Introduction
All the academic research proposals must be submitted through the User Portal. The following guidelines on how to submit the proposals are applicable exclusively to the public domain researches conducted by research/education teams from Brazil and abroad.
Before submitting a research proposal, the users are advised to visit the LNNano facility webpage of their interests to check out the available services and technologies, as well as recommendations about the sample preparations, protocols and some other detailed specifications about the research proposal submission process.
Submitting a Research Proposal
The submission process for Research Proposals to LNNano is divided into two steps: Users Registration and Research Proposal Submission. Each of the two steps can be carried out independently.
The Users Registration: this step is only required at the first access to the User Portal, but provided information can be updated at any time. The user must enter a valid email address and click on ´Acessar‘; a password will be sent to the registered email and the user will be able to access the User Portal. At the first access, the user will be asked to provide personal as well as professional information. After supplying this information, the user should logout from the User Portal and login in again to continue the submission process.
Attention: The research proponent must have a PhD. After the user registration, the submission webpages are going to be available only for PhD researchers.
Submission: First the user has to login and click on “Research Proposal – Submission and Preparation > Submit your research proposal here > Submit Research Proposals for: LEC, ROBOLAB, AFM, III-V MBE, LMF, DRXP, DSF-LD, STC, Micro CT, MAC, PFQ, PPDP-MP, MET, NGS, BPC, RMN, LBE, LOM” (“Propostas de Pesquisa e Activity Reports > Submissão > Submissão de Propostas de Pesquisa”).
Next, click on: “Cadastrar PROPOSTA DE PESQUISA/Register RESEARCH PROPOSAL”. Fill out the supplied formularies to establish a scientific project – this is the general research frame, which provides the basis for the specific research proposal to be conducted.After registration of the scientific project, the actual research proposal – related to a registered scientific project – has to be submitted. For doing so, click on “Cadastrar PROPOSTA DE PESQUISA relacionada a um PROJETO CIENTÍFICO cadastrado / Register RESEARCH PROPOSAL related to a registered SCIENTIFIC PROJECT”. Again a form will show up, which must be filled online.
Submitted research proposal will be forwarded automatically to the User Support Department. We recommend evaluating the project technical feasibility before submitting a research proposal. Once it is submitted, the research proposal will be evaluated following a standard procedure.
Research Proposal Analysis
Technical Feasibility Analysis – It is carried out by the facility coordinator and by internal advisor(s). Proposals, which are unfeasible or technically unsuitable for the scientific instrumentation, are rejected and the proponent is notified by email.
Scientific Analysis – after technical analysis, an internal scientific committee, assisted by facilities coordinators, evaluates the proposal. This committee is responsible for allocating the equipment time necessary to carry out the research. Except the LME facility which nowadays has an external committee to evaluate their research proposals.
The analysis results are sent by email to the proponent, so it is highly recommended that the user frequently check out his email account.
Steps to be carried out before coming to LNNano
Once the research proposal is approved, the user will receive an e-mail with instructions for the following three steps that should be carried out before starting to work at LNNano facilities:
1. Confirm the team and delegate responsibility (Confirme a equipe de campo )
2. Accept Commitment Term (Aceite o termo de Compromisso)
3. Safety Trainning (Responda o questionário de treinamento de segurança)”
To carry out these steps, the user has to login into the User Portal and enter the menu point “Research proposals and activity reports > Preparation” (Propostas de Pesquisa e Activity Reports > Preparação), which should show “1 pendency” (1 pendência). It indicates that the user should do the following steps:
“Confirm the team and delegate responsibility” – The names of team members to come to the LNNano have to be included here. The exact number of team members varies according to the facility requirements. In case of doubt, please contact the User Service Support by email (sau@cnpem.br).
“Accept Commitment Terms” – After confirming the team, the user should read carefully the commitment terms and accept it.
Important: Users are required to acknowledge the use of the LNNano facilities in any publications and to inform the Laboratory about any publications, thesis and other published materials. Also, they will cooperate by supplying this information upon request.
“Safety Training” – The user must read the available document regarding the safety requirements during the use of the facilities.
After fulfilling these three steps, the user is able to work at the facilities during his allocated time. Depending on the facilities, a local introduction and training will be required and conducted by the facility staff.
After finishing the research project, we highly recommended to all users to fill the evaluation questionnaire provided at the User Portal.
This questionnaire is part of the evaluation process of the facilities and the technical support to the experiments performed at the Brazilian Nanotechnology National Laboratory. The user cooperation is essential to the continuous improvement of the services available for all users.