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Thesis Support at CTIO: Rules & Regulations (1Sep94) (from CTIO, NOAO Newsletter No. 39, 1 September 1994) As mentioned in the previous Newsletter, the CTIO policy on providing travel support for graduate student thesis observations has been modified. Specifically, CTIO will provide "full" travel support (discount air fare to Chile plus accommodation and travel assistance within Chile) for qualifying student observers who observe either alone or accompanied by their thesis advisor. This represents a modification of the previous policy, where support was provided only to unaccompanied observers. The nature of the support itself has not been changed. Support is restricted to one run per semester. To qualify for the support, the student must be from a US institution, should be the principal investigator on the telescope time proposal (exceptions should be clearly justified), and should identify the observations on the proposal as thesis observations. Only time awarded by the TAC qualifies for support; DD time normally does not. In addition, the student's advisor must provide a letter at the time the proposal is submitted which contains at least the following (see the proposal instructions): o The student's observing experience. o The student's academic standing (e.g. is this an accepted thesis?). o The relationship of the proposal to the overall thesis plans: what other telescopes are being used, how much more CTIO time is likely to be needed, any other information that may be helpful to the TAC. If we receive a proposal which appears to be a thesis, but which is missing some of the required information, we will contact the PI in an attempt to obtain the missing letter or information (as we already do). However, it is ultimately the proposer's responsibility to provide the required letter, and incomplete proposals will not be treated as qualifying theses. Please also note that, continuing past practice, only programs identified as thesis work at the time of submission can qualify. Malcolm Smith, Jay Elias
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