NOAO > Observing Info > Proposal Form > NOAO Policies
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NOAO > Observing Info > Proposal Form > NOAO Policies |
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Observing time for programs at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory is allocated via peer review twice a year. Observing time is available on the Gemini North and South Telescopes, at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American and Kitt Peak National Observatories. Community-access time on private telescopes has also been available through the NSF TSIP Program.
Procedures and forms for applying for telescope time can be obtained at http://www.noao.edu/noaoprop/noaoprop.html.
Investigators may submit either Standard or Survey proposals for telescope time on facilities available through NOAO.
Standard Proposals: These are traditional proposals for observing time allocated on a semester basis. Standard proposals generally request modest amounts of time, although requests for long runs are also considered. Long term status may be requested as part of a Standard proposal.
Survey Proposals: NOAO makes a substantial amount of time available on all facilities to which it provides access for surveys. Surveys are not merely large-scale projects or projects that aim to study complete samples. A survey is a significant observational program which
Successful programs are expected to be completed in 3 years or less. Data must be processed with a well-tested and well-documented pipeline, must be archived in a convenient format, and must be made publicly available no longer than one year after the first images are pipeline processed.
Standard proposals for telescope time at NOAO facilities are accepted semi-annually on March 31 for the observing period August - January and on September 30 for the observing period February-July. For semesters during which this date falls on a weekend or holiday, proposals arriving on the next business day will be accepted.
Survey Proposals are accepted annually on September 15 for observations commencing in February of the next year. Proposals must be preceded by a Letter of Intent due July 31.
Applications for telescope time at NOAO facilities are welcome from all astronomers and students.
Applications from astronomers and students who work at non-U.S. institutions must indicate why the project cannot be done using other facilities available to the investigators and why U.S. national facilities are needed.
Telescope time at NOAO facilities will be awarded on the basis of scientific merit.
The criteria for evaluating scientific merit of proposals for time on NOAO facilities are:
In addition, the value of the proposed research to the educational and career development of the investigators may be considered in exceptional circumstances.
For Survey Proposals, additional criteria related to the broader goals of survey programs are applied, including how the data could be used after the survey is complete and how much of an educational component may be involved.
For CTIO proposals, preference may be given to proposals which can only be carried out in the southern hemisphere.
Travel and on-site expenses of graduate students at U.S. institutions observing as part of a Ph.D thesis program at Gemini Observatory, KPNO, CTIO, or at private observatories through community-access programs, will be paid by NOAO. To qualify, the proposal must be designated as a thesis at the time the proposal is submitted, and the student's faculty advisor must send a letter to noaoprop-letter@noao.edu (before the proposal due date) verifying that the observations are part of a thesis, citing the student's qualifications to complete the observational program, and describing how the observations fit into the overall thesis plan. Late submissions will not be considered for funding support.
A graduate student applying for time as a principal investigator must also have her/his faculty advisor send a letter citing the graduate student's qualifications to complete an observational program. This letter must be sent by the faculty advisor to noaoprop-letter@noao.edu before the proposal deadline.
If a graduate student is to be responsible for the observing on any program, whether that student is the principal investigator or not, a letter must be submitted from the thesis advisor stating that the student has sufficient experience and competence to carry out the observations.
Thesis-student travel reimbursement must be coordinated with the respective observatories for KPNO and CTIO related travel, with NGSC for Gemini travel, and with Mia Hartman for travel related to community-access time at private observatories (e.g. Keck, MMT, Magellan). Reimbursement will require submitting a signed NOAO Travel Expense Form with original receipts for airline tickets and other appropriate information (e.g. printouts from the Web). Reimbursement requests should be submitted within 30 days of the completion of the approved travel. The student (or organization) should receive reimbursement within three to four weeks.
NOAO will accept proposals for scientific programs that extend beyond a single semester. Long-term status may be granted to a proposal for which the principal science goal of the proposal cannot be achieved without the full allocation of time. An investigator who wishes to request long-term status should include a summary of the request (e.g., "six nights per semester for four semesters") in the appropriate section of the proposal form.
If long-term status is granted, a progress report must be submitted each subsequent semester to inform the TAC that appropriate progress is being made. Progress reports should briefly summarize the scientific justification, provide a detailed discussion of progress to date, restate the number of observing runs still needed to complete the project, and give details needed for scheduling the proposal in the next semester.
Although the granting of long-term status by the TAC does carry with it a commitment for observing time in future semesters, NOAO reserves the right to terminate long-term status on the advice of the TAC if insufficient information concerning the progress of the project has been supplied by the Principal Investigator or in the event of telescope closures.
All investigators applying for long-term status for programs at CTIO must consult with the appropriate instrument scientist(s) regarding long term requests well before the proposal deadline, and before submitting the proposal.
NOAO accepts proposals from the astronomical community for time at private observatories. These have included the 10-m telescopes of the W.M. Keck Observatory, the 6.5-m MMT, and Magellan telescopes, and the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory. These nights are available as a consequence of NSF funding for facility class instruments through the Facility Instrumentation and TSIP programs. Proposals are reviewed by the NOAO TAC, and recommendations for scheduling will be forwarded to the respective observatories.
Proposals from all investigators, including those with access through other channels, will be accepted and reviewed without prejudice. In the case of proposals for MMT time recommended through the NOAO review process that are substantially similar in experimental design and scientific goals to projects already underway at SAO or UAO, priority will be given to the staffs at the host institutions. This policy is subject to joint review by the NOAO, SAO, and UAO directors.
Data obtained under this program may be placed in the NOAO's data archives under the same ground rules as data obtained at NOAO's own telescopes.
NOAO encourages proposals for observations of targets of opportunity on its telescopes. Target of Opportunity (TOO) proposals may be of different types. If the targets occur unpredictably but frequently (e.g., novae, gamma ray bursts), investigators should prepare a standard proposal to be reviewed by the TAC. If the scientific merit of the proposal is high, CTIO or KPNO will agree to make available a limited amount of telescope time to the investigator should an appropriate event occur during the semester. For additional details, please see the TOO Policies for CTIO and KPNO web page.
Proposers for TOO observations with the Gemini telescopes should refer to the Gemini Quick-Response Process web page.
When events which are genuinely rare and of major astronomical significance (e.g., a supernova in a local group galaxy) occur, interested investigators should immediately contact the appropriate site Director by fax or email. Special arrangements may be made by the Director to obtain critical observations. For CTIO send such requests to ctio@noao.edu, and for KPNO send requests to kpno@noao.edu. Such requests for Gemini observations should be sent to the Gemini Director and the Associate Director for the appropriate Gemini Telescope.
Finally, investigators often submit short requests for data of particular objects which exhibit phenomena of interest (e.g., a Be star in outburst). A notification system is available to alert scheduled observers to unusual events for which small amounts of data may be useful. Such data may be obtained at the discretion of the scheduled observer.
The duration of the proprietary period is normally 18 months from the time the data is collected at the telescopes. In certain infrequent cases, the NOAO Director may designate a shorter proprietary period. Investigators may also decide to voluntarily shorten or waive the proprietary period. Requests to extend the proprietary period must be approved by the NOAO Director. Additional details can be found on our Data Rights page.
Due to ongoing budgetary limitations, proposals for time on KPNO and CTIO telescopes will be subject to the following restrictions.
KPNO
CTIO
Comments and/or suggestions, may be directed to noaoprop-help@noao.edu
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Inc. under cooperative agreement with the
National Science Foundation. |
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NOAO > Observing Info > Proposal Form > NOAO Policies |
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