About the Program

The Institute for Rock Magnetism (IRM) Visiting Researcher Programs are funded by the NSF and the University of Minnesota and are dedicated to providing state-of-the-art facilities and technical expertise to the scientific community. These are competitive programs with short proposals assessed by IRM scientists and an external Review and Advisory committee.

We invite researchers to submit proposals on any field of study involving fine particle magnetism within the Earth, Environmental, and Planetary sciences. 

Applicants can apply to one of five programs. The application criteria and proposal requirements for each program are described in the dropdown menus below this text. 

There are two application periods each year, with deadlines on April 30th and October 30th. Successful projects submitted for the April deadline can start at anytime from July through December of the same year. Those submitted for the October deadline, can start anytime from January through May of the following year. 

A list of all instrumentation available for visitors at the IRM is given on our Equipment List webpage. Those apply to the Visiting Researcher Program and U.S. Student Researcher programs are encouraged to make use of multiple instruments concurrently during their visits.

Please direct any questions about the programs to Maxwell Brown ([email protected]).

FAQ

When can I apply?

Applications to the Visiting Researcher Programs are accepted April 30th and October 30th. These deadlines are for visits to be scheduled the following July-December and January-June, respectively.

How to Apply?

Please complete the application form and submit your project description on our Apply to the Program webpage.

What instruments can I use?

Please see our list of available instruments on our Equipment List webpage.

Visiting Researcher Programs

Programs

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Visiting Researchers

Overview

Visits can last up to 10 days. Visiting Researchers have access to all IRM instruments, without instrument fees. IRM staff will train and guide visitors throughout their time at the IRM. No previous experience with the instrumentation is necessary to apply.

Costs

Costs up to $750 can be reimbursed towards travel and accommodation. All instrument fees are waived.

How to apply

There are two parts to the application:

  1. Application Form -- requests details about the applicant, the project, instruments, a project abstract, and a project proposal (to be uploaded through the form).
  2. Project Proposal -- up to 3 pages, including project background, goals of the IRM visit, what measurements are planned on the instruments, and how they will benefit the aims of the project. The proposal can include figures and tables. To be submitted as a pdf.

More on applying

 Application form 
 

U.S. Student Visiting Researchers

Overview

This program aims to provide financial and instrumental support for advanced undergraduates and MS students who seek to acquire state-of-the-art rock magnetic and/or paleomagnetic data for an individual research project. Special consideration will be given to students requiring data for the completion of a senior thesis or preliminary data for a proposal to support continued graduate research. Note: more advanced students may wish to apply for a 10-day Research Visit.

Visiting Students may spend up to five days at the IRM and will work with IRM staff to:

  • Design an experiment or set of experiments that will further your research interests.
  • Learn how to operate IRM instrumentation
  • Process and interpret the generated data
  • Identify specific, attainable research goals that can be achieved with future magnetic measurements.   

A learning component is an integral part of the U.S. Student Researcher Program. The format will be flexible and may involve a mini-seminar or group discussion activity with IRM staff and faculty. This will take place shortly after arriving at the IRM and will be focused on a particular aspect of magnetism most suitable to the student's project and educational background. 

This program is meant to help cultivate young researchers with an interest in paleomagnetism and rock magnetism. We anticipate and encourage visiting students to apply for fully fledged research visits after their visiting student program is completed.  

Eligibility

Applicants should be enrolled as full-time students at an accredited U.S. university or college. If feasible, we ask that the student's home institution commit to providing an equal, matching grant to the student, although it is not required for successful application.  

Costs

U.S. Students can be reimbursed up to $500 for travel costs. Instrument usage fees are waived.

How to apply

The U.S. Student Visit application should be jointly prepared by the student and their advisor, and will consist of:

  1. Application Form -- requests details about the applicant, the project, instruments, a project abstract, and a project proposal (to be uploaded through the form).
  2. Project Proposal -- Written by the student. This should be a short 1-page description outlining the research problem to address with magnetic measurements, including a proposed experimental plan. An additional page of supporting figures and tables may also be included.
  3. Letter of Support -- Written by the student's advisor. This letter should endorse the student's proposed research and describe any financial support that will be provided by the student's home institution. Please upload the letter through the application form.

