Guest Facilities User Agreement

All ATLAS Facility Users must have an appointment at Argonne to work at the facility. In order for a non-Argonne person to perform research at ATLAS the Department of Energy requires that a Guest Facilities User Agreement be executed. The purpose of the User Agreement is to define administrative obligations such as safety, liability, ownership of property, and intellectual property rights. These rights and obligations vary based upon category of use. The first major categorization is based upon the dichotomy of non-proprietary vs. proprietary use of the accelerator facility. Almost all users of the facility are granted access for basic research and thus fall into the category of non-proprietary use. Further non-proprietary users may fall into two groups, 1) those who participate in research as employees of an institution (almost everybody) or, 2) those representing themselves (possibly an emeritus professor with no institutional obligations or support). Users who participate as employees of another institution must secure their home institution's approval, indicated by an authorized signature, on the User Agreement.

The second major categorization is for the rare instances of proprietary use of the facility. This requires a contractual agreement with the Laboratory and payment of costs for operating the machine. The User Agreement for proprietary users is very similar to the non-proprietary agreement. The primary differences involve ownership and rights in data and resultant intellectual property.

In the past any new ATLAS User signed the Guest Agreement. Recently, this form was changed to comply with Federal Regulations. The form is basically the same as the old form except it now has to be signed by someone in authority at the User's institution, in addition to a page which is filled out and signed by the User. This power in authority can be a department head, legal department, etc. (to be determined by each institution). This new Guest Agreement needs to be signed by all new users and those who are currently ATLAS users in order to run an experiment at ATLAS.

If you plan to come for an experiment, please notify Barbara Weller (630)252-4044; email address: bweller@anl.gov as soon as possible to allow time for your institution to sign off on the Guest Agreement.

Downloadable versions of the Guest Facilities User Agreement form are available below:

• MS Word format
• PDF format

Experimenters in front of Gammasphere at the FMA.

If you would like additional information about becoming an ATLAS User, please contact Ms. Barbara Weller in the Physics Division of Argonne National Laboratory at (630) 252-4044 or via email at: bweller@anl.gov