[Next] [Previous] [Top] [Contents] [Index]
NAIC/AO Newsletter No. 19
As you may know, we will be modifying our proposal submission procedure (see Newsletter #14), introducing three deadlines per year for the reception of regular proposals (the first of February, June, and October). Special campaigns will have individual deadlines. The relevant instructions for proposal submission are currently being revised and will be displayed on our WWW home page.
The question at hand is the timing of the first deadline. We wish this to be as soon as possible, but will resist the temptation to set it before we know with a reasonable degree of certainty when our systems will be ready for use. The Gregorian dome is now in place, but much needs to be done before our first receivers will be installed, and more before we release them for general use. It is our intention to release instruments for general use only when they have been thoroughly tested and calibrated. These chores will be performed by the scientific staff. Testing and calibration will be carried out with the understanding that no research program can be undertaken if not approved by the Observatory administration. Our first call for proposals will be restricted to just a few of the new Gregorian receivers, plus those available on Carriage House I.
We will also ask our referees to judge how suitable each proposed program is as a test of telescope performance. We will initially favor proposals that serve to test the performance of the instrument, and will stipulate that a full report of system performance be provided to the Observatory. We will not differentiate between NAIC and outside users.
Final time allocation and scheduling are internal matters for NAIC, guided by the referee recommendations and the constraints imposed by the instrumentation. The Arecibo Time Allocation Committee (ATAC) will help with these sometimes-difficult decisions. ATAC is an advisory committee to the Director and the Assistant Director that helps to prioritize proposals and to clear up inconsistencies in the referee reports. It will recommend to the scheduler the ideal order in which to schedule and also advise on which staff member will act as advisor for the project.
Once the date is determined, the request for proposals for the first deadline will be published in our Newsletter, on the WWW, and in any other medium that will ensure its widest possible distribution. I do not expect this to happen before August 1996.
[Next] [Previous] [Top] [Contents] [Index]
Generated with Harlequin WebMaker