J-PARC MLF 2027A Call for General Use Proposals (Short-term and One-year)
The Call for General Use Proposals (Short-term, and One-year for BL11)is open from October 17, 2026.
Please read before application
- Before submitting a proposal, applicants are required to read and fully understand the J-PARC MLF User Agreement
- In addition, applicants must consult in advance with the Instrument Scientist regarding the sample environment and experimental conditions.Read More
- If applicants intend to bring their own equipment for use in the experiment, prior consultation with the Instrument Scientist (or, in the case of muon experiments, the responsible beamline scientist) is mandatory.
- Graduate students who wish to apply must carefully review the relevant guidelines for application and experiment participation before submission.
- Applications to the P7 Industrial Applications category are limited to applicants affiliated with private companies.
- BL23 (POLANO) is currently open with non-polarization experiments.If you have any questions or inquiries regarding polarization experiments, please contact the POLANO local contact in advance.
- Furthermore, undergraduate students cannot be listed as collaborators for KEK beamlines.Read More
- Applicants must ensure that all contents of their proposal are original. If plagiarism is identified during the review process, the proposal may be rejected.Read More
- Please also note that, in principle, experiments will not be conducted on behalf of users by facility staff.Read More
1. Application Period, Submission Method, and Related Information
[Application Period]
From October 17 – November 10, 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: April 2027 - June 2027
One-year proposals: April 2027 - March 2028
[Submission]
Login to the J-PARC Proposal Submission System via J-PARC Portal.
[Template]
Short-term proposals…Ver. 2027A
One-year proposals…Ver. 2027A+2027B
Download the template here.
Please be sure to use the latest template. 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).
In cases where the applicant falls under items regulated by Japanese laws and regulations regarding security export control, Eligibility will be determined separately.
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.
- Both an Academic Supervisor (AS) and an Experiment Supervisor (ES) must be listed in the collaborators section. Applications without these entries will not be accepted.
[How to Fill in the Job Title Field]
- Academic Supervisor: Add "AS" after the job title. (e.g., Professor, AS)
- Experiment Supervisor: Add "ES" after the job title. (e.g., Research staff, ES)
- Serving as both AS and ES: Add "AS, ES" after the job title. (e.g., Professor, AS, ES)
[Notes on Experiment Supervisor (ES)]
- In principle, the Experiment Supervisor must be a staff member of the applicant's institution (including the Academic Supervisor) or a research collaborator. Graduate students cannot serve as an Experiment Supervisor.
- A single person may serve as both Academic Supervisor (AS) and Experiment Supervisor (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
4. Types of Proposals
| Type | Applicable Beamline | Non-Proprietary Use / Proprietary Use |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Short-Term Proposal | Regular proposal | All Muon and Neutron beamlines | Non-Proprietary Use and Proprietary Use |
| Industrial application | Neutron beamlines (Except BL03 and BL20) | Non-Proprietary Use and Proprietary Use | |
| New User Promotion (NUP) * | BL01, BL02, BL11, BL15, BL17, BL18, BL22 | Non-Proprietary Use | |
| P-type proposal | Muon beamlines | Non-Proprietary Use | |
| One-year proposal ** | BL11 | Non-Proprietary Use | |
*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.
Neutron
P1 Structural Science (Crystal, Amorphous and Liquid)
P2 Energy Science and High-Pressure Science
P3 Soft Matter and Biological Matter
P4 Magnetic Material and Strongly Correlated Electron System (Structure)
P5 Magnetic Material and Strongly Correlated Electron System (Dynamics)
P6 Fundamental Physics, Nuclear Physics, Instrumentation, Imaging
P7 Industrial Applications*
P8 Materials Engineering
P9 New User Promotion **
Muon
Q1 Electronic Properties of Matter & Hydrogen in Matter
Q2 General Applications
*Application for P7 “Industrial Applications” is limited to the proposals from PI who belongs to a private company.
**only proposals that have been pre-consulted through the New User Promotion (P9) application form will be accepted.
6. Instruments available for this proposal round
Please contact Instrument Scientist for the specification of the instruments etc.
Instrument available for General Use Proposal (Short-term)
Neutron Instruments
Neutron Diffraction
| BL03 * | iBIX - IBARAKI Biological Crystal Diffractometer | IBARAKI |
|---|---|---|
| BL08 | SuperHRPD - Super High-Resolution Powder Diffractometer | KEK |
| BL09 | SPICA - Special Environment Powder Diffractometer | KEK |
| BL11 | PLANET - High-Pressure Neutron Diffractometer | Public Beamline |
| BL18 | SENJU - Extreme Environment Single-Crystal Neutron Diffractometer | Public Beamline |
| BL19 | TAKUMI - Engineering Materials Diffractometer | JAEA |
| BL20 * | iMATERIA - IBARAKI Materials Design Diffractometer | IBARAKI |
| BL21 | NOVA - High Intensity Total Diffractometer | KEK |
Inelastic Neutron Scattering
| BL01 | 4SEASONS - 4D-Space Access Neutron Spectrometer | Public Beamline |
|---|---|---|
| BL02 | DNA - Biomolecular Dynamics Spectrometer | Public Beamline |
| BL06 | VIN ROSE - Village of Neutron Resonance Spin Echo Spectrometers (MIEZE spectrometer onl) |
KEK |
| BL12 | HRC - High-Resolution Chopper Spectrometer | KEK |
| BL14 | AMATERAS - Cold-Neutron Disk-Chopper Spectrometer | JAEA |
| BL23 | POLANO - Polarized Neutron Spectrometer (Unpolarized neutron experiments only) |
KEK |
SANS and Neutron Reflectometry
| BL15 | TAIKAN - Small and Wide Angle Neutron Scattering Instrument | Public Beamline |
|---|---|---|
| BL16 | SOFIA - Soft Interface Analyzer | KEK |
| BL17 | SHARAKU - Polarized Neutron Reflectometer | Public Beamline |
Other Neutron Instruments
Muon Instruments
Muon Spectroscopy
Instrument available for General Use Proposal (One-year)
Neutron Instrument
| BL11 | PLANET - High-Pressure Neutron Diffractometer | Public Beamline |
|---|
*This call for proposals does not receive proposals for use of the Ibaraki Neutron Beamlines (BL03,BL20) by PI who belong to a private company. To apply for Ibaraki Neutron Beamlines for industrial use, please apply for the proposal call issued by the Ibaraki Prefecture.
【Contact】AQBRC Ibaraki Prefecture Office
Email: info-neutron@pref.ibaraki.lg.jp
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.
- For muon instruments, proposals for preparatory experiments for general use proposals or for users with no prior experience in muon experiments (P-type proposals) are available. For details, please see the webpage on P-type proposals.
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
If your proposal involves complementary use with other quantum beam facilities or supercomputers (e.g., SPring-8, SACLA, PF, JRR-3, or HPCI supercomputers including Fugaku), specify the facility and instrument names in the template.
Note: This information is used for surveying trends and will not affect proposal evaluation or resource allocation.
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
Approved proposals and completed experiments
The information will be published on the website as below on the approved proposals and completed experiments (Non-Proprietary Use and Proprietary Use)
【After the proposal is approved】
Proposal number, PI’s name, Affiliation, Nationality of the PI’s affiliation, Beamline number, Allocated beamtime.
【After the experiment is completed】Title of Proposal, Allocated beamtime
Experiment data
For Non-Proprietary Use Proposals, primary data (measurement data) and metadata indicating measurement conditions etc. (logs) will be made public when 3 years have passed since the April 1 coming after the completion of the experiment.
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 February 2027, and final notifications around March 2027.

