1. Application Period, Submission Method, and Related Information

[Application Period]

From April 17 - May 8, 2026 at 17:00 Japan Time (UTC+09:00)
Generally, Proposal Submission System is crowded on the closing day. You are strongly recommended to submit your proposal well in advance of the deadline.

[Planned beamtime period]

Short-term proposals: from Nobemver 2026 - March 2027
One-year proposals: from Nobemver 2026 - June 2027

[Submission]

Login to the J-PARC Proposal Submission System via J-PARC Portal.

[Template]

For short-term proposals…Ver. 2026B
For one-year proposals…Ver. 2026B+2027A
Download the template here.
Please be sure to use the latest template (Ver. 2026A). Older templates will not be accepted.

[Beamtime Estimation]

Please estimate the beamtime with beam power of 700 kW.

[Language]

English

*Only for P7 Industrial Applications and P9 New User Promotion, Japanese is also available.

2. Eligibility for Application and Experiment Participation

(1)Eligibility for Application

Applicants must be researchers affiliated with universities, private companies, or public research institutions in Japan or overseas, or graduate students (Master’s or Doctoral programs).

Notes for Graduate Student Applicants and Instructions for Completing the Application Form

• Applicants must contact the Instrument Scientist of the beamline to which they intend to apply in advance.
• The applicant must clearly state “Graduate Student” in the job title field of the application form.
• The following information must be included in the collaborators section. Applications without this information will not be accepted.
• Academic Supervisor: Add “AS” (Academic Supervisor) to the job title.
• Experiment Supervisor: Add “ES” (Experiment Supervisor) to the job title.

The Experiment Supervisor must, in principle, be a staff member of the applicant’s institution (including the Academic Supervisor) or a research collaborator, and must not be a graduate student.

Examples:) Professor, AS  Professor, ES  Professor, AS, ES

(2) Eligibility for Experiment Participation

Eligibility for participation in experiments is granted to researchers affiliated with universities, private companies, or public research institutions in Japan or overseas, as well as undergraduate and graduate students (Master’s and Doctoral programs).

Participation of Undergraduate Students

For experiments conducted at KEK beamlines, undergraduate students cannot be listed as collaborators in the proposal. However, they may participate in the experiment after the proposal has been accepted by completing the required procedures separately.

(3) Additional Notes

If an applicant falls under any category specified in Japanese laws and regulations related to security export control, eligibility will be determined separately in accordance with the applicable regulations.

3. Prior Consultation for Application

(1) Prior Consultation on Sample Environment and Experimental Conditions (Mandatory)

• Applicants must consult with the Instrument Scientist in advance regarding the sample environment (especially special environments such as magnetic fields) and experimental conditions, and submit proposals based on feasible experimental setups.
• Even if a proposal is scientifically excellent, it may not be accepted if the sample environment or experimental conditions are not appropriate and the experiment is deemed difficult to carry out.

(2) Consultation on Bringing Equipment (Mandatory)

• If applicants intend to bring and use equipment other than that provided by the facility, they must consult with the Instrument Scientist in advance.
• For muon experiments, applicants are required to consult in advance with the contact person of the beamline team.

For contact information of Instrument Scientists, please refer to the detailed page of each instrument.

(3) Applications to Muon Instruments by Applicants from Private Companies

• Applicants from private companies who wish to submit proposals for muon instruments must contact the office listed in "18. Contact" in advance .

(4) First-time and Inexperienced Users of Neutron and Muon Facilities

• J-PARC Center provides consultation services for first-time or less experienced users of neutron and muon facilities. Those who are considering using these facilities are encouraged to contact the Neutron and Muon Users Portal (J-JOIN).
  
• Additionally, we have compiled key points to assist you in preparing your proposal. Please refer to the following guide for details:
  Guide to Writing a General Use Proposal for MLF
  (Available in Japanese only; scheduled for publication around April 20, 2026)

4. Types of Proposals

For More Information

*Pre-application is required to apply. (Japanese only)

** Proposals that involve the development of experimental technique can be submitted as one-year proposals.

5. Selection of the review field

Submitted proposals are reviewed by each research field experts. Please choose the appropriate research field when applying.
List of keywords for each research field.

6. Instruments available for this proposal round

Please contact Instrument Scientist for the specification of the instruments etc.

7. Notes on Proposal Application

• Applicants must provide accurate information for all references cited. If text, figures, or other materials from published papers or other sources are used, the source must be clearly indicated. If references are not properly cited and the proposal is judged as plagiarism during the review process, it may be rejected.
• Applicants must obtain prior consent from all individuals listed as collaborators in the proposal. This also applies when including MLF staff such as Instrument Scientists. Proposals that include collaborators without their consent may be rejected.
• The use of nuclear fuel materials is strictly prohibited. Radioactive isotopes may only be used if they are approved by MLF.
• If applicants plan to bring electrical equipment with a rated power exceeding 7.5 kW or 7.5 kVA, or a rated current exceeding 30 A, the specifications of the equipment must be clearly described in the research plan.
• For KEK beamlines, undergraduate students cannot be listed as collaborators. However, they may participate in the experiment as trainees during the experiment period.
• J-PARC also welcomes P-type proposals to conduct test experiments in preparation for general use and Project use (S-type use) proposal as well as proposals from the users who have no experience in muon use. For more details, please click here.

