User Program
What is EMSL?
The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) is a national user facility providing you—the global scientific community—with shared resources to advance biological and environmental research at the molecular level.
Access 150+ instruments, specialized workflows, and supporting data analysis pipelines to solve high-impact scientific problems.
Our specialized resources enable the following:
- identifying and measuring molecules in environmental and biological systems from soils to plants to aerosols
- determining the structure and function of proteins and protein complexes
- studying the behavior of cells and communities of cells
- characterizing the molecular composition and microstructure of soils
- developing a predictive understanding of biological and environmental systems through advanced data analytics, visualization, and computational modeling and simulation
Our capabilities are organized into eight Integrated Research Platforms (IRPs), which are our expertise within EMSL's three science areas. They include the following:
Cell Signaling and Communication IRP
Terrestrial-Atmospheric Processes IRP
Biogeochemical Transformations IRP
EMSL science aligns with research priorities designated by our sponsor, the Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research program. Find examples of EMSL user projects on Science Central.
Conduct research at EMSL
Submit a proposal to an open call to use EMSL resources at no cost.
Researchers, including graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, from any institution are eligible to apply. You do not need to be a U.S. citizen.
Calls open regularly and are posted on our proposals webpage.
| Proposal Call Type | Project Length | Review Frequency | Submissions Open |
| Molecular Observation Network (MONet) | 12 months | Quarterly | Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter |
| Facilities Integrating Collaborations for User Science (FICUS) Program | 24 months | Annually | January |
| Large-Scale Research | 24 months | Annually | January |
| Exploratory Research | 9 months | Annually | June |
| Limited Scope | 3 months | Rolling | October |
Limited access, for a fee, may be available through Contracted Time or Proprietary proposals.
If you’re selected through a competitive review process, you will have access to and the use of instruments throughout your project. Our staff scientists will work alongside you to support your research. Awarded projects vary in length from 3 months up to 24 months.
Write a successful proposal
Develop a research plan that uses EMSL’s instruments and resources.
Browse the list of EMSL instruments and resources to help identify those that best support your research goals.
Reach out to EMSL’s IRP leaders aligned with your science topic to ask questions about which instruments are appropriate for your research. EMSL’s IRP leaders have deep technical expertise and broad knowledge of our resources and strive to help you find the optimal set of instruments or other resources that maximize the potential impact of your research.
The IRP leaders include the following:
Functional and Systems Biology
Mary Lipton, Biomolecular Pathways IRP
Alex Beliaev, Cell Signaling and Communication IRP
Scott Lea, Structural Biology IRP
Environmental Transformations and Interactions
Swarup China, Terrestrial-Atmospheric Processes IRP
Emily Graham, Biogeochemical Transformations IRP
Amir Ahkami, Rhizosphere Function IRP
Computing, Analytics, and Modeling
Kelly Stratton, Data Transformations IRP
Satish Karra, Systems Modeling IRP
Read call topics, guidance, and criteria used to evaluate proposals.
Call topics for each proposal type vary year-to-year. Check our proposal announcements for details on open calls, including submission steps and guidance for letters of intent and full proposals. Example proposals and templates are available on the guidance webpages.
Review criteria may vary from call to call and year to year but generally include three main criteria:
Criterion 1: Scientific merit, including scientific impact, and quality of the proposed research (50%)
Criterion 2: Relevance of the proposed research to the missions of EMSL and the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program (25%)
Criterion 3: Appropriateness and reasonableness of the request for EMSL resources for the proposed research (25%)
View a detailed scoring rubric.
For general questions about proposal calls and proposal requirements, contact the EMSL User Program Services by phone or email.