Frequently Asked Questions

Where does the funding come from?

The NMI3 project is supported by the European Commission through the 7th Framework Programme and it is part of the Research Infrastructures action of the Capacities Programme.

What is the funding for?

The funding provides free access to neutron scattering and muon spectroscopy facilities, as well as support for travel and subsistence expenses for one young scientist per experiment. It is also possible to obtain funding to send samples and subsequently receive the data without a visit to the facility.

Who is eligible?

To be eligible to benefit from the Access to a European facility under the NMI3 action, both the user group leader and the majority of the user group members must be affiliated to an institution located in a Member State (except the country of the chosen facility) or in an Associated State. (Note: the affiliation of the researchers is decisive – and not their nationality). Applicants must complete the proposal form of the chosen facility carefully with names, nationalities and home institutions of the researchers expected to take part in the experiment: this information is vital for the eligibility check.

Which countries are EU Member/Associated Countries as of 2013?
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • United Kingdom

For more information please refer to this list.

The Associated Countries are:

  • Albania
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Croatia
  • FYR Macedonia
  • Faroe Islands
  • Iceland
  • Israel
  • Liechtenstein
  • Moldova
  • Montenegro
  • Norway
  • Serbia
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey

If you have doubts about the status of the country you work in, please refer to this page.

Who evaluates the proposals & on which criteria?

The proposals eligible for EU funding will be evaluated by the Facility Scientific Panel.

The Panel assesses the scientific merit of all proposals and decides on priorities and experiment time allocation.

Priority is given to young scientists, new neutron & muon users and projects from countries where no neutron or muon facilities exist.

What is the counterpart?

After their experiment, funded users must provide a short experimental report, using the report form of the facility, where they summarise the objectives, the achievements and difficulties of the experiment.

Funded users are also required to complete a questionnaire directly on the EU database after their experiments.

How do I acknowledge NMI3 in my publications?

The user group is required to publish all results of the EU NMI3 supported experiments. (Exception can be made for first time users from small and medium enterprises)

Support by NMI3 must be acknowledged in all papers or conference proceedings published as a result of the work. The following paragraph should be included in the acknowledgments section:

“This research project has been supported by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme through the 'Research Infrastructures' action of the 'Capacities' Programme, NMI3-II Grant number 283883”

What happens to personal data?

Users are required to provide some personal data, which will be recorded and used for the purposes indicated below:

The data will be processed for funding, statistical and administrative purposes connected with their research, and to statistically analyse the membership of the neutron scattering community.

The data are collected by the NMI3 project manager on behalf of the European Commission, and therefore may be accessed by the NMI3 project coordinators and the European Commission for official use only, and will remain confidential.

The personal data will be kept safe and secure and will not be shared with other organisations without the knowledge of the users, unless this is required by law.

If an e-mail address is requested by the EC, this is solely for the purpose of conducting a mid-term review if necessary, and it will not be divulged to any third party, or used for marketing purposes.

Does NMI3 help me to promote my results?

We're glad to do so! If you would like to disseminate your results once your paper is published, please contact us at and we will prepare an article about to promote it!