NSRRC Activity Report 2022

Facts and Figures 111 From 1994 to 2022, the total number of beamlines opened to general users has increased from 3 to 38, comprising 22 TLS beamlines, 2 Taiwanese beamlines at SPring-8, and 14 newly opened TPS beamlines (see Beamline Status on page 115). During year 2022, user statistics were still partially affected by the global health crisis, COVID-19 pandemic. The User Administration & Promotion Office (UAO) issued 980 new user cards, and provided services to 2,579 users coming from 115 affiliations (including 120 users from 63 foreign institutions) to use the above 38 NSRRC beamlines. Altogether, 635 proposals led by 396 principal investigators were performed, involving 1,287 experiment runs and 11,981 user runs (visits). The overall NSRRC beamtime (including SP 44XU*) allocated to users, excluding beamline maintenance and training courses, was 4,792 shifts for TPS, 11,796 for TLS, and 693 for SPring-8 (including 15 shifts for SP 44XU). Each shift consists of 8 consecutive hours. Most beamtime schedules of Taiwan-contract beamlines at SPring-8 and the neutron program were conducted with mail- in or remote experiments before October 2022 due to border controls imposed by Taiwan and many nations to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In year 2022, the UAO processed 34 subventions for SPring-8. Another 14 subventions (including 5 for mail-in samples), funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, were given to Taiwan neutron users to conduct experiments at neutron facilities worldwide. In total, 191 master’s theses and 33 doctoral dissertations utilizing NSRRC facilities were completed in 2022 (see Appendix). Operational data on beamlines/experimental stations and users are summarized in the following figures. *Note: Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University (IPR-Osaka) and NSRRC have established a long-term collaboration in protein structural research aiming to combine the expertise of both sides and to access each other’s facilities when needs arise. IPR-Osaka offers beamtime of its contract beamline SP 44XU at SPring-8 to Taiwanese users selected by NSRRC to study large macromolecular assemblies and membrane proteins. Number of users 2003 - 2021 716 829 1,012 1,384 1,623 1,683 1,994 2,230 2,266 2,201 2,036 2,120 2,199 2,360 2,305 2,328 2,432 2,254 2,197 2,579 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2022 Year Number of Users Number of users 2003 – 2022 User Statistics