User Guide

Japanese | English

Procedure to perform Experiments at RI Beam Factory

 

Flowchart FAQ1-1 "Reportes and papers" ・Submit report to RIKEN Accelerator Progress Report (Announced Once/Year). ・Register Publication to RIKEN LIRAS. FAQ3-1 FAQ1-2

GENERAL INFORMATION

RI Beam Factory is open to the researchers in the field of nuclear physics, material, and life science.  A broad range of spectrum of the researches can be covered by using heavy-ion beams provided from the newly constructed RIBF’s accelerator complex.  In addition to medium-energy primary beam up to Uranium, radioactive-isotope beams whose energy ranges from nearly zero up to 350 AMeV, can also be used for your researches. 

This web page aims at providing information on the processes needed to perform your research at RI Beam Factory.  To carry out your research at RI Beam Factory, your proposal is required to be reviewed, and is approved in PAC for beam time allocation.

User Support Office will act as an interface and support for your researches at RI Beam Factory.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

About two to three months prior to the PAC meeting, a call for proposals is released. The deadline will be about one to two months before the PAC meeting. Issuance of the call will be announced by an email using RIBF user’s group mailing list. After the call, the details on proposal submission will appear in the web page(NP-PAC , ML-PAC , In-PAC).

In order to make sure that you receive these calls, you are strongly encouraged to become a member of RIBF User Group. Please, visit the RIBF User Group home page, and click “Users Group Registration” for registration in RIBF User Group.

PROGRAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE (PAC)

Two international PACs, NP-PAC for nuclear physics experiments, and ML-PAC for experiments related to material and life science, and one domestic PAC, In-PAC, for industrial accelerator use, are held regularly to review proposals. Members of these PACs are appointed by the Director(s).

The NP-PAC is organized by RIKEN Nishina Center , CNS, the University of Tokyo, and Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies (IPNS), KEK in order to facilitate the exploration of the scientific opportunities.

The PAC reviews submitted proposals based on their scientific merits and feasibilities, and make recommendation to the Director(s) for beam-time allocation. The PAC-approved proposal is valid, in principle, for 4 years (NP-PAC) and for 2 years (ML-PAC). If the PAC-approved experiment is not completed within the period of validity, a request for an extension or a new experimental proposal must be submitted.

Prior to the PAC meeting, each submitted proposal is pre-reviewed by allotted PAC members.

Spokespersons of proposals are requested to give an oral presentation at the PAC meeting.

If you are interested in In-PAC, please visit here.

DIRECTOR's DECISION

The PAC reports with recommendation are reviewed by the director(s). The final decision on proposals submitted to ML-PAC (NP-PAC) will be made by the Director of RIKEN Nishina Center (by the Directors of Nishina Center and CNS). The corresponding director decision with the PAC comments is sent to the spokespersons.

BEAM-TIME SCHEDULING REQUESTS

a) Call for Beam-Time Scheduling Requests

Spokespersons of the PAC-approved proposals will be contacted by RIBF Users Office when the beam-time scheduling starts.

When requesting beam-time, fill out "Beam-Time Scheduling Request Table" downloaded from below, and submit by an electronic file to RIBF Users Office.

Beam-Time Scheduling Request Table

 

b) Beam Time Allocation

The beam-time schedule will be decided by the MT Committee of Nishina Center. Beam-time will be allocated based on the priority of the PAC recommendation, the accelerator's status at the time, and other constraints as considered appropriate.

When your beam-time is allocated, your beam-time schedule will be announced to the contact person specified in your Request Table. You are then required to submit "Accelerator-Use Planning Sheet"(PDF+Word) and a list of experimenters (Excel). Fill out the forms sent by RIBF Users Office, or downloaded from below (seal not required at this point), and submit them from the specified uploader.

Make sure to download the latest version. The forms are updated as required.
※The date of update is indicated in the footer of the forms.

