MMS-EEC Submission Process

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Please review the new MMS-EEC Terms of Reference (updated 2019)

Five-Step Process for New Proposals or Progress Reports

1. Do you need to submit a proposal?

   • New Experiments: All new experiments must submit a proposal to be approved by the MMS-EEC. Proceed to Step 2.
   • Approved Experiments: Shifts awarded by the MMS-EEC expire after 2 years if they have not been used. Progress reports will only be considered if they are directly related to the original proposal. If this is the case proceed to Step 4. If the proposed research is significantly different from the original proposal a new experiment number will be needed. If this is the case proceed to Step 2. If there are any questions about whether a new experiment number is necessary, the spokespersons should discuss the matter with the MMS-EEC Scientific Secretary Iain McKenzie.
2. Request a New Experiment Number
   • Email the Science Divisions office at sciencediv@triumf.ca. You will need to include the Spokespersons’ name(s) and contact information as well as the title of your proposed experiment and whether it is for mSR, b-NMR and PIF & NIF experiments. The Science Division’s Administrative Assistant will issue you an experiment number. Please note:
     • The Spokesperson of a proposal is expected to be an active participant in the experiment and invested in its outcome. They are considered to be the contact person for TRIUMF in case of clarification or questions. The Spokesperson will typically be the leader of the proposed research project and will also be considered to be a local representative of a research collaboration, unless otherwise identified. This is important in particular, when the spokesperson is not an expert on µSR, β-NMR/β-NQR, PIF & NIF or other TRIUMF experimental techniques. In some cases, it may be appropriate to identify two spokespersons (e.g. one external User and one internal to TRIUMF), but more than two spokespersons should be the exception and should be discussed in advance with the Scientific Secretary.
     • Spokespersons can submit a single proposal to request beam time for μSR experiments on different instruments or different sample environments. Spokespersons must submit separate proposals for μSR and β-NMR experiments. Spokespersons may submit a single proposal to request beam time on different PIF & NIF beamlines.
     • New TRIUMF users must proceed to Step 3 and existing TRIUMF users can proceed to Step 4
3. Request Access to the Spokespersons’ Portal

Three-Step Process for New Proposals or Progress Reports

1. Request an experiment number from the Physical Sciences Division Administrative Assistant by email (sciencediv@triumf.ca). The email should include the names and email addresses of the spokespersons, the title of the experiment, and indicate that it is for the Subatomic Physics Experiments Evaluation Committee (EEC).
2. If you are a new experimenter to TRIUMF you will need to sign up for a TRIUMF login (TRIDENT). Please send a request to sciencediv@triumf.ca.
3. Once you have your experiment number and TRIUMF Login, you can proceed to the Spokespersons’ Portal and prepare and submit your new proposal or progress report. Please be sure to fill out all of the information relevant to your experiment. Be sure to upload the PDF of your Detailed Statement and Spokesperson Publications as per the outlined rules for the NP-EEC below. Templates can be found below in MS Word and LaTex.

When your new proposal or progress report is complete you will need to go to the “Review for Submission” section and click “Submit Report to the EEC” (you are able to edit your submission until the deadline, you will need to click the “Retract submission” button, then edit your new proposal or progress report, but please remember to hit submit when you are ready to submit).

Please note, you will have to make a presentation (usually ~10-15 minutes) to the EEC. The slides for your presentation will need to be submitted to the Physical Sciences Division Administrative Assistant ideally 48 hours before the meeting starts.

General Rules for NP-EEC Submissions

Detailed Statements (see the templates below) are not to exceed 10 pages (including figures and references). The font size should be Times New Roman 12 or equivalent. Publications should be not included but cited as references. You may upload a Spokespersons Publications PDF and/or a References and Publications PDF.

NP-EEC Approval Process

The full document containing the Nuclear Physics EEC approval process can be found here.

Letter of Intent (LoI):

Describes the intent to carry out a certain experiment or scientific program for which a substantial extension of the facility capabilities is needed. These extensions include 1) development of certain beams with sufficient intensities and purities; 2) new experimental capabilities, such as major new equipment or new techniques. LoIs should provide an estimate of the amount of beam time necessary to carry out this program. In particular, for long-term programs that would require large amounts of beam time, it is important for TRIUMF and the EEC to be aware of such needs.

