Welcome! The Mid-IR User Guide is your resource for before, during and after your beamtime at the Canadian Light Source!
If you're new here, you may want to start with some information about the capabilities of the Mid-IR beamline instruments. Learn more about our beamline on our About Us, Reading and FAQs pages! Feel free to introduce yourself and ask us for help - we are your best resource from project conceptualization to planning, data collection and analysis. Contact us for further information!
Our User Guide walks you through all steps of your Mid-IR experience from applying for beamtime to data analysis and publication.
How to get beamtime
An overview of beamtime access methods, proposal preparation information and more can be found at applying for beamtime.
Beamtime can be accessed by:
General User Proposal - peer-review proposal call twice a year, usually January and July
Purchased Access (Mail-in) for academic and industry
Rapid Access - special requests
Beamtime Requests
An active project does not automatically receive beamtime each cycle, therefore a beamtime request (BTR) must be submitted for each scheduling period during the Call for Proposals. A beamtime request is used to request shifts in the upcoming cycle. Active projects submitting a beamtime requests are not re-evaluated and will retain the initial peer review score received.
Allocation of shifts is based on the highest ranked proposals (both new and active). Note: The highest ranked proposal score is 1 and the lowest is 5.
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Log in to the User Portal and select Home → My Projects to view a list of projects. Click on the Create beamtime request icon under the Shifts section on the project page.
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Enter the desired number of shifts for this cycle only.
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Enter the justification, comments, and good/poor dates for scheduling considerations if applicable.
Please see User Portal Guide: Beamtime Requests and this document for detailed instructions.