Accelerator Use Planning Sheet Download
  1. For CRIB experiments (Word / PDF)
    [A Table of the beam dump positions]
  2. For RIPS experiments (Word / PDF)
    [A tool to calculate the beam stop position]
  3. For BigRIPS experiments (Word / PDF)
    [A tool to calculate the beam stop position(under preparation)]
  4. For the other experiments (Word / PDF)

Examples (Word)

■The list of the standard detectors/devices for preparing the Planning Sheet (PDF)

A list of experimenters will be sent to the contact person.

Only electronic submission of “Accelerator-Use Planning Sheet” (PDF) will be accepted. RIBF Users Office will ask directly for director’s approval via email once the form is approved by the in-house Safety Review Committee (via experiment spokesperson in some cases). Approval of the head of your group is necessary before you submit your Planning Sheet.

Please fill out the form in Japanese as much as possible.

If you intend to use sealed or unsealed radioisotopes (including nuclear fuel materials such as U or Th), fill out the following planning sheet (This form is available only in Japanese), and submit it from the uploader here(Box). You cannot submit the sheet as an electronic file.

Unsealed radioisotopes(PDF / Word)
Sealed radioisotopes (PDF / Word)

If you intend to use living samples, some special procedure may be needed for bioethical judgment. Consult with RIBF Users Office when necessary.

 

c) Reviewing Safety Aspects

The safety aspects of your experiment are reviewed by the in-house Safety Review Committee, the Radiation Safety Liaison Officer and the Radiation Protection Supervision of RIKEN. You will be contacted by RIBF Users Office if there is any concern regarding safety issues. Your swift response is neaded to go ahead for the experiment.

For a prompt revision of "Accelerator-Use Planning Sheet", any suggestions/comments for revision from the in-house Safety Review Committee will also be sent to the liaison person in RIKEN in which case he/she is asked to respond promptly.

When your experimental plan is finally judged to be safe, RIBF Users Office will ask for via email approval from relevant group heads (see FAQ.2-6). With a confirmation by the Radiation Protection Liaison Officer and Chief Radiation Worker, and when an approval from the Director of Safety Division, the safety review completes.

The original copy of the approved “Accelerator Use Planning Sheet” will not be returned to the spokesperson. It will be kept by RIBF Users Office. Make sure to keep its copy. In case you lose the copy, contact RIBF Users Office and ask for a new copy.

 

BEFORE CARRYING OUT YOUR EXPERIMENTS

RIBF User Registration

All beam-time participants must be registered prior to starting any research/work at RIBF under the programs of

  • “RIBF Independent User” whose primary affiliation will remain with their home institution without belonging to RIKEN (their research results will, therefore, be their own property), or
  • conventional user system obtaining a position in RIKEN such as “Visiting Scientist” (all properties of research results will belong to RIKEN).
Details of the user registration are given here.

 

Registration as a Radiation Worker

1) The RIBF Independent Users who are not registered as a radiation worker should contact RIBF Users Office which will then proceed with registration formalities.

2) The visiting scientists and student trainees etc. who are affiliated with RIKEN should contact their host laboratories to proceed with registration formalities. For details of registration procedures, click here. (the procedure required to register as radiation worker in RIKEN [PDF / Word], access restricted).

3) Members of partner institutions should contact their liaison division.

In order to complete the approval process of the “Accelerator Use Planning Sheet”, the representative must be registered as a radiation worker in RIKEN. If the representative has not yet been registered, he/she as well as the other participants is requested to follow the necessary procedures as soon as possible.

 

Change your beam time plan

If you intend to change ANY content in the APPROVED planning sheet, you should submit ”Request Form for Modification of Accelerator Use Planning Sheet” (PDF / Word)as an electronic file, to RIBF Users Office promptly. Make sure to submit the form at least 10 days prior to the start of the experiment. In case safety screening is required, submission just before the experiment may not allow for safety screening, and then you will not be get permission to conduct the experiment. It may take more time for a change to higher primary beam energy and stronger primary beam intensity.