More on applying

 Application form 

U-Channel Visiting Researchers

Overview

For visitors whose purpose is to use the 2G enterprises SQUID magnetometer u-channel (long-core) system. To help you plan your visit, please keep in mind the following:

  • Access diameter is 4.2 cm, which will accommodate a standard u-channel core section up to 1.5 m long, as well as discrete samples.
  • Resolvable measurement sensitivity of the instrument is roughly 1 x 10-9 Am2 (1 x 10-7 emu).
  • In-line treatments:
    • Three axis Alternating field (AF) demagnetization up to 170 mT.
    • Axial acquisition of ARM up to 0.4 mT
  • Off-line treatments:
    • IRM acquisition up to 1.0 T using a 2G Enterprises u-channel pulse magnetizer.
Costs

Instrument fee waivers may be granted if the user can demonstrate that the fee would constitute a financial hardship. Proposals will not be evaluated on the basis of ability to pay. No travel reimbursement is available through this program.

How to apply

There are two parts to the application:

  1. Application Form -- requests details about the applicant, the project, instruments, a project abstract, and a project proposal (to be uploaded through the form).
  2. Project Proposal -- up to 3 pages, including
    1. An overview of the research project;
    2. A brief outline of research goals;
    3. Type and number of samples to be measured (u-channel cores or discrete samples);
    4. Type of measurements to be made;
    5. Estimated number of days required;
    6. Sources of financial support and reasons for requesting a fee waiver (if applicable).

Please submit proposal as a pdf through the application form.

More on applying

 Application form 

Magnetic Microscopy Visiting Researchers

Overview

Observations of micromagnetic structures in individual grains or measuring magnetic moments at high spatial resolutions are useful for understanding the origin of natural magnetic memory and its stability over geologic timescales. With the installation of an Asylum Magnetic Force Microscope (MFM) and Quantum Diamond Microscope (QDM) we can offer magnetic microscopy visits. MFM offers spatial resolutions of a few tens of nanometers for (sub)domain imaging over a field of view of ~100 microns. The QDM is a magnetic mapping method and its resolution is not spatial, but in its sensitivity to the fields induced during the measurements. It offers a field of view of 2 mm per image, with limited resolution optical imaging, but with the sensitivity to capture magnetic field data from magnetic particles to the single domain level. 

These visits offer specific access to, and expertise on, using one or other of these instruments. Owing to the time consuming nature of the measurements, the focus of the visit is solely magnetic microscopy on a limited number of samples. Access to other instrumentation at the IRM is limited during these visits. Visits are up to 10 days.

Please contact Maxwell Brown at [email protected] prior to designing and submitting a research project, so we can advise of the feasibility of the research project.

Costs

Costs up to $750 can be reimbursed towards travel and accommodation. All instrument fees are waived.

How to apply

There are two parts to the application:

  1. Application Form -- requests details about the applicant, the project, instruments, a project abstract, and a project proposal (to be uploaded through the form).
  2. Project Proposal -- up to 3 pages, including project background, goals of the IRM visit, what measurements are planned on the instruments, and how they will benefit the aims of the project. The proposal can include figures and tables. To be submitted as a pdf through the application form.

More on applying

 Application form 

Remote Access Measurement Researchers

Overview

To give the magnetic community greater access to IRM instrumentation, this program allows researchers to submit proposals designed around IRM staff conducting a limited amount of measurements on their behalf. The aim of this program is to provide support to researchers with limited resources, limited (or no funding) or an inability to travel. Preference will be given to graduate students coming towards the conclusion of their studies and early career post-docs.

Costs

All instrument fees are waived.

How to apply

There are three parts to the application:

  1. Application Form -- requests details about the applicant, the project, instruments, a project abstract, and a project proposal (to be uploaded through the application form).
  2. Project Proposal -- up to 3 pages, including project background, goals of the IRM visit, what measurements are planned on the instruments, and how they will benefit the aims of the project. The proposal can include figures and tables. To be submitted as a pdf.
  3. A rationale for how the Remote Access program would benefit the applicant's research and help promote their careers should be submitted (to be uploaded through the application form).

More on applying

 Application form 

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