Looking Towards a Year Filled with Exciting Science
January 20, 2022
Dear Everyone,
This past year continued to bring many challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. On behalf of all NSLS-II, I would like to thank you all for your support and understanding as we keep science happening safely at NSLS-II. Looking forward to 2022, we are eager to continue our science mission—working together to push the boundaries of knowledge. And as we resume more onsite experiments, I encourage everyone to pay close attention to your environment and actions, recognizing that it might have been a while since you’ve been to the beamline and the pandemic has necessitated additional safety precautions. The safety of everyone at NSLS-II is my top priority, so please follow all the guidelines. Thank you.
January – April (2022-1) operations cycle
When the beam returns on January 20, 2022, we will continue a mixture of remote experiments and limited on-site user access. The spring cycle will run until early April, followed by a spring shutdown through mid-May 2022. You can find the complete details in the NSLS-II operations schedule.
Up to 15 users per beamline will be permitted on-site during the 2022-1 cycle. Additional on-site users are at the discretion of the facility management. Further details on allocation guidance and on-site user access for the 2022-1 cycle can be found on the NSLS-II COVID-19 User Resources site.
I would like to take this moment to remind everyone: on-site users must follow all Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), New York State, and Federal travel guidelines. Also, please remember that you must wear long pants/skirts and flat, closed-toe shoes when on the NSLS-II experimental floor.
Now Offering CFN Instrumentation on NSLS-II General User Proposals
In collaboration with Brookhaven Lab’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), I am excited to announce that NSLS-II users can now request CFN instrumentation as part of their NSLS-II General User proposals. For the kickoff cycle this summer, 12 CFN instruments are being made available. Please watch your email for the list of available instruments.
Under this new multifacility, multimodal arrangement, NSLS-II users can request up to 3 beamlines and 2 CFN instruments on a single General User proposal. At least one beamline must be requested. If a proposal is allocated beam time, it will also receive time on the CFN instrument, subject to feasibility review and sufficient availability. If there are CFN instruments that you’d like to see added to the list, please let us know through the NSLS-II User Office!
Congratulations and thank you, Gretchen Cisco
For more than twenty years, Gretchen Cisco has been the face, and heart, of our user office. Many of you will know her personally and will have experienced directly the warmth and care she brought to ensuring that everyone’s visit to NSLS-II was the best experience it could possibly be! Please join me in wishing her a wonderful retirement and in thanking her for her dedication, kindness, and wonderful contributions to NSLS and NSLS-II. We wish you all the best, Gretchen, thank you!
BNL COVID-19 vaccination and face covering policies
All NSLS-II guests and users coming onsite at BNL are required to provide proof of vaccination or proof of exemption from the vaccine requirement from your home institution. Those with proof of exemption will also be required to provide proof of weekly COVID-19 testing while on site. To manage this new requirement, we ask that all guests and users arrive at BNL Monday through Friday (unless a holiday) between 7:30 AM and 3 PM. If you MUST arrive outside of these hours, requests will be handled on a case-by-case basis, and you must contact Kathleen Nasta at nasta@bnl.gov or 631-344-7114 at least one week in advance of your arrival.
Please keep in mind that everyone on the Brookhaven Lab site—regardless of vaccination status—must also wear a face covering and socially distance while in Lab buildings.
Please refer to BNL’s web page on the COVID-19 vaccination policy and the use of face coverings for more details.
Change in Multifactor Authentication for NSLS-II computers
We recently changed to a two-factor authentication (2FA) to log onto any NSLS-II system, which requires using both your BNL Domain account password and a “push” from BNL’s Duo service. Beginning January 8, 2022, NSLS-II transitioned from using the Commercial to the Federal version of Duo. If you have not yet enrolled in the Federal version of Duo, please go to the BNL's Duo Federal Enrollment website. If you have questions or need help, please contact BNL’s Helpdesk at itdhelp@bnl.gov or +1-631-344-5522.
ORCID iD
NSLS-II is now requiring users to enter their ORCID iD persistent digital identifier as part of the guest registration process. If you do not already have an ORCID iD, please sign up for one by going to the ORCID website. If you need any assistance, or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the NSLS-II User Office.
Save the dates for our virtual 2022 Users’ Meeting
From May 23–26, 2022, we will hold our annual joint NSLS-II and CFN Users’ Meeting. Please mark your calendars. Currently, we are soliciting proposals for workshops. To propose a workshop, please go to the Users’ Meeting Workshop Proposal Portal.
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter and your continued collaboration towards more exciting science in 2022.
John Hill, NSLS-II Director
