Guidelines for Obtaining Facility Access/
Equipment Use Time at Oak Ridge National Labs

A number of user facilities are available at the Oak Ridge National Labs (ORNL) and other national labs for use by university and industry researchers. Available facilities at ORNL include:

• Bioprocessing Research Facility
• Buildings Technology Center
• Californium User Facility for Neutron Science
• Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences
• Cooling, Heating and Power Integration Laboratory
• Fuels, Engines, and Emissions Research Center
• HFIR Center for Neutron Scattering
• High Flux Isotope Reactor
• High Temperature Materials Laboratory
• Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility
• Metals-Processing Laboratory Users Facility
• Mouse Genetics Research Facility
• National Center for Computational Sciences
• National Transportation Research Center
• Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator
• Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Facility
• Shared Research Equipment User Facility
• Spallation Neutron Source

These facilities provide a means for collaborative scientific interactions and include cores of expensive and unique equipment useful in a variety of research applications. Different facilities accept either solicited or unsolicited proposals and may require that contact first be made with an individual at the facility. Contact information is available on the individual facility web links. Once you submit a proposal, it will be reviewed and approval considered based on scientific merit, suitability of ORNL facilities for the proposed project, selection of an Oak Ridge collaborator, and appropriateness of the work to Department of Energy (DOE) objectives. A badge application is generally also required.

Additional steps involve completion of appendices (A and B) to a user agreement (UA-91-085) currently in place between TTU and UT-Battelle (the company that manages and operates ORNL for DOE). Appendix A specifies the facility and equipment to be used along with the purpose and duration of use while Appendix B is an “Agreement Covering Obligations and Responsibilities of Participants” who will be using the facility. Appendix A will typically be sent to the Office of Research for approval by the Associate VP for Research and Graduate Studies. A copy of the signed document will be faxed to the appropriate Facilities Manager at ORNL who will also sign and return a copy. Appendix B will be completed upon arrival at ORNL by each visiting researcher who will be using the facilities. Once these forms are completed, the researcher and ORNL collaborator can schedule a time for facility use.

Note that these are just guidelines, and specific details of the process may be different for access to the various user facilities. For questions, contact TTU Office of Research staff at research@tntech.edu. Additional information is available at:
http://www.ornl.gov/adm/tted/technology_comm/collaborations/user_facilities.shtml

Office of Research
Tennessee Tech University
P.O. Box 5036
Cookeville, TN 38505
Phone: (931) 372-3374 Fax: (931) 372-6374
Questions or Comment, please e-mail: Research@tntech.edu