What is Xpress access?
Xpress access is a limited access mechanism (1-2 days per applicant per period) and the call is open all year round until the allocation of days is used up. Please see “Access routes” on the “Information for users” page for details of the regular access mechanisms:
Eligibility
The main applicant eligibility criteria are:
- applicants must hold an academic position, which includes postdoctoral researcher positions
- the academic position must last for the duration of the scheduling period
- PhD students can be co-investigators, but not the main applicant
To justify Xpress access, your proposal must meet one of the following justification criteria:
- obtaining supporting information for a proposal prior to submission to the Facility Access Panel (FAP). This will typically follow a recommendation from the FAP regarding a previously unsuccessful proposal that was submitted through either the standard FAP route or an EU call
- additional data collection to support the publication of data from a previous access. The previous access will have been approved either through the standard FAP route or an EU call
NOTE: Only UK travel and subsistence expenses will be funded
The duration of access is limited (1-2 days) and depends on staff and instrument set-up schedules. At present each facility has a limited allocation of days for Xpress access, so please be aware that your application may be declined once this allocation is used.
Applications are reviewed swiftly by the relevant group leaders and division heads.
Guidelines
Please contact a facility staff member or Andy Ward (Andrew.Ward@stfc.ac.uk) to discuss timescales and feasibility before writing a proposal. See the Octopus, Ultra and Artemis pages for instruments, techniques and staff to find an appropriate contact for your proposal.
(please note that programme calls are currently for access to Octopus or Ultra only)
