​Instrument Updates​

​MARI has undergone a major instrument upgrade in the last year (new guides, chopper system and detector electronics), with an expected gain of up to an order of magnitude in flux. After the commissioning phase planned for July-September, it will be running the regular user program from October 2018. We thus invite proposals for the MARI spectrometer in this round. Please contact the instrument scientists Tatiana Guidi and Duc Le to discuss your proposal.

News

ISIS proposal deadline change

The ISIS proposal deadlines have been 16 April and 16 October for many years. However these dates sometimes fall at weekends, and this can cause inconvenience to ISIS users and staff. Following discussion at the ISIS User Committee at the end of last year, we are changing the proposal deadline to be the 3^rd Wednesday in April and October. Proposal deadlines in 2018 will be: 18 April 2018 and 17 October 2018. Submit proposals here.

Neutron and Muon Science and User Meeting
This meeting will take place on the 25-27 April 2018. For updates on confirmed speakers see our website. Or register for the meeting here.

ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Impact Awards 2018
We're pleased to announce the inaugural ISIS Impact Awards for facility users, celebrating the socio-economic impact generated by the user community. ISIS users are warmly invited to apply for these awards, which will be judged by the ISIS User Committee and awarded at NMSUM, 25 – 27 April 2018 at Warwick University. Application deadline is the 16 March. See the ISIS website for more information.

Changes to the proposal system for new users
We need to make a small change to the proposal system, following adoption of new EU data protection rules (read more here​). In the future, anyone who is to be added to a proposal as a co-investigator must be registered in the ISIS online system before they can be added (at the moment, it is possible for a proposal author to add other people without them being registered). This doesn't affect anyone who is already registered – just people who are not already in the system. Please ask any colleagues who are new to ISIS to register here so that you can add them to proposals.

Experimental reports
These are expected for all experiments carried out at ISIS. In particular, ISIS may choose not to accept follow-on proposals where there is no experimental report from previous beamtime. Forms are sent by email after an experiment, or can be downloaded here.

STFC Public Engagement Spark Awards
The STFC Public Engagement Spark Award Scheme (grants <£15K) is now open for applications. The scheme aims to support high quality programmes of public engagement that inspire and involve audiences with stories of STFC science and technology. Proposed engagement programmes must clearly focus around the remit of the STFC science programme or clearly and demonstrably align to the science and technology work of STFC's national and international laboratories and facilities. The deadline to apply for the Spark Award Scheme is 16.00 on 19 April 2018.

Call for Applications to STFC Committees and Peer Review Panels
The Science and Technology Facilities Council have a number of vacancies for outstanding individuals to become members of STFC's committees and panels. This includes panels that advise STFC on interactions with the facility user communities, the Skills and Engagement Advisory Board and the Education, Training and Careers Committee. See the STFC website for more information.

Erice School on Neutron Science and Instrumentation
Want to know more about neutron instrumentation, sample environments or software development? Join us in Sicily! Register today for the Erice School “Neutrons for Chemistry and Materials Science Applications" that will take place in Erice, Sicily from July 4-13, 2018.​

Events

25 - 27 April 2018
UK Neutron and Muon Science and User Meeting (NMSUM)
The University of Warwick

7 - 9 May 2018
Disordered Materials User Group Meeting
Milton Hill House & Conference Centre

4 - 13 July 2018
Erice School on Neutron Science and Instrumentation
Erice, Sicily

1 - 2 November 2018
Large Scale Structures (LSS) user meeting
Coseners' House & the Crown and Thistle Abingdon
Registration to open nearer the date of the meeting ​