TNA User Access
The RIANA – TNA Access is Now Open.
We accept user proposals based on a “continuous call” concept.
Applications for Pre-proposals are not mandatory but are highly encouraged.
If you want to apply for RIANA – SME, access page is available here.
Access Guidelines - TNA
Eligibility Criteria
RIANA proposals need to address a topic in the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. This eligibility criterion is checked by the Chairs of the Proposal Review Panel based on the following definition:
RIANA refers to “nanoobjects” whenever the structures of an object that determine its key properties are smaller than 100 nm in at least one dimension. Consequently, “nanoscience” is the science of nanoobjects, and “nanotechnology” is the technology exploiting nanoobjects.
RIANA access to research infrastructures is provided in the form of Transnational Access. This access is completely free of charge and includes the logistical, technological, and scientific support as well as specific training. Moreover, a contribution is given for travel and subsistence expenditures as detailed in Site Access.
Transnational Access is provided in two types:
- Physical access with Users visiting the infrastructure in person for “hands-on” access
- Remote access that may include, e.g., measurements of mail-in samples or remote access to a high-performance computing infrastructure, without Users physically visiting the infrastructure.
To be eligible for Transnational Access, the following criteria must be fulfilled:
- The Principal Investigator (PI) and the majority of the team members must work in a country other than the country where the infrastructure is located, unless access is provided by an international organisation such as an ERIC.
- The Users must be allowed and willing to disseminate the results they have generated.
- The User Feedback Form has been completed and submitted for any previous project of the proposers.
In case of doubt whether the TA criterion is fulfilled for a given project, proposers are referred to admin@riana-project.eu.
RIANA promotes the EU Gender Equality Strategy towards a gender-equal Europe and specifically encourages RIANA applications from women. The prerequisite to scientific and societal prosperity is the creation of an atmosphere of acceptance and trust, embracing all differences stemming from personal ways of life or personal living situations, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, ideologies, biographies, religion, beliefs, disability, age, appearance, and many other aspects.
Proposal Submission
The submission of pre-proposal is optional and targets Users who have an idea they wish to develop but may be unsure of its feasibility or of the technique(s) required or that are simply interested in complementary techniques they may not be familiar with. Through this option, RIANA offers the unique possibility for Users to access the Science Support, which is comprised of Junior Scientists who offer direct support as well as an Expert Network of Senior Scientists offering additional advice. These experts are ready to help you translate User challenges into research projects.
Pre-proposals can be submitted at any time. They do neither go through a review process and nor allow the access to research infrastructures but are a preparatory step towards full proposals.
The application for access to research infrastructures through the Standard Access Route is open throughout the project and implemented as a rolling call. It is open to any User from academia and industry (including SMEs) and requires Users to openly publish results (see Dissemination of Results).
Users are encouraged to use complementary techniques to generate impactful results in nanoscience and nanotechnology and to promote interdisciplinarity of the User community. If a User is unsure of which techniques to use, it is strongly recommended to reach out to the Science Support through a pre-proposal or sciencesupport@riana-project.eu.
Pre-access Training
RIANA offers the opportunity to apply for pre-access training visits to complement granted access. This training is targeted towards young scientists (typically at the PhD or postdoctoral level) who lack experience in using the techniques offered by the host infrastructures. The training visits typically take place immediately prior to or after the granted TA and varies from a few days to a week for one person; in well-justified cases, pre-access visits may be extended.
Pre-access training can be requested as part of the submission of full proposals for transnational access and are assessed during the proposal evaluation process by the host in collaboration with RIANA.
Pre-access training can be conducted either as an on-site visit or remotely, provided that both the host and the trainee agree. Travel and subsistence costs for the trainee will be covered as part of the overall User travel and subsistence reimbursement.
Trained Users will be required to deliver short reports on the results and the level of satisfaction from the pre-access training, in addition to the experimental report for the transnational access.
Registration, Submission & Review
- All members of the research team (“Users”), including the Principal Investigator (PI), must create individual accounts in ARIA, (access portal – Login/Register), enabling the Applicant to identify and select all team members when filling in the full Proposal Form.1
1 This step does not replace the creation of User accounts at selected facilities, which must be done separately after a proposal is accepted by RIANA for access be scheduled.
- The Applicant can submit a title and informal abstract through the access portal using the preproposal form (accessible via “Calls” in the top menu of the ARIA portal).
- The Applicant may include any questions for our experts, be it in relation to the choice of technique, the experiment itself, data analysis, or application procedures.
- The Applicant will be contacted by email within one week after submission and matched with an expert to discuss the project idea.
- Before completing the proposal submission, the team should complete the Word template of the RIANA Project Description as the main proposal document that needs to be uploaded to ARIA portal during the submission process.
- In the portal, the Applicant will first be requested to select at least one option from the list of techniques (“services”) – up to 4 techniques may be selected. After the technique selection, the Applicant is requested to select a preferred infrastructure (“service host”). The preference will be considered, but RIANA reserves the right to allocate access to a different infrastructure.
