A scientist familiar with the beamline and instrumental set-up will be named as your Local Contact when your project is scheduled. Their details will be included in the invitation for your experiment.

The Local Contact will

  • prepare the beamline within the limits of a standard set-up,
     
  • introduce you to the operating of the beamline,
     
  • help you in setting up the sample environment,
     
  • be on call during regular working hours in case of a problem (8:00-17:00 on weekdays) and outside regular working hours (17:00-22:00 on weekdays, 08:00-22:00 on weekends and holidays),
     
  • provide specific help in certain cases (including outside regular working hours) through contacts with the Hall Operators.

In case of major difficulty, and if your Local Contact is not present on the beamline, you should contact the Hall Operator, who will decide what kind of action can be taken. 

Your obligations

The beamline staff will help you to perform your experiment. However, the scientists at the beamline are not there to perform the complete experiment for you. It is your obligation to provide sufficient staff to operate the experiment 24 hours a day. Before your departure, you are asked to leave the beamline control and experimental areas in the same condition as when you arrived. If necessary, your departure time may be delayed to allow for 'clean up' time.

Collaboration

Note that collaboration between Users and ESRF staff should be arranged, if appropriate, well before the experiment starts. Should you need help and support equivalent to that of a collaborator from ESRF scientists throughout an experiment, it is only fair to offer them formally the status of collaborators. If the ESRF scientist accepts, they will be willing to make an effort beyond their normal duties.


The usual course of action would be to:

  • discuss the issue
  • agree on a collaboration
  • include the local scientist(s) in further discussions on the interpretation of results
  • award them co-authorship
  • have them approve the final version of the submitted publication.