If you intend to change ANY content in the APPROVED “Sealed or Unsealed Radioisotopes Use Planning Sheet,” you should promptly submit "Request Form for Modification of Radioisotopes Use Planning Sheet"([PDF / Word]) and the original copy of the approved “Sealed or Unsealed Radioisotopes Use Planning Sheet”, to RIBF Users Office.You cannot submit it as an electronic file.

When the experiment has been cancelled due any accelerator problem, inform RIBF Users Office immediately.

 

Accommodation in Wako Campus

Those who are employed by RIKEN, visit the website and follow the instructions.

Those who are not employed by RIKEN should consult with the their host laboratory at RIKEN / RIBF Users Office.

During Your Experiments

Contact person for safety-related issues !! NEW from March 2014

At any time during the experiment, the experiment group must have at least one person who is ready to be contacted when an incident related to the safety hazard occurs.
The contact information (telephone number and so on) must be informed to the accelerator operators, and must be updated when the contact person is changed during the experiment.

AFTER YOUR EXPERIMENTS

Submission of "Accelerator-Use Termination Report"

Promptly after you finish your experiment, you have to submit a pdf file of "Accelerator-Use Termination Report" to the RIBF Users Office through the uploader (BOX). "Accelerator-Use Termination Report" should be prepared using the list of experimenters in the MS-Excel format (ParticipantList_XXX) provided when you submit “Accelerator-Use Planning Sheet”. To properly control the dose of radioactive matter, submit the Report immediately following the experiment. If the Report is not submitted, your next beam-time request may not be accepted. The Report will be verified by the Radiation Protection Liaison Officer, and when deemed necessary, the radioactive matter must be stored or disposed under the supervision of the Radiation Protection Liaison Officer.

Promptly after you finish your radioisotope use, you have to submit the signed/sealed "Sealed/Unsealed-Radioisotope Use Termination Report" to the RIBF Users Office through the uploader (BOX).

Accelerator-Use Termination Report [PDF/Word]
Unsealed-Radioisotope Use Termination Report[PDF / Word]
Sealed-Radioisotope Use Termination Report [PDF / Word]

The report will be checked by the Radiation Protection Supervisor and the Director of the Safety Division.

In addition to the Termination Report described above, the experiment proposal for Detector Development Beam Time experiment should be submitted to RIBF Users Office through the uploader (BOX) describing how much has been accomplished within 10 days after the experiment.

 

Preservation of Experiment Records !! New from April 2015

It was decided in RIKEN Nishina Center that, from Jaunary 1, 2015, all the experiment records must be preserved in a server or servers designated by the RNC Director, in order to follow the RIKEN Regulations on Maintaining Research Records. Spokesperson(s) and/or a person responsible for preserving records appointed by the Director will receive an instruction email, which includes an URL address where the experiment records are to be stored. Promptly after you finish your experiment, access the URL address and store your experiment data and scanned log book. The contents will be checked regularly by the laboratory head of the person responsible for preserving records. The records will be in the storage for 5 years.

 

Reports and Papers

Those who carry out experiments at RIBF are requested to make contribution to annually published RIKEN Accelerator Progress Report. A call for contribution to the Report will be sent to all the spokespersons of the experiments. Click here to submit.

When you publish a paper on experiments using any accelerators of the RIBF, make sure to note “This experiment was performed at RI Beam Factory operated by RIKEN Nishina Center and CNS, University of Tokyo.”

You are also requested to send the numerical data to Nuclear Reaction Data Center (JCPRG) to have them registered in their data base. Click here to register.

FAQ

If you have questions, please refer first to FAQ page.

 

CONTACT

Email address : UserSupportOffice@ribf.riken.jp
Postal address :

RIBF User Support Office
Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science, RIKEN 2-1, Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198, JAPAN

 

 

 

Copyright (C) Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science. All Rights Reserved.