Deadline – 9th April-2024 at 1400UTC/1500BST/16ooCEST
Proposal submission tool: https://mfp.jive.eu
As part of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 OPTICON-RadioNet PILOT (ORP, Grant Agreement Number 101004719) we invite proposals for observing programs requiring multiple astronomical observing facilities to deliver unique science programs.
The ORP brings together expertise and access to a wide range of world leading ground based astronomical facilities covering a multitude of capabilities and wavelengths.
This call is an opportunity to request observing time on multiple radio and/or optical facilities via a single science proposal and single review process. Access is provided to over eighteen individual facilities.
Technical and Science Opportunities
- There are no constraints on the scientific areas that may be proposed for. All requests must provide scientific and technical justification for the observing resources needed. All proposals are subject to eligibility requirements (see below).
- Observing programs must involve two or more ORP facilities. Observing proposals that request only one facility should be directed to regular calls for proposals of those facilities. Advice and feedback will be provided in this case.
- Requests for both non-simultaneous (nontime-critical) or time-critical/sensitive observations (e.g. contemporaneous or with requested cadence) will be considered. Proposers should carefully consider telescope scheduling capabilities and technical feasibilities (see links below). A technical review will be carried out prior to science assessment which may trigger follow-up requests for technical clarifications if required.
We advise prospective proposers to contact Rob Beswick, Marjolein Verkouter or ta-call@orp-h2020.eu for advice, and any technical or science queries. Where necessary these will be passed on to experts at individual facilities.
Observing semester:
The observing semester is 1st August 2024 to 28th February 2025, but the semester dates for each telescope may vary from July 2024 though to March 2025 to accommodate their normal semesters and enable flexible scheduling (see table notes).
Available Facilities:
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Eligibility and Rules:
- Each proposal must include a request and justification for observations at a minimum of two facilities. There are no limitations on which facilities are requested nor on the total number of facilities included in this request, provided it is two or more.(e.g. e-MERLIN + LOFAR, or EVN+NOT etc). However, all requests must be scientifically justified, and the Time Allocation Committee reserves the right to allocate a subset of any request (e.g. not all facilities or all observations) on the basis of science merit or technical feasibility.
- Proposals must meet certain rules for formal eligibility concerning team membership. Please pay attention to those rules or your proposal may be rejected without any scientific evaluation. Note that 'The PI and the majority of the proposing team must work at an institute in an EU or EU-associated country other than the country(ies) where the facilities are located'. The interpretation of 'majority' is 50% + 1 user.
Assessment and Allocation process:
All proposals that meet the eligibility criteria will be assessed based on science and technical merit. This process will occur in the following stages (see figure below).
- Technical Feasibility Validation: All proposals will be technically assessed by expert representatives from the facilities requested. This input will, where possible or needed, suggest any technical revisions required to deliver the science described. The intention is for this to be positively reviewed to ensure science delivery, and assist proposers who have strong science justifications but may be less familiar with technical requirements of all instruments.
- Time Allocation Assessment: All proposals will be reviewed and scientifically prioritised by an independent panel of experts. This panel will include representatives of existing facility time allocation committees. Optical/IR facilities will be reviewed in combination with the OPTICON CTAC to leverage their expertise. The Time Allocation Committee will, where deemed necessary, solicit independent science referees’ reports.
Allocation:
- Following assessment and science ranking all Proposers will receive scientific feedback collated from the committee’s reviews.
- Time allocations on different facilities will be communicated to the operational and scheduling teams of individual facilities. These groups will ensure delivery of observations and where needed correspond with proposers regarding scheduling, technical, or observing constraints.
- Allocated projects will follow the same regulations for each facility as other projects allocated observing time via different channels. This includes data proprietary periods, scheduling prioritisation and access to user support.
Proposal Submission, structure, and content:
- All proposals must scientifically justify their requests.
- All proposals must provide a technical description demonstrating the technical feasibility of their proposal request (for each of the telescopes requested) – please contact ta-call@orp-h2020.eu if assistance is required.
- An example LaTeX template to assist with proposal preparation can be found here