Posted on May 07, 2020
Seven weeks ago Saskatchewan imposed a State of Emergency to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in CLS going into a warm-standby mode to protect our staff, clients and visitors. Premier Scott Moe recently announced a 5-phase plan to re-open Saskatchewan and emphasised that it is going to be a very gradual and methodical process. While current pandemic-related safety protocols prevent us from starting-up immediately, we want to prepare for when we are able to do so.
Therefore, in an effort to help fight this global pandemic, we are announcing a special call for proposals for any work that will actively contribute to finding COVID-related treatments or vaccines, or improve conditions for frontline workers, including developing sensors and diagnostic tools or special surfaces with antiviral properties.
The call is open to researchers from any institution, in any location. Priority will be given to proposals for the macromolecular crystallography (CMCF-BM) beamline, but proposals for other beamlines will also be considered. The call is limited to work that can be performed remotely, or by mail-in – external users will not be permitted on site. Please discuss the feasibility of your proposal with the appropriate beamline staff before submission.
When we obtain permission to operate again, we will undergo critical maintenance with a limited staff complement. We cannot yet anticipate when we will have beamtime available, but it is unlikely to be before July. Due to ongoing safety restrictions, we are planning to operate for the remainder of that month for COVID-19 research only, and will consider extending this into August if there is sufficient demand.
All proposals should be submitted through the COVID-19 proposal type in the CLS User Portal. The deadline for proposals is Thursday, May 21, and we will respond within two weeks.
All proposals will be subject to technical review by our beamline staff, safety review by our Health, Safety and Environment team, and ethics review if required. In addition, proposals will be evaluated by a committee consisting of CLS Science Managers, chaired by the Science Director, and external experts as needed.
For up-to-date COVID-19 CLS measures information please visit https://www.lightsource.ca/covid19.html
www.lightsource.ca/covid19_call_for_proposals
