Office of Science
FAQ

User Access

User Survey Summary

Past Surveys

EMSL Survey Results [.jpg, 195kb]

EMSL is committed to continually improving the users' experience. Although change cannot always be implemented overnight, we rely strongly on the input received from our user community and encourage you to continue providing feedback to our technical staff, our User Support Office, and through the bi-annual survey. Users can also provide comments and feedback to the User Advisory Committee and should feel free to contact anyone on the committee at any time.

Currently, user surveys are administered biannually and are sent only to those individuals who have accessed our resources during the prior six months. The results of the most recent survey are posted here with management responses to concerns or issues identified by our user community.

April 2009 Survey

Surveys Submitted Between April 11, 2009, and June 30, 2009.

Survey Satisfaction: 93.1 %

Survey Responses: 248

Surveys Sent: 521

Survey Response Rate: 47.6%

1. How satisfied were you with the availability of facilities and equipment?

2. How satisfied were you with performance of facilities and equipment (e.g., were they maintained to specifications for your intended use, ready when scheduled, etc.)?

3. List additional capabilities that you think EMSL should have.

User comments to this and other survey questions are below.

4. With the new knowledge gained at EMSL, I expect to (check all that apply):

5. How satisfied were you with the assistance provided by the EMSL technical staff?

6. How satisfied were you with the assistance provided by the EMSL administrative staff?

7. How appropriate and user friendly were the training and safety procedures?

8. How satisfied were you with the proposal process (e.g. submission & review)?

9. How did you learn about EMSL?

10. Is there anything that would have improved your visit to EMSL, your experience using EMSL resources, or your interactions with EMSL staff?

Although not all comments are shown, below is a representative sampling of the positive user comments received.

EMSL's Response

We agree that both our EMSL staff and our PNNL scientific consultants are truly the stars of our facility!

User Concerns and Suggestions

Comments in which users expressed concerns or suggestions for improvement have been compiled into several topical areas. Representative comments are provided below, along with EMSL's response.

User Comments

Oversubscribed Instrumentation or Staffing

  • A little easier access/support on the weekends. As most trips offer only a limited amount of time, it is often necessary to work through the weekend.
  • Better availability of FIB facility.
  • Long queue time on supercomputers.
  • ...some of the most sensitive and needed mass specs are overbooked and it sometimes takes a long time before ones samples are processed. This is due to capacity, not management.
  • I have been noticing a worrying trend that EMSL staff are getting busier and busier. Their time appears to be spread very thin.
  • Due to time over-commitment, there are sometimes issues with data release to the user.

EMSL's Response

As mentioned in response to the October 2008 survey, EMSL has increased the rigor of the review process to ensure that we are providing the most resources possible to the proposals that will have the greatest scientific impact. In addition, EMSL has embarked on an aggressive staffing plan this year to help with the overburdening of our staff. New hires will bring expertise in the areas of XRD, microscopy, EPR, NMR, microfluidics, microfabrication, spectroscopy, systems biology, and mass spectrometry. Queue times on Chinook are much shorter than on our previous supercomputer MPP2.

User Comments

Training

  • Cybersecurity training and related computer "lockdowns" prevented us from productively using the facility in Dec. 2008.
  • The required training was not appropriate for the experiment. This is because the training is not specific to the experiment but rather generally applicable for the site. If modification to the training - i.e. application of a refined module system that apply to individual areas and/or experiments the whole process would be much easier. For example - I did not need training in data security, especially wrt travelling with PNNL data!
  • Better documentation on how to install new software.
  • It would be nice to have some facility training courses for postdoc and grad students regularly.
  • The safety training was excellent, however it was quite intensive.
  • A lot of the training is for staff, not visiting personnel. The training is very time consuming and some is redundant.

EMSL's Response

We continue to work on revising our training for users, which will roll out in the next fiscal year. In addition, EMSL is in the process of identifying instrument-specific training that can be made available to users online. We are also working with our User Advisory Committee to develop summer workshops and tutorials that will provide in-depth understanding of instrument operation and applications, as well as integration of multiple techniques with theory and simulation.

User Comments

Transparent Processes and Communication

  • I am a foreign national (H1B visa) and was a remote user of EMSL computer facility. It took almost 6 month after the official start date of the project to get my paperwork finally processed. The project duration was 1 year. So for the first 6 month out of 12 I was not able to use the EMSL facility and had to rely on facilities outside of PNNL (which are somewhat less powerful). In fact those first six month was the time I needed a powerful facility the most. I can also mention that I already used EMSL computer facilities prior to this project. Thus it was not the first time I had an account there. I do not know whether this is a usual situation with foreigners who use the Department of Energy facilities, but it would be nice to have the paperwork processed a bit faster.
  • Reviewer comments would be useful if there was a way to make them available anonymously.
  • Had much trouble with web site AND there also should be a way to extend an existing proposal if there is, I could not find it.
  • As a PNNL staff member, I would prefer that there was easier access to the EMSL facility.

