Macromolecular Crystallography (Protein Crystallography) Program Proposals are intended for users whose research project will require beamtime on an ongoing basis over multiple rounds of beamtime allocation. The Program Proposal mechanism is intended to relieve users of having to submit repeated Project Proposals simply to obtain beamtime for essentially the same activity.

Examples of Programs include, but are not limited to:

• drug-design projects that will involve data collection from multiple compounds soaked into crystals over time as the design process develops
• projects that involve crystals of a single enzyme obtained from varying constructs or organisms that become progressively available over the course of the project
• projects that involve a coherent and closely related set of research aims centred around a structurally-related family of proteins.

The Program Advisory Committee reserves the right to recommend that any particular Program Proposal be rejected or reassigned as a Project Proposal if in the Committee's view the work proposed is not sufficient to merit Program Status. It is thus critical for Program Proposals to address explicitly the reasons why the proposed work should be considered a Program. 

Program proposals will be valid for two years.  The Program Proposal should indicate the number of shifts required over the period of the program.  When initially submitting a program proposal a beamtime request for time in the current round should also be submitted.  If you do not submit a beamtime request, then even if the program is approved, no beamtime will be scheduled.  It is hence expected that crystals are available for the work to commence. Approval of a Program Proposal in no way guarantees the award of beamtime, either during the initial round of application or during any of the following five rounds.

Once a Program Proposal is approved, users will be assigned beamtime for the current round based on their beamtime request and will be free to apply for beamtime during any of the five remaining rounds of the two-year program proposal period. Application for beamtime during the remaining rounds will not be subject to scientific review and will be assessed only in terms of:

• availability of suitable crystals related to the Program
• safety and feasibility issues not covered in the original proposal
• performance during prior rounds of the beamtime assigned to the Program.

It is important to note that there will be no penalty if holders of active Program Proposals do not apply for beamtime during all of the remaining five rounds. On the contrary, holders of approved Program Proposals are encouraged to skip beamtime requests for any particular round if adequate crystals are not available.

Program Proposal Beamtime Requests

Beamtime requests must be submitted via the online proposal system (portal.synchrotron.org.au). 
This is done by:

1. Selecting the program proposal for which you wish to make a beamtime request under ‘My Program Proposals’
2. Clicking the ‘Add’ button (on the far right hand side of the screen)
3. Filling in a title for the request (usually the same as the program title)
4. Clicking ‘Next’ then ‘Create’
5. Filling in all necessary information about the experiment you wish to carry in the current round, including samples and researchers attending the experiment
6. Submitting the beamtime request

For the purpose of maintaining an overall flexible pool of beamtime, the Program Advisory Committee may, at its discretion and in consultation with the Beamline Manager, restrict the maximum number of Program Proposals that may be simultaneously active for any one group.

Please contact the Australian Synchrotron This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have any questions.