Important information (August 2018)

By February 2016 all major I3 access programs at the PSI user facilities SLS, SINQ and SμS within the EC Framework Programme 7 came to an end. Those were programs like CALIPSO, Biostruct-X or NMI3. Presently we do have the following information about successor programs and the future of user support by the EC:

The latest neutron/muon I3 access proposal (NMIstar/H2020) was rejected by the EC in August 2018. Therefore for the time being no travel support is available for the SINQ and SμS users.

The proposal for a new I3 access program (CALIPSOplus) under the framework program HORIZON2020 has been accepted for funding by the EC. Funding is secured since May 2017. The SLS with all its beamlines and also SwissFEL fully participate in the program, which means that part of the users can financially be supported again. Further detailed information is available here.

Part of our facilities are partners within the access programmes of the European community I3 networks.

One part of these programmes is to provide access to users from EC countries and associated states (except Switzerland) and to support those user visits by travel and subsistence funds. The guidelines for funding might differ between the facilities and depend on the available budget.

For detailed information about the funding options at the three facilities and the necessary procedures and formalities please visit the programme-specific sites listed in the navigation menu on the left.

Once selected for funding (see below) PSI covers the accommodation in the PSI guest house, a daily allowance (CHF 60,-) and a flat rate for travel costs for one scientist from the visiting team.

A necessary condition for being eligible for funding is that the proposal clearly originates from an EU member country or an EU associated state (see table below). Hence the main proposer and the majority of the experimental team must be affiliated to an institute located in one of those countries. Not the personal citizenship but the affiliation country of the main proposer is decisive. Funding in general is not available for Swiss users since due to the EU regulations users from the host country are not eligible. For CALIPSOplus funds are also available for a limited number of non-EU users. Please contact us for further information.

Please note that not each eligible proposal can be funded due to limited amount of available funds. If an experiment is eligible and has passed the criteria for funding we usually reimburse the expenses for one member of a group of scientists performing an experiment at our facilities. The group leader of the experimental team is free to decide which scientist out of his team should be supported but it has to be somebody affiliated to one of the countries listed below.

Please submit your proposals according to the actual calls for proposals. In case that your proposal is eligible within one of the I3 programs it automatically enters the selection procedure for the access program. There is no need for the users to claim their request additionally.

Once being eligible the proposal is refereed by the proposal review committees together with the non-eligible proposals. The main criterion for funding is scientific excellence of the project followed by the intention to fund young scientists, new users and projects from countries without a national neutron/muon/synchrotron light sources. The proposers are informed about the success of their application for funding electronically. Please contact us directly for any further question.

Additionally, further countries might also be eligible in H2020 programs, please have a look here.

Please note: Switzerland is an EC associated country to Horizon 2020 but is not eligible for transnational access funding to Swiss research facilities. Unlike in FP7, Liechtenstein does not intend to associate to Horizon 2020, more information.