during every visit, which are required to be on file with the GUV Center and current at all times. Users are also encouraged to carry medical insurance and prescription cards.