New User Portal Release

This release sees the proposal and sample submission module of the User Portal implemented on a new platform, which runs in parallel with the original User Portal for all other tools such as A-Form submission, account management, safety training, etc.

On the new platform, you will find:

• Proposal submission of all proposal types, and the list of your draft and submitted proposals.
• Sample sheets for your proposals.
• Proposal annual reports for MX BAGs.
• Your user profile, containing for now a single new feature: your "My Publications" list.

New features to note in the new tools provided:

• Real-time saving of data entered in web forms.
• Possibility to have multiple draft proposals.
• Possibility to name an Alternative Contact from the list of Co-Investigators, who will have the same rights as the Principal Investigator for proposal edition and submission.
• Help for users to correctly label their proposal submission as new, continuation or resubmission.
• Updated proposal form content, including new questions.
• Updated sample sheet form content, including new questions.
• All proposals require sample sheets before submission (commercial experiments not concerned).
• Proposals include a list of past ESRF beamtime activity of the proposal team, with status of experiment report submission (commercial experiments not concerned).
• A 'My Publications' tool which is used to automatically list the ESRF publications from the past 4 years of all proposers listed on a proposal form. Each user has to populate their own publications list in the User Portal and keep it up-to-date by adding the DOIs of their publications from the ESRF Library database (commercial experiments not concerned).
• Update of MX BAG proposal and report submission workflows:
  • Separation of MX BAG annual report submission from MX BAG continuation proposal submission, allowing the report to be created and submitted independently.
  • Upload of a project description pdf file (Global Summary) required for proposal submission.
  • Upload of an MX BAG report pdf file, which is automatically completed with statistics from the ESRF database including beamtime usage, participants list and publications of participants.

More details are available on the following updated webpages:

• Apply for beamtime
• General proposal submission guide
• Proposal types and specific guidelines
• Sample declaration, including what happens to your sample forms created before the release
• Reporting and feedback
• Publications
• MX BAGs

A recorded webinar demonstration of the features available on the new platform is available on the ESRF YouTube channel, along with How-To videos on “My publications” and MX-BAG annual reports.