Applications for access to the Octopus or Ultra facilities of the Central Laser Facility (CLF) between 1st July and 31st December 2025 opened on 21st November 2024. ​​If successful, access will be fully fund​ed (facility overheads, UK travel, accommodation and food).​

Proposal submissions close​ on Thursday 23rd January 2025 17:00 UK time, no submissions will be accepted after this time.

NOTE: ​Calls for proposals usually run for 8 weeks every 6 months starting in May or November for access in the second or first half of the year, respectively. I.e. May applications are for Jan-June the fo​llowing year, and November applications for July-Dec the following year.​ Applicants will usually ​hear about the outcomes within 3 mo​nths of submission.

Types of Access​

For this call, proposals are invited for the following modes of access:

• Direct (1-4 weeks one-off access)
  
• ​New Programme (1-4 weeks access within a 6-month period for 2 to 5 years) ​
  
• ​Continuation of Approved Programmes (update on progress for the next 6 months)

Eligibility​​

• The main applicant must be a UK academic (including postdoctoral researcher)
  
• ​The main applicant must hold a position that lasts for the duration of the scheduling period
• PhD students can be Co-I​nvestigator, but not the main applicant​

Guidelines

Please carefully read all the information in the call guidelines 2025_2_LSF_Submission_guidelines.pdf​ and use the formatted template documents: Direct_Access_template.docx, New_Programme_template.docx, Programme_Approved_template.docx which follow the formatting guidelines.

​It is recommended to contact an appropriate facility staff member ahead of time to help strengthen your application (e.g. obtaining​ pro​of of concept data, technical feasibility), see the web page​s for Octopus staff and techniques, and Ultra staff and techniques to find an appropriate contact for your proposal. ​

Submission

Please submit all applications to https://proposal.facilities.rl.ac.uk. If it is the first time you've used the online submission system, you may find it useful to read the documentationher​e.

​​For any queries about using the proposal system that are not answered by the documentation above, contact fase-support@stfc.ac.uk​.​

NOTE: It is recommended to start submission early, ​​as your progress can be saved. Submission includes completion of multiple pages of questions relating to your access, as well as the attachment of a scientific case.​​

Facility Access Panel

A list of the current Octopus and Ultra Facility Access Panel members can be found here.​

​​Alternati​​ve Access Routes

If you are not eligible, or need access before the next round. Please contact us to discuss alternative routes. 

The CLF are participants in an Horizon Europe project: Research Infrastructure Access in Nanoscience & Nanotechnology (RIANA). There will be a call to fund access to multi-facility projects (including CLF facilities) to study materials which have a functional component in the nanometer scale (<200 nm). The application details can be found here RIANA – Research Infrastructure Access in NAnoscience & nanotechnology (riana-project.eu). If you are interested in this call please contact Andy Ward (andy.ward@stfc.ac.uk) to discuss access options​.​

For industry, or academics collaborating with industry, there may be multiple other routes open to you. Here are schemes that may have updated calls:

• ​Analysis for Innovators (A4I) for a measurement or analysis problem where you are seeking a solution to improve your business’s productivity or competitiveness​
  
• BBSRC-STFC facility access funding for bioscience partnerships for UK business and academic partnerships, supporting access to STFC expertise and world class facilities to solve industrially relevant bioscience challenges​
  
• Industry Impact Fund (I2F) ​to support UK industry through access to STFC facilities and scientific expertise
• Commercial and industrial beamtime access​ at contract rates for industry​​