- All team members should then be added to the proposal. Once they have created accounts, their names can be found through the search field.
- Next, the online Proposal Form should be completed in the portal. A RIANA Proposal Template is available to prepare and review content in advance. The online form can be saved as a draft and returned to later.
- The Applicant will then be asked to have read and accepted the Terms of Use, this User Guide, the eligibility criteria, and privacy policy.
- After submission of the full proposal, all team members will receive an email confirmation.
- After proposal submission, the RIANA TA Coordinator invites scientists at prospective host infrastructures to evaluate the technical feasibility.
- Depending on technical feasibility, available instrument time, and considerations of the prospective host infrastructures, proposed infrastructures will either be confirmed by the TA Coordinator, or different infrastructures will be assigned if possible. If the assigned
infrastructures are different from the originally proposed ones, this amendment will be done directly by the Project Administrator, and the Applicant will be notified.
- All proposals will be assigned to at least three Reviewers from the RIANA Proposal Review Panel and given an overall score. The main criteria for evaluation by our Reviewers are:
- Scientific/technological excellence (10/30)
- Methods (10/30)
- Impact (5/30)
- Level of cross-disciplinarity (5/30)
Details of the evaluation criteria are given in the Guidelines for Reviewers.
- The Applicant will be informed of the outcome of their submission by email:
- Accepted – the proposal is granted access.
- Rejected – the proposal is not granted access. Comments explaining the reasons for rejection are provided.
- After proposal acceptance, the infrastructures and the Users clarify details of access.2
- Access should be completed within 18 months after acceptance.
2 The RIANA proposal review replaces the scientific review at the infrastructure level. However, further technical details may need to be provided to the infrastructure prior to access.
- After the visits have taken place, the Applicant will be required to complete the User Feedback Form in the ARIA portal to provide feedback on the visit and the RIANA project in general.
- The submission of an Experiment Report is required as well based on a template. The Experiment Report can be submitted via the User Feedback Form.
Site Access
- The infrastructure (typically represented by the User Office of the host) is responsible for contacting the Users concerning site access, accommodation, insurance/medical conditions, shipping of samples, safety, and all other information related to the visit.
- Users are highly encouraged to book accommodation and travel as soon as a visit is scheduled to avoid extra costs due to late booking. In particular, Users are asked to contact the host contact as early as possible to check for the availability of rooms in a guesthouse.
Financial Support & Reimbursement
EU funding will be allocated to travel and subsistence support to Users that fit the eligibility criteria. A maximum of two researchers per visit are entitled to reimbursement. The total amount per person per visit depends on the number of experiment days and is based on a calculated reimbursement of:
- up to 300 EUR per User for travel costs
- up to 100 EUR per night and per User for accommodation
Exceptionally, the reimbursement can be higher to support Users that could not participate to the transnational access otherwise. Corresponding requests should be sent to reimbursement@rianaproject.eu.
- Users are entitled to reimbursement after submission of the User Feedback Form in the ARIA access portal. To receive reimbursement, Users should fill in the reimbursement form and send a signed version in PDF format together with invoices and receipts of travel and accommodation expenses to reimbursement@riana-project.eu.
All tickets and receipts (hotels, flights, trains) must be made out in the name and, if an address is indicated, the private address of the person claiming reimbursement.
Reimbursement will be made according to the following regulations:
- Travel: Economy class for air fares, second class for train tickets. The costs of using taxis may not be reimbursed unless the necessity is explained and justified.
- Subsistence: Flat rate daily allowance according to the German public service travel cost regulations if the overall reimbursement is below the maximum reimbursement rate (see “Reimbursed amount per visit per User”), 20% reduction for breakfast included in hotel invoice. Separate receipts for meals are not needed.
- Accommodation: RIANA reimburses for the single occupancy cost of a standard room. Travellers should always select the most economical hotel.
The overall duration of a stay must be consistent with the experiment days scheduled for the respective User experiment. If no justification for an extended stay is provided, the maximum number of supported days equals the number of experiment days plus two.
Reimbursement requests must be submitted within 3 months after the end of an experiment.
Dissemination of Results & Acknowledgement
Users are obliged to acknowledge support from RIANA by the following text string that needs to be literally included into any publication that resulted from research infrastructure access through RIANA:
“Funded by the European Union as part of the Horizon Europe call HORIZON-INFRA-2023-SERV-01 under grant agreement number 101130652. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union and the European Union cannot be held responsible for them.”
In addition, the research infrastructures and support staff should be acknowledged. Open access publication is strongly favoured.
Terms of Use & Privacy Policy
- For questions regarding pre-proposal submission and general scientific support: scienceservice@riana-project.eu.
- For technical issues and questions regarding registration, proposal submission in the access portal, proposal review, or assignment of research infrastructures: admin@riana-project.eu.
- For specific questions related to visits at research infrastructures: Contact the User Office or the local contact of that infrastructure.