Terms and Conditions for Facility Access

Download the terms and conditions for facility access (PDF - 84kB) (link opens in a new window) on the Central Laser Facility (CLF), ISIS Pulsed Neutron and Muon Source (ISIS), and the Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS which closed in 2008).

By submitting your proposal for beam time on CLF, ISIS or SRS you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

Definitions

Principal Investigator:
The person to whom the experiment is assigned. The Principal Investigator takes responsibility for the intellectual leadership of the experiment and for the overall management of the experiment.

Co-Investigator:
A person who assists the Principal Investigator in the management and leadership of the experiment.

Experiment:
The research to be undertaken on the facility that has been approved by the Facility Access Panel and scheduled by the facility management.

STFC:
The Science and Technology Facilities Council.

Samples
Unless changes are agreed in advance, it will be assumed that the samples to be used and the experimental conditions are as quoted in the original proposal.

Information provided about the sample to the facility staff and the safety aspects must be correct and complete. Researchers must observe all the appropriate regulations, especially on safety, of STFC.

Health and Safety
The STFC approach and policy on health and safety meets all regulatory and legislative requirements and is consistent with best practice recommended by the Health & Safety Executive.  The Principal and Co-investigators and their research team must adhere to all STFC Health ,Safety and Environmental policies and procedures and they must ensure the appropriate care is undertaken when working on CLF, ISIS or SRS. The STFC reserves the right to cancel or stop an experiment if it does not meet STFC standards. 

Experiment Report
A report on the conduct and outcome of the experiment must be submitted by the Principal Investigator within three months of the end of the experiment, on the form provided. No further applications from a Principal Investigator will be considered while an experiment report is overdue.

If there are exceptional reasons that will prevent submission of the experiment report within the period allowed, a written request may be made, before the due date passes, for the submission period to be extended.

Publication and Acknowledgement of Support
The Principal Investigator should, subject to the procedures laid down by their Research Organisation, publish the results of the research in accordance with normal academic practice. Publications and other forms of media communication, including media appearances, press releases and conferences, must acknowledge the support received from the CLF, ISIS or SRS. The Principal Investigator must give appropriate recognition for the level of input from STFC staff in any publications that arise from the experiment.

Research Ethics
The Principal Investigator is responsible for ensuring that ethical issues relating to the experiment are identified and brought to the attention of the relevant approval or regulatory body, including STFC where appropriate.  Ethical approval to undertake the experiment must be granted before any work requiring approval begins.  Ethical issues should be interpreted broadly and may encompass, among other things, relevant codes of practice, the involvement of human participants, tissue or data in the experiment, the use of animals, experiments that may result in damage to the environment and the use of sensitive economic, social or personal data.

Data Protection Regulations
The STFC will use information provided on the experiment proposal form for processing the application, the award of any beam time and for any review of the experiment. This will include preparation of documentation for use by the Facility Access Panels. The information will be treated in confidence.

This information will be stored manually or electronically and any personal information will always be processed in accordance with the UK Data Protection Act 1998. This information will be used to deliver the services requested, or for the lawful, disclosed purposes of STFC in line with the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations. Personal details will not be made available outside of STFC without consent, unless obliged by law

To meet the STFC's obligations for public accountability and the dissemination of information the following use will also be made of the data:

• Statistical analysis for internal management reporting and for reporting against metrics to Government;
• Mailing lists of relevance to STFC operated Facilities and those for which it is the UK shareholder.

Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations
Attention is drawn to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs). STFC have issued Publication Schemes which set out the types of information publicly available on their websites or published as documents. In addition, STFC have an obligation to respond to specific requests and may be required to disclose information about or provided by Principal Investigator. In some cases the STFC may consult the Principal Investigator before disclosure, but it is under no obligation to do so.  If a Principal Investigator considers that any information it provides to STFC would be subject to an exemption under FOIA or the EIRs he/she should clearly mark the information as such and provide an explanation of why he/she considers the exemption applies and for how long. The STFC will consider this explanation before disclosure, but it is not obliged to accept it as binding.

Where STFC determines that a Principal Investigator is holding information on its behalf that it requires in order to comply with its obligations under FOIA or EIRs, the Principal Investigator will undertake to provide access to such information as soon as reasonably practicable on request of the STFC and in any event within 5 working days.

In some cases Principal Investigators may be directly responsible for complying with FOIA and the EIRs; in such cases the STFC accept no responsibility for any failure to comply.

Research Governance
The STFC expects research to be conducted in accordance with the highest standards of scientific integrity and research methodology.  It is the responsibility of the Principal and Co-Investigators to ensure that the experiment is organised and undertaken within a framework of best practice that recognises the various factors that may influence or impact on an experiment. Particular requirements are to ensure that all necessary permissions are obtained before the research begins, that trained manpower is available and capable of running the experiment when the beam is available (e.g. 24hrs for ISIS and SRS).

Intellectual Property
The Principal Investigator will own the intellectual property (including copyrights, design rights, patents and trade marks and all other similar or other monopoly or property rights whether registerable or not) in any results generated solely using their materials and solely based on intellectual property owned or licensed to the principal investigator or the research team.

STFC asserts its rights in all intellectual property it generates, including that created jointly through collaborations. STFC owns the rights to all designs, modifications, improvements, etc. created by STFC staff in carrying out and developing facility access work and experiments, e.g., designs, equipment, etc. Intellectual property arising from research carried out by using STFC intellectual property or incorporating contributions of STFC employees shall be dealt with by STFC Innovations on a case by case basis where the formal position will be agreed in writing between the Principal Investigator and STFC Innovations.