Research Hub
ANSTO's research capabilities, led by the OPAL nuclear research reactor and associated instruments provide access to users investigating areas as diverse as materials, life sciences, climate change and mining/engineering.
Success Rates
As of March 2013 there have been 11 proposal rounds at OPAL. On average, between 43% and 76% of regular proposals get beam time, and ~20% of program proposals have received time in the last eight rounds. Regarding beam days allocated, we have been able to award between 39% and 66% of the number of days requested, on average.
The detailed success rates, in terms of number of proposals and number of days, are listed in the tables below as a function of instrument and proposal round. Once an instrument is running well, we typically award between 80 and 100 beam days to the general user program in each 6-month proposal round. Rounds 9 and 10 were shorter due to the OPAL long shutdown (5th November - 16 December 2012) and the overlapping Neutron Guide Hall shutdown (November 2012 - March 2013 inclusive).
Proposal success rate (as a proportion of proposals submitted)
| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| May 2007 | Nov 2008 | May 2009 | Nov 2009 | May 2010 | Nov 2010 | May 2011 | Sept 2011 | Mar 2012 | Sept 2012 | Mar 2013 | |
| ECHIDNA | 63% | 84% | 88% | 76% | 86% | 61% | 73% | 57% | 47% | 38% | 60% |
| WOMBAT | 68% | 80% | 77% | 54% | 70% | 69% | 57% | 74% | 40% | 40% | 65% |
| KOALA | - | 83% | 91% | 84% | 85% | 67% | 71% | 69% | 79% | 57% | 88% |
| KOWARI | - | 64% | 100% | 63% | 82% | 100% | 46% | 67% | 52% | 56% | 55% |
| - | 41% | 81% | with- drawn | 47% | 19% | with- drawn | 26% | 0%* | with- drawn | with- drawn | |
| QUOKKA | - | - | 27% | 59% | 61% | 24% | with- drawn | with- drawn | 0%* | with- drawn | with- drawn |
| TAIPAN | - | - | 100% | 64% | 50% | 57% | 43% | 50% | 56% | 47% | 41% |
| Programs | - | - | 15% | 33% | 29% | 33% | 0% | 33% | 20% | 0% | 50% |
| Bio-Deut'n | - | - | - | - | - | 33% | 57% | 33% | 40% | 100% | 100% |
| Chemical-Deut'n | - | - | - | - | - | 50% | 63% | 25% | 40% | 100% | 67% |
Proposal success rate (as a proportion of beam days requested)
| Round | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| Nov 2008 | May 2009 | Nov 2009 | May 2010 | Nov 2010 | May 2011 | Sept 2011 | Mar 2012 | Sept 2012 | Mar 2013 | |
| ECHIDNA | 72% | 90% | 76% | 68% | 59% | 56% | 62% | 38% | 28% | 59% |
| WOMBAT | 61% | 73% | 45% | 59% | 55% | 41% | 62% | 37% | 28% | 46% |
| KOALA | 68% | 90% | 88% | 78% | 58% | 48% | 54% | 53% | 57% | 90% |
| KOWARI | 33% | 72% | 67% | 53% | 103% | 43% | 59% | 43% | 39% | 55% |
| PLATYPUS | 30% | 78% | with- drawn | 40% | 24% | with- drawn | 32% | 0%* | with- drawn | with- drawn |
| QUOKKA | - | 24% | 62% | 53% | 17% | with- drawn | with- drawn | 0%* | with-drawn | with-drawn |
| TAIPAN | - | 100% | 77% | 62% | 75% | 32% | 46% | 55% | 39% | 36% |
* due to non-operation of OPAL's cold neutron source, since 8th March 2012