EMSL's Response

As a national scientific user facility, access to EMSL is granted via the proposal process, with approval given to high-impact research based on review criteria that was established with the Office of Biological and Environmental Research. Operational metrics are reported to the Office of Science to demonstrate the use of our resources and the impact of the science being supported. This process is applied to all users regardless of their affiliation.

Access to EMSL resources is also governed by existing policies and procedures within the Department of Energy and the Department of Commerce. Regardless of past interactions with EMSL or PNNL, users who are not US citizens are evaluated through a Foreign National Visit Assignment request that routes for review through the Department of Energy. This process can take months—especially for users who need to have remote access to computing resources.

In 2008, the User Portal was rolled out to provide users with a means to track the status of their proposals and report on their progress. Included in the information available on the Portal are the Reviewer comments for General, Science Theme, and Capability/Computationally Intensive Research proposals. Users can click on the proposal link and select "Peer Review" under "Reports". Also, on that same page, users can now more easily resubmit a copy of the proposal. To the right of the "Reports" information is a "Create Copy" box, which allows users to load and modify a previously submitted proposal that is ending. The new proposal will undergo new reviews and consideration for allocation.

User Comments

Operational Delays or Downtime

  • The critical point dryer has not worked properly 3 out of 4 uses.
  • NMR worked well enough but the probe is old and would not spin past 10k which is borderline slow.
  • The PTR-MS instrument is beginning to show some signs of age and wear and could use some refurbishing. There were a number of small problems with the instrument when it arrived. Thankfully, [the EMSL staff] was able to repair them on-site. The instrument was operational, but was not performing at peak capability.

EMSL's Response

Replacement or upgrades of our aging instruments are currently underway with funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and EMSL’s annual operating budget. EMSL selects items for upgrade or replacement based on the Capability Enhancement and Equipment Renovation plan, which was developed with user input several years ago. To ensure we stay current with user needs, we plan to review and update the plan with user input over the next year.

User Comments

Data Retrieval

  • I am satisfied with the mode and manner of interaction with the EMSL staff. I would although like to see a faster method to downloading data (ftp).
  • Very slow slow data transfer outside Chinook.
  • Faster secure file transfer utilities such as BBCP or gridftp to retrieve large files to local clusters.
  • Retrieving data was cumbersome. We had access to computer stations but we could neither transfer data to them or analyze them.

EMSL's Response

EMSL will implement changes allowing faster transfer of large datasets via protocols like BBCP and GridFTP. Additionally, there is work underway to develop a cohesive plan for data management in EMSL that will result in user-friendly methods for retrieving data.

User Comments

Additional Capabilities Requested by the Users

In addition to requests for new or upgraded instruments, users responded with suggestions for additional lab space, improved internet access, and additional software modifications.

  • Easy internet access for users within EMSL
  • EMSL needs a larger Subsurface Flow and Transport Laboratory. The limited lab space makes conducting experiments unnecessarily difficult.
  • Radiological labs to address Hanford contaminants.
  • ECCE needs to support the design of inputs for NWChem’s QM/MM code. Right now, I cannot use NWChem's QM/MM module because it is too confusing to prepare input files. It would seem to be a small effort to give ECCE the ability to solve this problem.
  • NWChem needs multi-reference capability ASAP, such as DMRG, CASPT2 and MRCC.
  • NWChem needs TDDFT gradients and third-order properties (hyperpolarizabilities).
  • I am not sure if it already exists but a list (internet) of available [computational] programs would be great (+ some explanation how to use it).

EMSL's Response

As indicated in our October 2008 survey response, EMSL is working with PNNL cybersecurity staff to implement solutions to the connectivity issues our users are experiencing, especially with internet access to their home institutions. We hope to resolve these issues by August 2009.

EMSL continues to follow its Capability Enhancement and Equipment Renovation plan for additional capital that we receive as part of our annual funding. Major items planned for acquisition or development in FY2010 include:

  • An Advanced Oxygen Plasma Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy (OPA-MBE) system for the growth of a wide variety of oxide materials
  • A high spatial resolution secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS) for high spatial resolution trace element and isotopic analysis of ultra-fine features
  • A next-generation, high-field magnetic field mass spectrometer (HFMS) system, enabling significantly improved chemical and molecular characterization.

EMSL is also working with DOE's Pacific Northwest Site Office to develop an enhanced radiological capability. If approved, the capability would include NMR, SEM, XPS, electron microprobe (EMP) instrumentation, and new radiological laboratory space.

Efforts in ECCE/NWChem include development of ECCE support for the NWChem QM/MM module utilizing the infrastructure developed for the molecular dynamics module. While creation of an input file is a relatively small effort, graphical support for selecting quantum and non-quantum atoms and post run analysis requires considerably more work. TDDFT gradients and higher order properties are currently under development. A new staff member will be joining the NWChem group shortly and will focus on the TDDFT gradients. NWChem currently supports multi-reference capabilities through CI, MCSCF, and through the development of multi-reference coupled cluster methods. Currently, there are no plans to develop CASPT2 methodologies, but external developers are welcomed to contribute and share their development efforts with the NWChem user community.

Software programs available on Chinook are listed on the Molecular Science Computing Software section of the EMSL web site. Click on the links for details on how to run calculations.