8. Keywords

Applicants are required to provide up to five keywords describing the proposal in the research plan template.

9. Complementary Use with Other Facilities

For the purpose of understanding trends in experimental proposals, applicants are requested to provide information on complementary use if their research falls under the following category. Please include the relevant information in the research plan template.

[Applicable Cases]

• Proposals that involve research conducted in collaboration with other quantum beam facilities or supercomputers (e.g., synchrotron radiation facilities such as SPring-8, SACLA, and PF; JRR-3; supercomputers under HPCI, including Fugaku)

[Information to be Provided]

• Name of the collaborating facility and the instrument(s) to be used

[Notes]

• Whether or not such information is provided will not affect the evaluation results.
• The information provided will not be used for preferential allocation of beamtime or computational resources.

10. Review Process

• Submitted proposals will be reviewed, through the prescribed review process, from comprehensive and specialized viewpoints based on the evaluation criteria. The beamtime of the proposal will be determined in consideration of the scientific merits of the proposal and adequacy of the necessary beamtime.
• If the review panel has judged that there is a more appropriate beamline than the one requested, the beamline may be changed.

11. Conditions for Conducting Approved Experiments

• PI is required to read and accept the J-PARC MLF User Agreement and, before conducting the experiment, submit the consent form.
• PI and collaborators are required to complete the designated procedures by two weeks prior to the scheduled experiment date. Further information
• MLF Experiment Hall is a radiation control area. PI and collaborators participating in the experiment are required to follow the procedures for personal dosimeters. Click here for further information.
• In principle, Instrument Scientist will not conduct the experiment on behalf of the users. Please ensure that PI or other team member comes to MLF to conduct the experiment (including the preparation).
• If PI and Instrument Scientist agree by 30 days prior to the scheduled experiment day that there is no prospect of implementing the experiment, the beamtime will be canceled. (If such a member is coming from abroad and a visa is necessary, be sure that they can obtain an appropriate visa.)
• Please refer to the websites of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan for information on necessary procedures, conditions for coming to Japan, etc.
• Experiment is not allowed to be implemented if it is attended only by students (including graduate students).
• In principle, experiments implemented by non-residents of Japan or residents of Japan with strong association to foreign countries are subject to export control (research team members, sample, obtained data, etc.). Please note that there may be cases where the implementation of the experiment is not permitted or the entry to the site is not permitted depending on the results of the screening of export control even if the proposal application has been received or the experiment has been approved through proposal selection screening.

12. Usage Fee for Proprietary Use Proposals

The usage fee is 3,061,000 JPY per day (tax included), calculated in 30-minute increments and rounded up to the nearest yen.

13. Beamtime Utilization Report and Experiment Report (Non-Proprietary Use Proposals)

• PI of Non-Proprietary Use proposals is required to submit the Beamtime Utilization Report promptly after implementing the experiment.
• The users of Non-Proprietary Use proposals are required to submit the experiment report within 60 days after the end of the experiment period that the experiment was conducted. Click here for the deadline.
• If the experiment report is not submitted 30 days after the deadline, the fee collection procedure will be initiated (except for the KEK beamlines).
• If the experiment report is not submitted after the deadline, PI cannot apply for beamtime in the following proposal rounds. (they cannot participate the experiment as a collaborator.)
• The experiment report will be published on J-PARC website after six months from the submission deadline.

14. Publication of experiment results

• Please publish the results of the experiment within 3 years counting from the April 1 after the experiment is completed.
• The publication must be in the form of peer-reviewed paper, peer-reviewed proceedings, doctoral/master dissertation, patents, public technical report, J-PARC annual report, or collection of results.
• When publishing the results, it is recommended to consult with Instrument Scientist in advance about who should be the co-author.
• It is also important to consider the support provided by Instrument Scientist and other staffs maintaining and operating the facility when deciding the co-authors. Please indicate the proposal number and the beamline(s) used for the experiment in the publishment. (Sample Acknowledgements)

15. Disclosure of Proposal Information and Data

16. Additional Call for Proposals

There may be an additional call for proposals in the case where the total of the applied beamtime in this call for proposal is less than the available beamtime. In that case, information will be released on the website, etc.

17. Notification of Review Results

Applicants will be notified by email. Provisional notifications will be sent around August 2026, and final notifications around September 2026.

18. Contact

Non-Proprietary Use: j_proposal@ml.j-parc.jp
Proprietary Use: j_proposal_p@ml.j-parc.jp
General Inquiries: jimurisoku@ml.j-parc.jp