In NA2 the MICROKELVIN Collaboration will jointly coordinate the access to the three access giving sites at TKK, CNRS and ULANC. The minimum amount of total access is 81 facility-months for 45 user groups and 60 users, equally divided between the three sites.
The ultra low temperature in-house measurements at the three sites typically require careful planning, lengthy construction work, and often several preliminary cool downs before all aspects of an experiment function in a satisfactory way. The work is rarely routine and in most cases a completely new measurement must be designed. This means that one has to learn how to conduct the experiment in the most efficient and informative way before the actual data taking can start. Individual projects tend to require 3-6 months of cryostat time and, therefore, the number of different experiments during a 4-year grant period is limited. Because of these restrictions and the difficulty of foreseeing exact scheduling, experiments will simply be conducted in succession such that a preceding measurement in a given cryostat is finished before a new project is started. All plans which have been approved by the Selection Panel will have priority. The Selection Panel is informed about the schedule of the in-house experiments. Since the grant period is limited, this aspect should not delay the in-house projects prohibitively or alternatively they may be recast as collaborations.
Scientific support for the users will be given by the local operators at the facilites as well as by the participants of the User Meetings. For efficient progress, the best situation is one where a new experimental proposal parallels and builds on the expertise gained from our present research and that of the user group involved. Representatives from the user group will visit the facility to discuss the planning, to become acquainted with the people, and to familiarize themselves with the working procedures. The proposals will be discussed both within the access giving facility and at the User Meetings. These procedures help to guarantee that the projects have been carefully prepared by the time they approach the stage of actual design and construction. The two-way interaction between a user group and the local access giving team will continue all through the project until its results are written up for publication.
The access sites will support visitors in visa, travel and housing related matters by a local secretary. The host organizations have connections to fast computer networks, supported by a local operator, and electronic access to most scientific journals. The sites have an established infrastructure with well-trained support personnel for ultra low temperature research (see details in TA1-3).
The number of potential European user groups, i.e. experimental research groups (SMEs) working at sub-Kelvin temperatures is about 250 (15). Both the MICROKELVIN consortium and the respective infrastructures will announce the new access giving possibilities by direct email, by adding information to potential users on their web pages, at relevant European conferences and in low temperature journals. The announcement will specify that the new MICROKELVIN access is provided by three European infrastructures, detailing mode of access and specific type of research.
The users of the MICROKELVIN access giving sites will be selected by a common Selection Panel. The majority of the members of the SP will come from outside the MICROKELVIN consortium. One of the members will represent industry. They will meet in person during the MICROKELVIN kick-off and User meetings. In the interim, the selection will be conducted at least twice a year by email voting. A list of user candidates, based on the proposals received, will be prepared by the MICROKELVIN administrator for a vote. The list of accepted, ongoing and completed projects will be posted on the public MICROKELVIN web-site.
We encourage those efforts of fundamental importance demanding greater investment in hardware and manpower than is possible for a typical academic research group. The following selection criteria will be used:
The Selection Panel will be appointed by the General Assembly. It will be familiar with the access giving potential and complementarities of the three sites, as well as with the common selection principles.
The objective of the User Meetings is to review the work done in TA1-3 activities, to provide user feedback, to stimulate further more challenging experimental work and to advertise the transnational access.
The objective of Task 3 is to improve and integrate the access services by sharing technical services, support personnel and by organizing common user training sessions. This is closely related to NA4, Strengthening the European low temperature research.