Become a User

Who Can Apply 

NSF NeXUS welcomes research proposals from scientists worldwide, regardless of location. All proposals require a designated Team Lead who serves as the primary project manager and point of contact.

Team Lead Responsibilities

 As Team Lead, you will:

• oversee the planning, preparation, and administration of the project
• ensure all resources committed to in the proposal are provided to support the project
• collaborate with NSF NeXUS staff on project execution, risk management, and problem resolution
• Submit project outcome reports to NSF NeXUS

Research and Data Sharing

While NSF NeXUS primarily supports fundamental research intended for public dissemination through academic publications, we also accommodate proprietary and commercial research projects.

If you plan to collect proprietary or commercial data, please note:

• your Team Lead must notify NSF NeXUS before submitting the proposal
• usage fees may apply for non-fundamental research projects

External Scientific Review & Selection

Leading experts in the field conduct an independent evaluation of all submitted proposals. They assess each submission based on four key criteria:

• technical merit
• otential for broad scientific impact  
• practical feasibility
• comprehensive safety considerations

For specific funding calls, NSF NeXUS may introduce additional evaluation criteria, which will be clearly outlined in each call announcement.

Allocation of system time prioritizes proposals that receive the strongest external reviews, while also considering optimal resource utilization to maximize NSF NeXUS's scientific and societal impact.

Once scheduling is finalized, we publish a list of selected experiments that includes each Team Lead and project title.

The NeXUS User Handbook provides information, policies, and procedures relevant to NSF NeXUS Users. All Users must agree to abide by this handbook to use the NSF NeXUS Facility. Key points for users to be aware of:

User Rights

• NSF NeXUS facility time and support are awarded at no cost for users collecting data for fundamental research with an intent to publish.
• Any Research Data collected during a User Experiment are the property of the Users conducting the experiment.

User Responsibilities

• By using the NSF NeXUS facility or equipment, each User agrees to use them in a safe and responsible manner as specified by NSF NeXUSStaff, NSF NeXUS policies, and The Ohio State University policies. ​
• Any publication or presentation that results from a NSF NeXUS User experiment shall acknowledge the use of the NSF NeXUS Facility. ​
• NSF NeXUS researchers who have contributed significantly to experiment design, data acquisition, and/or interpretation of the data should be invited to be co-authors on publications. Users and Staff should discuss authorship as early as possible during the experiment planning to avoid later conflicts. 

NSF NeXUS Rights

• NSF NeXUS Staff have sole responsibility and discretion for permitting and scheduling usage of NSF NeXUS facilities and equipment.​
• The primary basis for awarding facility time is the external review of user proposals.

NSF NeXUS Responsibilities

• NSF NeXUS Staff will work to ensure that the NSF NeXUS Facility is operated safely, responsibly, and effectively so that Users can complete their planned experiments. ​
• A NSF NeXUS “link scientist” will work with each Team Lead to coordinate the planning and execution of their experiment.