Macromolecular Crystallography

Access mechanisms to obtain beamtime on the CLS Macromolecular Crystallography beamlines include:

• Peer Reviewed Access - General User Access
• Non-Peer Reviewed Access – Special Requests
• Purchased Access

General User Access

General User beamtime is via competitive peer review, twice per year, emphasizing the excellence of science where there is intent to publish scientific results.

Proposals which are approved for safety, technical feasibility, and ethics (if applicable), and receive a score between 1 and 4, will become active projects and remain active for 2 years (four cycles).

• Active projects may request shifts as required anytime throughout the two-year timeframe. Shifts are requested via the shift request function in the User Portal and should be submitted as least 2 weeks before the anticipated beamtime.
• Options for shift requests include:
  • Remote Control – data collection performed by the research team via remote control of the beamline.
  • Mail-In – data collection performed by CLS beamline staff on behalf of the research team.
  • On-Site – data collection performed by the research team on site at the CLS.

Proposal Review and Ratings

All new proposals are reviewed for safety, technical feasibility, scientific merit and ethics (if required). Each proposal is reviewed in depth and scored by at least two committee members. The final score is assigned by the PRC taking into consideration the average of all reviewers’ scores and discussion of the proposal during the PRC meeting.

Click here for details about the peer review evaluation criteria, rating scale, Peer Review Committee and notification of results.

Peer Review Committee (PRC)

• Gil Privé - University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
• Lisa Keefe - IMCA-CAT, APS
• Zygmunt Derewenda - University of Virginia

Rapid Access

Rapid Access (Special Request) proposals are for feasibility studies that are not proprietary in nature. These studies may be eligible for a limited amount of discretionary beam time depending on the availability of the requested beamline and the type of work. The Science Director approves these proposals prior to the experiment being performed. Please discuss your research activity with Michel Fodje or Shaun Labiuk prior to submitting an application. 

Rapid Access proposals are accepted throughout the year and expire after 6 months.  All proposals must be approved prior to performing the experiment.

How to Submit a CMCF Proposal

1. Contact Michel Fodje or Shaun Labuik to discuss your research.

2. Create and submit your proposal.

• Log in to the User Portal 
  If you have not previously registered with the CLS, you will be required to do so.
• Select + Create a Proposal from your dashboard or select Home, My Proposals, +
• Note that you can create a Rapid Access (Special Request) proposal at any time, but you may only submit a General User Access proposal while the Call for Proposals is open.
• If you begin creating a proposal and save it, you can return to it from your dashboard or by going to Home, My Proposals
• Submitting a CMCF Proposal for Peer Review Guide

For more information about the CMCF beamlines, please visit https://cmcf.lightsource.ca