The Integrated Initiative of European Laser Research Infrastructures. Laserlab-Europe offers unique research opportunities to scientists and industry from all over Europe and also to scientists from outside Europe.

Access is provided:

• to world-class laser research facilities
• to a large variety of inter-disciplinary research, including life sciences
• free of charge, including travel and accommodation

Access is provided on the basis of scientific excellence of the proposal, reviewed by an external and independent Selection Panel. Priority is given to new users.

A typical access project has a duration of 2 to 4 weeks. Applications for longer visits are highly exceptional.

Access costs: T&S: Eligible:
On average, 3 users max per project during the whole project
a) 500 € max per user per project for travel: actual cost of economy class for air fares, second class for train tickets
b) 100 € of subsistence/day/user 6 days/week (compilation of time sheets is required)
Dedicated forms can be found here: https://lens.unifi.it/amministrazione/regulations/horizon-2020/

Laserlab Remote Access: https://lens.unifi.it/access-facilities/laserlab-rules/

For further information on facilities and opportunities at LENS can you contact Prof. Paolo Foggi (foggi@lens.unifi.it). 

At LENS is located one of the five facilities of the Italian ALM Node of Euro-BioImaging Research Infrastructure. Euro-BioImaging is a landmark research infrastructure for biological and biomedical imaging as recognised by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and became a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) in 2019. Euro-BioImaging offers open access to imaging technologies, training and data services in biological and biomedical imaging within his network of imaging facilities, called Nodes, that have opened their doors to all life science researchers. 

You have to submit your proposal selecting through the offered technologies. The Node ALM @LENS in Florence offers facilities for Non-linear microscopy and functional imaging. Access can be provided free of charge, depending on your project. Travel and accommodation costs are in charge at the user (you can check for possible funding opportunities at this link https://www.eurobioimaging.eu/about-us/funding-user-access )

This EBRAINS web platform is the entry point for neuroscientists and researchers to discover EBRAINS services. The services were developed by and are powered by the EU-funded Human Brain Project (HBP).

EBRAINS will be supplemented by a European network of neuroscientific Facility Hubs. They will provide access to cutting-edge neuroscientific facilities for the scientific community.

Facility hubs rely on in-kind contribution of the respective local centres and are one option for providing national contributions to get EBRAINS on the ESFRI roadmap.

LENS is a partner of the HBP and can offer Light Sheet Microscopy Facilities. In particular, a service for acquiring and process neuro-anatomical and functional imaging has been put in place within the HBP. The formal definition to benefit from this service at LENS is in progress and the service should become formally operational in 2021.

LASERS4EU: ACCESS RULES

LENS is part of LASERS4EU access program. Potential users can apply through the portal at the link https://lasers4.eu

by submitting a research project to access one of the techniques available at LENS.

The list of available techniques can be found here:

https://lasers4.eu/about/partners/lens/

Access projects should be no longer than two weeks, for no more than two users for the same project. The access cost for users will be covered by LASERS4EU, together with a partial reimbursement for travel and substances (400 € max per user per project for travel, 100 € of subsistence/day/user 6 days/week).

Who can apply for access at LENS?

https://lasers4.eu/become-a-user/criteria-of-eligibility/

Access routes:

https://lasers4.eu/become-a-user/how-to-access/

1) Single-instrument

For users interested in transnational access and looking for a suitable laboratory for their access project, from fundamental science to validating a practical application.

2) Multi-instrument

For users who need access to as many installations as required in different facilities, over several years if necessary. Requires only a single proposal for the whole duration.

3) Industry

Allows companies to access the most recent techniques and methods in research laboratories and to benefit from the services of the partner facilities of Lasers4EU.

Other opportunities (for LENS staff):

Short-term R&D projects

https://lasers4.eu/activities/rd-projects/

Joint experiments

https://lasers4.eu/activities/joint-experiments/

If you publish the research coming from either funded access projects or staff research projects, it is mandatory to follow the following acknowledgements instructions:

“Co-funded by the European Union under HEU-GA 101131771 Lasers4EU. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. The European Union cannot be held responsible for them.”

please add the ID of any access project between () after the GA reference

RIANA: ACCESS RULES

LENS is part of RIANA a research infrastructure dedicated to NANOSCIENCE and NANOTECHNOLOGY. Potential users can apply through the portal at the link

https://riana-project.eu

Users are encouraged to submit a pre-proposal to get personalized support in preparing the full proposal. Applications are open all year around.

The portfolio of accessible instrumentation and techniques is available in the RIANA Catalogue of Techniques, which can be found here:

https://riana-project.eu/catalogue-of-techniques/

EU funding will be allocated to travel and subsistence support to user groups who fit the eligibility criteria. A maximum of two researchers per experiment/visit are entitled to up to a maximum of 600 EUR reimbursement each, based on a calculated reimbursement of:

• Up to 300 EUR per user for travel costs

• Up to 50 EUR per night and per user for accommodation up to a maximum of 6 nights

Applicants can be from Academia or SME

The General User Access requires that at least two infrastructures are selected. 

TransNational Access is provided in two types:

• Physical access with users visiting the infrastructure in person, receiving the service “hands-on”

• Remote access that may include, e.g., the analysis of mail-in samples, remote access to a high-performance computing infrastructure, without users physically visiting the infrastructure.

Users are obliged to acknowledge support from RIANA by the following text string that needs to be included in the publication:

“Funded by the European Union as part of the Horizon Europe call HORIZON-INFRA-2023-SERV-01 under grant agreement number 101130652. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union and the European Union cannot be held responsible for them.“

Open access publication should strongly be favoured. In addition, it is encouraged to also acknowledge the infrastructures and local support staff.