Targeted Challenge-driven Collaboratice Proposals at PETRA III and FLASH

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General Information

Deadline for the second call for Targeted challenge-driven collaborative proposals for "Molecular Water Science" will be 1 March 2024.

Template for TCD proposals
Template for TCD proposals

Provision of PETRA III and FLASH beamtime via ‘Targeted Challenge-driven Proposals’ aims at a strategic topic of significant scientific or societal value. The targeted topic of each call is defined by DESY Photon Science management and published on the website and communicated along with the call for proposals.
The prerequisite for participation in these 'Targeted Challenge-driven Calls' is a dedicated collaboration of at least three distinct research groups each contributing with an own subproject. It is required that the participating groups address an overarching scientific question from different angles complementing each other. The groups commit to collaborate and share measurement results even before publication. We anticipate that this early collaboration will enable faster progress and greater impact in the scientific field.
The ‘Targeted Challenge-driven Proposals’ comprise at least three subprojects and are intended to provide access to beamtime at different experimental setups/beamlines at PETRA III and selected setups at FLASH.

Approval of the proposal is done as a two-step-procedure:
1) proposals are checked by the DESY Photon Science management for compliance with the general proposal criteria
2) scientific peer review by the dedicated Proposal Review Panel.

Briefly:

  • For a Targeted challenge-driven collaborative proposal at least 3 independent research groups are required, each of them being responsible for at least one subproject.
  • It is essentiell that different X-ray techniques, preferably at different beamlines, are requested. Within one subproject only one beamline can be requested. If beamtime at different beamlines is required please add a separate subproject.
  • Targeted challenge-driven proposals will be valid for two years.
  • The total beamtime quota at one single PETRA III beamline for the whole TCD call, i.e. all accepted TCD proposals, is limited to 144 shifts in total.
  • The maximum beamtime at PETRA III to be provided for each contributing research group is 72 shifts (à 8h) over the period of two years. These shifts must evenly be distributed over the whole 2-years period.
  • Beamtime at one single PETRA III beamline for the whole TCD cannot be more than 144 shifts, resulting in approx. 36 shifts per beamline during one experimental run (i.e. half a year). If shifts at one beamline are granted for more than one TCD, we will have to distribute the total numbers of shifts available for TCD proposals (i.e. 144 per beamline) between accepted TCDs.
  • The maximum beamtime at FLASH available for one whole TCD proposal is 10 shifts (à 12h) provided in one beamtime.

Proposal requirements and review aspects

All submitted TCD proposals will be reviewed for their scientific merit, but in addition have to fulfill the following criteria which will be part of the review as well:

  • The research project as a whole has to be of great scientific interest in the field of ‘molecular water science’ and must aim at an eminent impact for the scientific community with high chance of high-impact publications.
  • We expect that in the frame of one TCD proposal, at least 3 independent research groups cooperate on a joint, overarching research question.
  • Each participating research group must contribute by at least one subproposal which has to be conclusive on its own and contribute essential parts to the whole TCD.
  • The proposal has to reflect a strong need and effort for cooperation with synergies being well described. The subprojects must clearly complement each other. This needs to be clearly outlined in the summary of the proposal and is a prerequisite for a successful application.
  • All scientific aspects that are necessary to achieve the TCD’s scientific objective have to be included in the proposal.
  • It is essential that different experimental setups are requested, preferably at different beamlines. Within one subproject only one beamline can be requested. If beamtime at different beamlines is required please add a separate subproject.
  • All proposed experimental activities as well as the amount of requested beamtime shifts have to be well justified.

If you have any questions on the regulations and requirements for targeted challenge-driven proposals, it is strongly recommended to contact the User Office, or experiment coordinators for PETRA III Oliver Seeck or Hans-Christian Wille or FLASH Rolf Treuschprior to proposal submission.

Proposal submission

For proposal submission, a valid DOOR account is required for the leader, coordinator and PI of each subproject (for registration: DOOR)
The following information is required:

  • Proposal text, including part A) and part B) as one PDF file (for details on proposal format and content see below)
  • Persons identified acting as proposal leader and coordinator, one principle investigator (PI) for each subproject
  • The number of shifts has to be well justified and defined for each subproposal.

Proposal Content

Please use the template for 'Targeted Challenge-driven Proposals' which is provided via DOOR and on the right hand side of this page for the preparation of the proposal.

