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Advice for Grant Applicants envisaging 850 facility access

The National Management Committee (NMC) of the UK 850 MHz Solid-State NMR facility is happy to provide a letter of support for grant applicants envisaging use of the facility.

The letter of support would contain the following text (applicants are also welcome to refer to this website (go.warwick.ac.uk/850mhz/grant_applicants) in their application)

"The UK 850 MHz Solid-State NMR Facility based at the University of Warwick has been operational from February 2010. Applications for time at the facility can be made by any UK academic who is eligible to apply for Research Council funding or a researcher of similar standing in industry. Users are invited to bid for time at six-monthly intervals using an online procedure, whereby an application contains (in no more than 2 pages) sufficient background material to set the research in context, a description of the proposed measurements, and a justification for the use of high-field solid-state NMR (the latter will normally include preliminary measurements made at lower field, for example on model compounds). Time will be allocated by a Time Allocation Panel (TAP), with overall scientific merit being the most important criterion. Obtaining of peer-reviewed funding directly related to the bid for 850 MHz time does not guarantee the allocation of time, but evidence of such support will be considered, i.e., is likely to be given significant weight, in the allocation procedure."

Additionally, applicants may also choose to:

Send (by email) to the Chair of the NMC a copy of the grant application highlighting the text that directly refers to 850 MHz use—it is also acceptable to send only the particular relevant section(s) if they are evidently self-contained.
A member of the NMC will then check the submitted text solely as to whether the proposed use of 850 MHz time seems feasible and suitable.

If this is the case, the following text will be added to the letter of support:

"A member of the National Management Committee has checked the text relating to the use of the Facility. In their opinion, the proposed use of 850 MHz time seems feasible and suitable. It is to be emphasised that this does not automatically guarantee access and the grant applicant will need to bid for time using the standard procedure as outlined above."

We will do this within 10 days of receipt (in normal circumstances).

The above text and procedure has been approved by EPSRC.