CHRNS Grad Student/Post-Doc Travel Assistance

CHRNS PROGRAM TO SUPPORT GRAD Student/Post-doc travel to THE NCNR during reactor restart

As part of its education and outreach effort, CHRNS is pleased to offer U.S. university-based graduate students and postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to request travel support to come to the NCNR for collaborative experiments on CHRNS instruments as we commence reactor startup and move toward full restoration of user operations. The primary goals of the program are to broaden the availability of the limited neutron beamtime in these early ‘return-to-operations' stages to the user community while simultaneously providing these early-career researchers with the opportunity to learn how to perform experiments on neutron instruments relevant to their project

Beginning in April/May 2026, following the initial phases of reactor restart, the five CHRNS instruments will begin running collaborative user experiments after their recommissioning. During this early stage, the operating schedule is currently unknown but is expected to be prone to interruptions. Interested users should recognize the need for flexibility in their travel plans, which should include extra days to accommodate unexpected operational disruptions.

With that in mind, CHRNS is accepting applications for travel grants that enable students and post-docs to travel to the NCNR for an extended period to run experiments on one of the CHRNS instruments, in coordination with a CHRNS instrument scientist. Travel arrangements will be made by the NCNR and should typically cover airfare (with flexible travel dates), lodging, and a per diem for at least a portion of the proposed trip. Note that the number of grants awarded and the size of each grant depend on the available CHRNS funding for this new program.

Please note that this special travel grant program temporarily replaces the CHRNS Student Travel Assistance Program that was previously available ONLY to new student users. This program will be restored once we achieve full user operations at the NCNR.

Eligible CHRNS Instruments:

• CHRNS Very Small Angle Neutron Scattering (vSANS)
• CHRNS Multi-Axis Crystal Spectrometer (MACS)
• CHRNS High-Flux Backscattering Spectrometer (HFBS)
• CHRNS Neutron Spin Echo Spectrometer (NSE)
• CHRNS White Beam Reflectometer (CANDOR) 

Applicant Qualifications:

A maximum of one travel grant will be awarded to graduate students or post-doc applicants from each research group at U.S. universities or colleges. The applicant’s institution should be located more than a 2.5-hour drive from the NCNR (i.e., outside of “commuting” distance – contact us separately about beamtime opportunities if you are within this distance). A preference will be given to applicants in the early or middle part of their academic appointment. Note that additional application materials may be required for students/post-docs who are not U.S. citizens, and the approval process for the travel grant and NCNR access will be longer and is contingent upon current NIST access policies. Applicants need to first contact a CHRNS instrument scientist on the instruments listed above to discuss the feasibility and timing of the proposed experiment(s) under the actual instrument operating conditions.

Application Materials:

• Student's name
• Email address
• Complete mailing address
• Proposed travel length and tentative travel length
• CV of Student or Post-doc, including the number of years in current position and PhD graduation date
• Description of proposed experiment(s) that includes an estimate of beamtime days and the required sample environment. The impact of beamtime on the applicant’s project should be emphasized, as well as applicant’s plans to educate group members for future neutron experiments.
• Brief statement of support for the experiment from a CHRNS instrument scientist for the proposed experiment
• Statement of support from applicant’s academic advisor with a broad overview of plans for future neutron experiments

Deadline:

Application materials should be sent to

Dr. Craig Brown, Director, CHRNS
NIST Center for Neutron Research
100 Bureau Drive, STOP 6102
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-6102
Tel: (301) 975-5134
Email: dan.neumann [at] nist.gov (craig[dot]brown[at]nist[dot]gov)

A strong preference will be given to applications received before March 15, 2026;  however, applications will be considered on a rolling basis after this deadline. Travel grants of varying amounts will be awarded until the available CHRNS funding for this effort is depleted.

Decision Process:

Awards for the travel grant will be selected by the CHRNS Director, CHRNS Associate Director, and other internal NCNR staff based upon the following criteria:

• Applicant qualifications
• Potential impact of beamtime on the applicant’s research project
• Willingness of applicant to educate other potential student/post-doc group members during future experiments
• Feasibility of experiment in consideration of reactor operation, CHRNS instrument, and sample environment constraints

Upon receipt of a travel award, recipients should:

1. Set up a user account via the NCNR IMS system and take the online component of Health Physics training.
2. Begin coordination of travel arrangements with the NCNR User Office at least one month in advance of the dates of the experiment. Travel arrangements must be made in accordance with NIST's travel policies and procedures. The main requirements are:
   1. The cost of transportation to and from the NCNR will be paid by NIST, and arrangements must be made in advance through NIST's travel office.
   2. All local expenses will be reimbursed, usually within 30 days, pending the completion of a signed travel voucher, including all necessary receipts.
   3. NIST can only accept REAL ID-compliant state driver’s licenses or other forms of federally issued identification in lieu of a state-issued driver's license: Details here.

CHRNS Support and Publication Acknowledgement:

Support for this program is provided by the National Science Foundation through the NIST/NSF Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering (CHRNS) under Agreement No. DMR-2010792.

All publications that include research facilitated by travel grants awarded through this program should include the following acknowledgement:

Access to {list CHRNS instrument name} and travel support for {student names} was provided by the Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering, a partnership between the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation under Agreement No. DMR-2010792.