Vulcan dark period

CLF experimental support during Vulcan shutdown period.

The Vulcan facility closed to users in September 2023 to enable work to begin on the upgrade to Vulcan 20‑20.

During this time, the CLF will continue to support the community through training weeks, and through student projects and placements where possible. Additional training opportunities are being explored and more information on these will be shared when available.

We are also offering experimental support for campaigns within the areas of science done at Vulcan to be carried out on external facilities. The overview, details, and guidance for applying are outlined on this page.

Overview

What's provided
When it's available
How it works

Support requests can be for targetry, some travel and subsistence costs, and the loan of diagnostics.

Each request will be internally assessed with the intention that different institutes are given equal support. Please note, currently engineering support and related costs will not be covered by the CLF.

Calls for Vulcan ‘dark period’ support will be issued every four months and will remain open for around three weeks.

The review period that follows typically lasts for three weeks before a decision is made on submitted requests.

Support can be agreed either for time already obtained at an external facility or on the condition that the principal investigator (PI) successfully obtains time if it has not yet been awarded.

Any users wanting to borrow equipment must also submit a request via the call for dark period support – some of these requests do not involve time at an external facility.

Guidance on applying for support

 

Please allow sufficient time to process your requests for support

  • wherever possible you should aim to submit your application for targetry support at least six months prior to your scheduled experiment date
  • support for diagnostics (if available) should be submitted at least four months ahead
  • it may be possible to process travel and subsistence requests on shorter timescales, but there will be at least six weeks between a call for support being opened and decisions being made

It is essential that experimental needs are discussed with facility representatives prior to submitting any proposal for support. Find contacts at the bottom of this page.

Targetry

Please note that the provision of targetry may require CLF staff to liaise directly with staff at the facility where your experiment is scheduled to take place. An additional assessment will also be required for technical feasibility.

You should also expect continued involvement in the experimental planning processes, with the level of involvement linked to the complexity of the CLF’s provision for the experiment.

The capabilities of the CLF Target Fabrication facility can be found on the Target Fabrication pages.

The CLF tape drive is licensed for supply externally through Scitech Precision Ltd and it is not automatically provisioned, with use typically needing to be arranged through the host institution.

Tape targets and materials can be requested, but complex targets can have a long lead-time and can be expensive, so it is critical that such requirements are discussed with Target Fabrication group, ESG and the host institution before a proposal is submitted to the panel.

It should be noted that target manufacture is still commercially available through Scitech Precision Ltd and the calls for support will have no impact on those commercial routes.

Contacts for the CLF’s Target Fabrication:

Chris Spindloe   Pawala Ariyathilaka

Diagnostic loans

Please note that the provision of diagnostics may require CLF staff to liaise directly with staff at the facility where your experiment is scheduled to take place. Continued involvement in the experimental planning processes should be expected, with the level of involvement linked to the complexity of the CLF’s provision for the experiment.

Please contact the Experimental Support Group (ESG) representative to ensure that the diagnostic is available, or email CLF diagnostics.

email CLF diagnostics

Funding level

Funding levels are equivalent to that of existing Vulcan experiments and the CLF may support multiple experiments in parallel, although targetry support will be highly dependent upon the level and complexity requested.

Find out more here:

Reimbursement of expenses

 

Instructions for submitting your proposal

It is important that you provide full and accurate address details to facilitate future communications with yourself and your co-investigators. If you have an existing account, please check and update your information as necessary.

Step 1

Create an account

If you are not an existing STFC user, you will need to create a facility user account, using your email address as the login identifier to access the proposal submission system.

 

 

User portal

Step 2

Once you’re logged in

On the proposal dashboard, click Apply on the Vulcan Shutdown Support access tile. This will direct you to the proposal system, where you can create a proposal by selecting Vulcan Shutdown Support. Alternatively, go here:

User portal: Proposal launchpad

Step 3

Complete your proposal

Follow the online instructions and upload the completed proposal to the external facility (if submitted) or a one page summary of the proposal. Request forms can be found below. You can also find guidance on using the proposal system here:

CLF User Documentation for Proposals

For requests asking for targetry and/or diagnostic support, please complete the appropriate form:

Targetry Technical Request

Diagnostic Loan Pool Request Form

These forms are designed to provide sufficient detail to enable reviewers to assess the requirements and balance support requests, and should be submitted via the proposal website alongside the science case.

Eligibility criteria

To request CLF support you must be a permanent member of staff or a post-doctoral researcher at a UK academic institution, and a Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-Investigator (Co-I) on the proposed experiment. The request for support must always come from the UK participant.

Only team members based at a UK academic institution are eligible for T&S support. Where the request for T&S support is across a UK collaboration, only one request should be submitted on behalf of the experiment.

Contacts

Targetry

Chris Spindloe: christopher.spindloe@stfc.ac.uk
Pawala Ariyathilaka: pawala.ariyathilaka@stfc.ac.uk

Diagnostics

CLFDIAGNOSTICS@stfc.ac.uk

For further information

Rob Clarke: rob.clarke@stfc.ac.uk

Technical submission system queries and issues

Facilities User Software Support: fase-support@stfc.ac.uk

General submission queries

CLF User Office: clf@stfc.ac.uk

High Power Lasers Access Panel Coordinator

David Carroll: david.carroll@stfc.ac.uk