The proposal has to include the following information:

Part A) Summary

  • List names and affiliation of subproject PIs
  • Describe the overall scientific background and relevance. Outline the scientific and strategic objective of the project. Explain synergies between subprojects and how they complement each other to achieve the overall scientific objective
  • Provide a detailed project plan with distribution of tasks, milestones, dependencies and risks. Please, provide the project plan both as descriptive text and as a Gantt chart (e.g. OpenProject)
  • Provide a summary of the previous studies related to this topic and/or preparatory, done by the applicants. List your most important publications relevant to your proposal (max. 10 publications) with at least one publication per subproject (indicate the subproject for each reference)
  • lenght of part A): 6 pages following the layout in the 'Targeted challenge-driven proposal'-template

Part B) Description of each individual subproject

  • list names and affiliations of the PI and other researchers cooperating within the subproject
  • scientific background of the subproject including the scientific background and the overall aim of the experiment in relation to the whole TCD project
  • Clearly describe specific goals of the subproject, information you expect to obtain from this experiment, how it contributes to the Targeted Challenge-Driven Proposal as a whole and what would be the relevance of the results in your scientific field
  • explain why you selected this beamline and experimental setup
  • safety issues, and special technical requirements (if applicable)
  • length of each subproject: 2 pages following the layout in the 'Targeted challenge-driven proposal'-template

Responsibilities of leader, coordinator and PI of a Targeted Challenge-driven Proposal

Proposal leader
The leader must be an experienced senior scientist.
Tasks: takes over the responsibility for the project as a whole

Proposal coordinator
The coordinator should be an experienced senior scientist.
Tasks: communication between proposal members and subproject responsibles, submission of whole-proposal reports, main contact person for whole-proposal matters. The coordinator is not expected to take care of the administrative steps related to the individual beamtimes (see below). This has to be done by the subproject PI.

Principal investigator (PI)
The PI will act as a contact person for the specific subproject. PIs are responsible for the submission of beamtime application(s) for their subproject via DOOR. They are also responsible for the administrative preparation and handling of the beamtime.

Steps to be taken after proposal acceptance

The proposal leader, coordinator and all PIs will be informed about the acceptance of the proposal via e-mail.
The proposal coordinator should discuss the rough planning of the beamtimes with the PIs and beamtime staff as soon as possible.
For each beamtime the subproject PIs are required to submit experiment specifications (= beamtime applications) for the respective subprojects via DOOR. Please note that experiments can only be scheduled after submission of an experiment specification (=beamtime application).

Tasks before each beamtime to be completed by PI:
1) Submission of a beamtime application (experiment specification) by PI
2) After the requested beamtime has been scheduled the PI will receive an e-mail notification and is then required to complete:
- submission of declaration of substances
- if applicable: chemistry/bio laboratory registration, laser registration etc.
- registration of all experiment participants
- submission of travel support requests (all via DOOR).

Tasks after beamtime:
1) submission of experimental report and feedback form (by PI for each beamtime)
2) submission of whole-project reports (by coordinator for the targeted challenge-driven proposal after year 1 and 2 of the project)
3) registration of all publications based on results of the targeted challenge-driven proposal in the DESY publication database (via DOOR).

Proposal review

Targeted challenge-driven proposals are first reviewed by the Photon Science management for compliance with formal and substantive criteria. If approved, the proposal will be reviewed by a dedicated committee of external reviewers who are experts in the scientific field of the targeted challenge-driven call. Please note that the proposal will be rated as a whole and no ratings will be given for the individual subprojects.

Travel cost reimbursement

Travel cost reimbursement will be offered according to the general rules of DESY Photon Science outlined here.

For each experimental stay, requests for travel reimbursement have to be submitted by the subproject PI via DOOR before the stay at DESY.

Briefly, users from German universities are eligible for travel cost reimbursement including travel, hostel and daily allowance. University users from EU and EU-associated countries can apply for coverage of DESY Hostel costs.
Users from international and German research institutions (e.g. Helmholtz, Leibniz, MPG in Germany) are excluded from travel support.
 
For each scheduled experimental stay, reimbursement can be requested for a maximum number of three participants. For experimental stays shorter than 3 consecutive shifts not more than two persons will be reimbursed.