The EEC evaluates the scientific and technical merit and judges – with input from the facility – the general feasibility of the proposed research, explicitly taking into account the approximate amount of beam time required.

For experimental or beam production facility upgrades that have a significant impact on TRIUMF either during the upgrade or in subsequent operation a Project Charter Sheet should be submitted. The LoI and EEC report would be part of the input to the Gate Review process.

The EEC may endorse the LoI with high or medium priority (1 and 2 respectively) OR not endorse an LoI, which is deemed technically unfeasible, or if the scientific case does not have sufficient merit.

The endorsement of an LoI signals that the EEC and TRIUMF support the general experimental program proposed and expects that competitive proposals for this program will be submitted on the timeline presented in the LoI. Any beam development needs for the proposed program will be entered into the beam development plan (see below). The proponents are encouraged to seek funding for and complete any planned technical developments. Once a requested beam development has been achieved the results will be posted in the yield database. There will be no direct communication with the spokespersons to alert them of a successful beam development. The proponents are expected to submit proposals for experimental shifts once readiness of beam(s) and experimental equipment has been established.

Please note that the endorsement of an LoI does not guarantee the acceptance of proposals based on the developments proposed in the LoI but these proposals will be judged on their scientific merit at the time of submission and in comparison to other submissions.

Note: TRIUMF management will communicate the support for an endorsed LoI to NSERC and other funding agencies, as required.

Once LoIs have been reviewed there is no follow-up directly related to the LoI. New proposals related to the LoI will individually obtain experiment numbers that are not connected to the LoI. Reference to the LoI can and should be made in the proposals where appropriate.

Proposal:

Proponents ask for allocation of a number of shifts for a clear scientific case on the basis of the best estimate of achievable beam intensities and experimental efficiencies. Beam can be expected with reasonable certainty to be available within 3 years, i.e. no major new developments needed. Technically the experiment should be convincingly mature to successfully run. New equipment should have been successfully commissioned. If it uses only well-established standard technologies an explicit commissioning may not be needed. The EEC will review proposals and either grant the statuses of: approved with high or medium priority and allocate a certain number of shifts (please note that the medium-high category has been abandoned); not approved if deemed technically unfeasible, if the scientific case has not sufficient merit; or if beam time is limited and the scientific case is less compelling than that of other proposals submitted, the EEC may defer the experiment if the EEC feels that the information presented is not sufficient or the EEC feels it has not sufficient expertise to judge the case and as a result recommends that an external expert review is conducted.

Note: If you are intending to propose an experiment for which some of the isotope yields have been established while other yields have yet to be established, please submit this as one proposal with a beam request for the isotopes that have been demonstrated and a request for beam development for the other isotopes.

After 3 years, the proponents must submit a progress report if they have not run the experiment and the proposal expires unless the EEC sees a special reason to keep it active. The request for shifts in progress reports compete with all other submissions. The maximum number of RIB shifts approved per EEC meeting is 50% of the maximum RIB beam time delivered per year. Currently that corresponds to about 110 RIB shifts that can be approved at the January EEC meeting.

RIB beam developments:

The Beam Strategy Committee has developed and published a Beam Development Plan based on the EEC recommendations for approved proposals and endorsed LoIs, the technical difficulties associated with the developments, a mid-term strategy for the development of new target materials, ion sources, purification methods, as well as the target module refurbishing plan.

RIB beam developments and yield measurements will be performed on the basis of the plans agreed upon by the Beam Strategy Committee. Written reports on the measured yields will be submitted to the chair of the Beam Priorities Committee. The measured yields will be posted in the ISAC Yield Database.

The Beam Strategy Committee will report regularly to the NP-EEC on the achievements of the beam developments. The success of developments will be measured against the beam development plan. Reports on beam developments will also be given to the TRIUMF Users Group at their Annual General Meeting (TUG AGM).

For a list of beams available, please visit the ISAC Yield Database.

 

Screen-by-Screen Instructions

For new experimenters that would like detailed, screen-by-screen instructions, please see Experimental Evaluation Online Submission Instructions.