How can I get beamtime on LISA?

The LISA beamtime is divided in two parts: 1/3 of the total is dedicated to ESRF users whereas 1/3 is for CERIC users. The remaining 1/3 is dedicated to internal projects. Each quota has dedicated scientific committees that select the proposals. The submission to the ESRF beamtime is to be done electronically.  Please see the User Office pages about the procedure. There are two deadlines per year approximately March 1st and September 1st. For CERIC you can see the user guide and the page dedicated to the call for proposals

There is any financial support for the experiment ?

Yes, but the support is different depending on the beambime obtained. For ESRF users a 'full coverage ' support is given to up to 4 experimentalists. For CERIC users the support is limited to 2 scientists.

What do I have to do before the experiment ?

The proposals are always read carefully before being accepted to assess the feasibility on our beamline. Anyways, if you need to install custom apparata (ovens, catalitic cells, non-standard detectors, gas bottles ...) you are strongly invited to contact the beamline scientist (Francesco d'Acapito)

at least two months before the scheduled date. Consider also that typical delivery time for gas bottles are one week for standard gases (H2, O2, N2, ..) and 40 days for less common gases or mixtures (Ar:H2, H2S, ...).

What kind of support can I expect from the beamline staff?

A 'local contact' in charge of each experiment and his tasks are clearly stated in the ESRF guidelines to users . His task is to decide with you well in advance the best way to perform the experiment and to set the beamline on the 'd' day in the best conditions for your purpose. You are normally supposed to be capable (after a brief introduction) to run the beamline on your own during the whole time. To do this at best you are kindly requested to read carefully the operating manual

available on this web page or its 'paper' version available on the beamline. A more deep involvement of the local contact in your work (sample calculations, set-up of special experimental arrangements, data analysis, night shifts, ...) is to be considered as a collaboration and needs to be suitably accounted for at the publication stage.

Is it requested to write an experimental report ?

Yes, for ESRF as well as for italian experiments. Both scientific committees read the report of previous experiments before deciding to give you beamtime again. More information can be found here.

Do I have to acknowledge ESRF and the LISA staff in my publication ?

Yes. ESRF and LISA request to be suitably acknowledged at the end of the paper. Please, refer to the ESRF guidelines to users for details on this subject.

 

FdA Apr 2026