Project proposal

The Afar repository is stored at the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Pisa, where it can be accessed by scientists upon request. Analyses of rock samples can be carried in the Pisa laboratories or abroad only upon approval of a project proposal by the board committee.

The project proposal defining the aim and proposed analyses should be sent to Carolina Pagli (Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.). All proposals will be assessed by the board committee. Successful proposals will be granted access to the samples after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), listing the proposed analyses, is agreed. The Afar repository project does not contribute financial support to the accepted proposals. Use of the Afar repository samples is granted solely for research purposes. Therefore applications that do not pursue research, such as those aimed at mining, mapping or exploration, will not be considered.

The proposal should be a maximum of two pages including figures and references. The proposal should contain the title, motivation and aims of the research for which the rocks are requested as well as the time-frame of the project. An additional document with the CV of the applicant and its most relevant publications should also be provided.

The project proposal should contain all planned analyses, types of laboratories and machines, and quantities of requested rock. If the persons doing the analyses are different from the applicant then the names should also be specified. Furthermore, the financial means required to carry out he analyses and shipping of samples should be available to the applicant and the source of funding should be specified in the proposal.

The proposal should state if researchers at the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Pisa are (or will be) involved in the project and if the local laboratories will be used. Whenever local labs are available we invite applicants to use them, however, samples will be shipped to labs elsewhere. Applicants of succesfull proproals are welcome to Pisa to collect the rocks. Else a flat rate of 6€/sample will be applied for  sourcing the items. All shipping will be covered by the applicant.

The proposal should list the international publications expected to arise from the analyses done on the Afar repository samples.

Proposal evaluation and obligations of the applicant

The project proposal will be assessed according to the following criteria: 1) scientific impact of the research, 2) proved abilities of the applicant and the team to carry out the project in the time frame proposed, 3) proved abilities to publish research results in nternational journals.

Due to limited quantities of rocks and their uniqueness, it is important to minimize competing research efforts. Therefore, project proposals that pursue research aims analogous to other already accepted proposals will be rejected. Before submitting a proposal we suggest the applicant consult the Our Projects page.

We stress that, after approval of a project, results of all the analyses carried out on the samples must be sent to the board committee. These results will be embargoed for a period no longer than 24 months, starting from the date of acceptance of the proposal. After this time all analyses results will be made publicly available on the Afar Repository webpage.

All residual sample materials should be returned to the Afar Repository.