GEF Terms and Conditions

  1. The Facility reserves the right to withdraw equipment should exceptional circumstances require this.

  2. Borrowers must be able to demonstrate their ability to carry out simple checks, maintenance and minor repairs on the equipment to be loaned. Facility staff can provide training and operators should make the necessary arrangements well in advance of the loan period. Site visits by Facility staff can be arranged subject to the discretion of the Steering Committee and BGS Management.

  3. All borrowers are required to sign a form on which they acknowledge receipt of the equipment in good condition and agree to exercise due care and attention with its transportation, deployment and operation. Borrowers must immediately notify the Facility Manager of any damage or loss occurring to the equipment whilst in their charge and, upon their return, submit a detailed report explaining the circumstances surrounding the loss or damage. In the case of theft, borrowers are to notify the local police and append a copy of their report. If, after consideration of the report by the Steering Committee, the loss or damage was foreseeable and no reasonable action was taken to reduce the risk, or where gross negligence is suspected, future equipment loans may be withheld. The NERC reserves the right to take any appropriate action where gross negligence has led to a major equipment loss. Borrowers are notified of the replacement value of the equipment in their charge. Organisations, other than public-funded bodies, must provide proof of adequate insurance.

  4. Borrowers must advise the Facility Manager at the earliest opportunity should the return of the equipment (in good working order) be in any doubt. Failure to observe this request may result in the borrower having to defray any extra costs that the next user may incur as the result of delay and may also prejudice their next loan. Borrowers are responsible for the collection and return to the Facility of all equipment loaned.

  5. In the case of overseas projects, the borrower is responsible for the correct exportation and re-importation of Facility equipment and peripherals and all charges involved. Costs incurred by the Facility in redressing any failure to satisfy this requirement will be invoiced to the borrower.

  6. Borrowers are required to provide the following reports and papers to the GEF secretary. Electronic submission (PDF or Word format) is required.

    1. Within two weeks of the equipment return, a completed “Project Performance Report”, including an account of breakdowns, losses, repairs and any authorised modifications carried out on the equipment.

    2. Within one year of the loan, a full “Scientific Report” detailing the major highlights or problems of the project. The report should normally be 6 to 8 A4 pages in length (of which no more than 4 page equivalents are text) and should include the following sections:
      • Abstract
      • Background (including list of equipment borrowed from the GEF and field survey site location map with coordinates)
      • Survey procedure (including any recommendations for future borrowers)
      • Data quality (including example data)
      • Processing and modelling
      • Interpretation to date
      • Preliminary findings
      • Conclusions and recommendations
      • A table of instrument deployment details (this does not count towards the page limit)
      • Location of the archived data
      • Publications (including conference presentations). It is important to provide the GEF loan number that each publication refers to.

      Please ensure that diagrams are of a sufficiently high resolution in the electronic version to allow labels etc. to be clearly read. When creating a PDF document, it is important to select the “High Quality Print” option.

      The committee are principally interested to see that the equipment was correctly used and data processed effectively. The Scientific Report should not be delayed because of incomplete scientific conclusions. It will be different from a NERC grant report. The Scientific Report will be published on the GEF website, please inform us if you do not wish your report published.

    3. Within one year of completion of a “minor” loan, a “Reduced Scientific Report” for which a template is provided by the Facility.

    4. When completed, a copy of any final report (e.g. that required by NERC), and copies of any publications arising from the use of NERC GEF equipment and support. These reports and publications must acknowledge the use of NERC GEF equipment and support. Additionally, a paper has been produced (“How to store and share geophysical data”) which borrowers are encouraged to cite to enable tracking of GEF data usage. It will sometimes be appropriate that the Facility’s contribution to the project merit co-authorship by Facility staff in publications. This is especially encouraged where considerable development has taken place in order to support the loan.

      The NERC Geophysical Equipment Facility Steering Committee reserve the right to seek additional information when they consider the content of any report inadequate.

  7. Borrowers are required to archive data collected in the following publicly accessible locations.

    1. In the case of seismic equipment loans, data must be uploaded to the EarthScope (formerly IRIS) data centre within 3 years of completion of the loan.

    2. Other standard loans must offer their data to a suitable NERC Environmental Data Centre within 2 years of completion of the loan.

    3. In the case of “minor” loans, the borrower must indicate in their Reduced Scientific Report where the data are stored and how they may be accessed.

  8. The NERC Geophysical Equipment Facility Steering Committee reserve the right to impose sanctions preventing the loan of further equipment should the borrower fail to submit a satisfactory report or archive data in line with these terms and conditions. These sanctions will initially apply to the borrower, continued failure to comply with these terms and conditions will result in these sanctions being extended to the borrower’s organisational unit.

  9. Approved non-commercial loans are free at the point of delivery. Loans made in support of a NERC grant are required to obtain a quotation from the Facility and be costed into the grant. Commercial loans are accepted subject to the availability of the equipment and conformance with our standard contract terms.

End of Terms and Conditions

Revised December 2024