A User Agreement between Berkeley Lab and the User’s sponsoring institution is required prior to starting experimental work at the ALS. It is the document that permits the User and/or the home organization to retain ownership of intellectual property and defines liability for use of DOE User Facilities. Without the User Agreement in place, the University of California (as operator of LBNL) will claim first and exclusive rights to any intellectual property conceived or reduced to practice as a result of the use of ALS facility resources. User Agreements are valid for up to five years before requiring an extension and cover the research done on ALS beamlines.You may view a sample copy of the User Agreement language, but please do not use the sample User Agreement to establish a new one.
When users register in ALSHub, they will be required to enter information about their sponsoring institution. Upon completing registration, the expiration date of an existing agreement will be displayed on the ALSHub dashboard. If there is no active agreement in place, the expiration date will say “none,” and users will receive an email with instructions on how to begin the process.
User Agreements for Non-Proprietary and Proprietary Work
Non-proprietary User Agreements: This is the most common type of User Agreement at the ALS. Users are expected to publish their findings in the open literature. The ALS does not charge for access to this beamtime, but users are responsible for their day-to-day costs (lodging, supplies, phone calls, etc.). Many organizations already have established Non-Proprietary User Agreements.
Proprietary User Agreements: Typically only industrial users conduct proprietary research. Users under this agreement pay a fee to access the ALS. They are not expected to publish in open literature, and all of the data generated during their research time is treated as proprietary.
Please note that separate User Agreements are required for proprietary and non-proprietary experimental work. Please contact alsua@lbl.gov with any questions or to initiate a new User Agreement.
