Visiting Scientist Program

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory offers researchers from academia, industry, and national laboratories the opportunity to utilize the unique, world-class facilities of the laboratory to conduct magnet-related research. The Visiting Scientist Program provides financial support for these research projects on a competitive basis.

The primary intent of this program is to provide greater access to the unique facilities at the Magnet Lab and to seed research programs that help advance the laboratory. Funding is principally intended to partially support travel and local expenses. Requests for stipends are considered but given a lower priority.

The amount of support generally ranges from $500 to $5,000. Higher amounts can be proposed with proper budget justification. Beyond conducting the research as approved and maintaining fiscal integrity, the researcher has one additional responsibility, which is to provide the Magnet Lab with a progress report on request and a final report on their research to be included within online version of the NHMFLAnnual

Report.

To apply for support from the Visiting Scientist Program, interested researchers are required to submit a brief application and a proposal that will be reviewed by appropriate facility directors and scientists at the NHMFL. All requests for support must be submitted online .Applications may be submitted at any time throughout the year.

• Application
  . Essential administrative information (name, contact data, proposed visit dates, etc.) must be provides on a simple online form.
• Proposal
  . One PDF file will be uploaded and electronically "attached" to the application.

The proposal file should include:

• Admin Info
  • Proposal Title
  • Principal Investigator Name
  • PI Institution, e-mail, phone number
  • NHMFL Facility/Department Contact
  • Requested Visit Dates
  • Requested Budget
• Description (1-2 paragraphs) specifying:
  • research or activity to be conducted
  • scientific goals
  • possible impact of the proposed research or activity on new areas of science and/or Magnet Lab facilities
  • educational significance or impact of the proposed research/activity.
• Budget Info that provides, as applicable:
  • Estimates regarding applicable:
    • travel costs
    • local accommodation expenses
    • materials, supplies, permanent equipment, cryogens, and other miscellaneous expenses
  • Information on any matching support provided by the home institution of the applicant
  • Information on any grant funding that support this research effort
  • If stipend support is requested, a one-paragraph justification is required.
• Recent publications relevant to the proposed research. Researchers who are new users or collaborators may wish to include a standard 2-page vita.
• Support Letter from NHMFL hosting facility/department director indicating:
  • the group’s willingness to host the visit
  • the research to be performed is reasonable and fits into VSP goals (e.g., advances facilities, serves a seed money)
  • magnet time, if required, will be available for the experiment during the requested period
  • other comments that would be helpful to the review and evaluation of the proposal.

The original support documentation may have been in either letter or e-mail format. Scan or copy/paste the letter into the proposal file. Only one file is uploaded to the system.

Prior to submitting a VSP proposal, researchers are strongly encouraged to contact and/or begin collaborations with a Magnet Lab associate.

The budget should be developed in consultation with the appropriate contact person at the laboratory.
The proposed time frame (period of time, beginning/ending dates) should be developed in consultation with appropriate lab contacts. This is particularly important if central user facilities will be required to complete the proposed research.
Stipend support from the NHMFL may be provided on rare occasions. In many cases, the funds will be directed to the researcher’s home institution, and the NHMFL will require that all overhead or administrative service charges be waived by the home institution.
Conference Support should include an estimate of attendance rate and a brief description of the event.