Registration of Experiment Team (A-form) and Personal Arrival Form (PAF)

Registration of Experiment Team (A-form)

The A-form is the electronic form used for registering the experiment team and confirming samples and substances to be used in the experiment.

Once the Beamtime is confirmed with the Beamtime Confirmation Form (BCF), the proposal is exported to the Metadata catalogue (myMdC) and the A-form is available for submission in UPEX. The Main Proposer by default has the group coordinator role for the experiment and is responsible for submitting the A-form not later than 5 weeks before the start of the experiment.

The link to the A-form is available to the Main Proposer on the dashboard in the User Portal to the European XFEL (UPEX).

The A-form includes the following:

  1. Registration of the experiment team by:
    • Listing on-site and remote users with their experiment tasks.
    • Appointing funded users. Detailed information on eligibility criteria and travel funding under user travel regulations.
    • Selecting the group and sample coordinator
  2. Confirmation of samples and substances to be used during the experiment (selected among the samples/substances included in the original proposal). Please refer to our Policy for samples and substances and Sample Risk Assessment and Sample Operation Instructions for detailed information.

Only users registered in UPEX can be added to the A-form. The Main Proposer is responsible to ensure that all members of the experiment team create their accounts in UPEX and accept the latest UPEX user policies, terms, and conditions in a timely manner.

A maximum of 15 on-site participants (excluding EuXFEL staff) per user experiment is recommended. This limit is based on space constraints in the experimental areas (hutches, labs, etc.) as well as safety and occupancy regulations. A-forms with more than 15 participants on-site, require prior approval from the Local Contact and Instrument Scientist to ensure feasibility and safety. The User Office will take care of the approval procedure for each submitted A-form. Once the A-form is approved, the Main Proposer and the experiment team will be notified and receive further information. The approved A-form (experiment team and samples) will be exported to myMdC.

In the “UPEX: Experiment Proposal and Registration Guide” you can find a complete guide for experiment team registration.

Personal Arrival Form (PAF)

The Personal Arrival Form (PAF) is the electronic form that enables on-site users to request site access and individual support for their arrival and stay at EuXFEL.

After the A-form is approved by the User Office, all on-site users will receive an email with a link to their PAF. Alternatively, the link to the PAF is available to each on-site user on their UPEX dashboard.

The PAF must be submitted at least 10 days before the start of the experiment, otherwise the User Office cannot guarantee that the requested support is provided.

The PAF includes the following sections to be filled out:

  • Site access - All on-site users are asked to state the date of arrival at and departure from EuXFEL. This information is required in order to assign corresponding access rights. Non-funded users can set themselves as remote in this section if their on-site participation is not planned anymore.
  • Travel assistance – This section of the PAF is only available to funded users. After the PAF is submitted, the EuXFEL Travel office will contact all funded users by email to confirm arrangements before booking.
  • Accommodation – this section of the PAF is different for funded and non-funded users:
    • Non-funded users can request a reservation in the on-site Guest House by filling out this section of the PAF. The requests are accommodated based on availability.
    • For funded users, normally the User Office makes reservations and strives to accommodate them at the on-site Guest House. Booking confirmations are sent by email, usually following travel arrangements completion.
  • Invitation letters for visa purposes – If requested in this section, the User Office will provide official invitations for the experiment as support documentation for a German visa application. In case the letter is needed sooner than the A-form is submitted, it can be requested via email to the User Office by the Main Proposer.
  • Further information - For any other comments related to the visit