The various types of ATLAS membership are detailed here: https://atlas.cern/Discover/Collaboration/Join
New institutes wishing to join ATLAS must typically demonstrate their ongoing work for at least one year and a promise for future continued work before being accepted as a full member. In most cases, perspective new institutes begin their journey as an Associate institute, which is described in the page above.
To join the ATLAS collaboration as an Associate Institute, the following steps need to be taken:* Identify a US institute for affiliation
Any US institute wishing to join ATLAS must be affiliated with an existing full member US institute, which fully supports the applicant institute's application. This affiliation would be for a period of at least one year or until sufficient commitment and resources have been demonstrated by the applicant institute, and they have satisfied the ATLAS requirements for full membership.
* Seek endorsement by the ATLAS Spokesperson and Collaboration Board Chair
A statement of interest should be sent to the ATLAS spokesperson. The ATLAS spokesperson will reach out to the US ATLAS NCPs and the affiliating institute for letters of support. The US ATLAS NCPs require a similar letter of interest from the interested institute and will seek input and comments from the US IB and community, to determine if they will recommend or not the institute to the ATLAS Spokesperson. The ATLAS Spokesperson and Collaboration Board Chair will also reach out to the Collaboration Board members for comments.
* Seek support from DOE or NSF
New institutes must successfully apply for a funding grant for their research collaboration with ATLAS with either DOE or NSF. They must continue to maintain the agency support throughout the duration of their collaboration with ATLAS. Institutes typically re-apply for grant proposals every 3 to 4 years. If at any time, the institute fails to obtain the support of the agency, they may reapply the following year. If the institute (or PI) fails to obtain the support of the agencies two years in a row, then their collaboration with ATLAS is terminated. New institutes must discuss their interest with the funding agencies. They may be provisionally allowed to join ATLAS to begin their work if they have shown an intent to apply for support during the next cycle. This provisional permission is made permanent on demonstrating a successful grant proposal. Hence it is imperative that new institutes make a strong case to the US ATLAS NCPs showing that they can be successful with their grant proposal as this is one factor in US ATLAS NCP recommending them or not to ATLAS for membership.
* Final Approval
The Spokesperson and CB Chair will assimilate the information from the above steps and take their decision accordingly. The Collaboration Board will be informed of the decision and comments solicited.