Proposals are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the best score and 5 the worst. Criteria for proposal evaluation can be found here.
Beam time is assigned based on each proposal’s score in relation to all other proposals for a given beamline. For beamlines where beam time requests exceed available beam time, a cutoff score is assigned after which no beam time is allocated. In the case of identical scores at the cutoff, the proposals with identical scores are put into a random order and assigned beamtime starting at the top of the randomized list. See this page for more information on the allocation of beamtime.
The table below lists the percent of beam time shifts allocated/requested for each beamline and the cutoff scores after which no beam time was assigned for the 2025-2 Aug – Dec cycle.
Beamline |
% Beam Time Allocated / Requested |
Cutoff Score |
| 1.4 (IR) | 50 | 2.68 |
| 2.4 (SINS) | 28 | 1.67 |
| 4.0.2 (Magnetic Spectroscopy/Scattering) | 18 | 1.60 |
| 4.0.3.2 (MERLIN ARPES) | 24 | 1.91 |
| 5.3.2.2 (Polymer STXM) | 34 | 1.54 |
| 5.4 (IR) | 52 | 1.86 |
| 6.1.2 (Soft X-Ray Microscopy) | 20 | 1.82 |
| 6.3.1.1 (Magnetic Spectroscopy) | 49 | 1.83 |
| 7.0.1 (COSMIC) | 21 | 1.42 |
| 7.0.2 (Surface & Materials Science (MAESTRO)) | 12 | 1.56* |
| 7.3.1 (ISAAC) | 23 | 1.74 |
| 7.3.3 (SAXS) | 32 | 1.48 |
| 8.0.1 (SXF) | 12 | 1.52 |
| 8.3.2 (Tomography) | 35 | 1.80 |
| 9.0 (Chemical Dynamics, Coherent Imaging) | 33 | 1.95 |
| 9.3.1 (Tender APXPS) | 13 | 1.35 |
| 9.3.2 (APXPS) | 25 | 1.46 |
| 10.0.1 (HERS/AMO) | 17 | 1.74 |
| 11.0.1 (PEEM3, Soft X-Ray Scattering) | 22 | 1.57 |
| 11.0.2 (APXPS, STXM) | 16 | 1.35 |
| 12.2.1 (Small Molecule Crystallography) | 43 | 1.60 |
| 12.2.2 (High Pressure) | 42 | 1.63 |
| **Total allocation | 27 |
*In the case of identical scores at the cutoff, the proposals with identical scores are put into a random order and assigned beamtime starting at the top of the randomized list. Not all proposals with this score were allocated beamtime. See this page for more information on the allocation of beamtime.
**Total number of beam time shifts, for all beamlines, requested by general users: 6,621.
Total number of beam time shifts, for all beamlines, allocated to general users: 1,810.