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Call For Proposals

Supporting Information

This page contains information on the following topics relevant to applying for time on Gemini.  The information is general in nature, for details specific to the upcoming semester, please see the current call for proposals.

Time Allocation Process

The assessment and ranking of proposals within each partner country will be via National Time Allocation Committees (NTACs) supported by the National Gemini Offices.  Assembly of the final semester schedule and queue, definition of scientific ranking bands and resolution of conflicts and joint proposals between partners is done by the International Time Allocation Committee (ITAC), following the procedures described in the Phase I overview.

Submissions to Use Multiple Telescopes

Each observing proposal may request resources from a single telescope only (Gemini North, Gemini South, Keck or Subaru). Proposals for multiple telescopes are no longer permitted, and the Phase I tool will not allow resources from multiple telescopes to be selected. Proposals may include the use of multiple instruments on the same telescope. If a program requires resources from multiple telescopes, separate proposals must be submitted for each telescope; in this case, each proposal should clearly reference the other(s). The proposals will be ranked and scheduled independently. Proposals that can be carried out with either GMOS (note that they have different capabilities) must nevertheless specify one of them; the NTACs or ITAC may make changes.

Queue Rollover

Programs assigned by the ITAC into Band 1 are eligible for rollover into the next semester, for no more than two consecutive semesters, in order to increase the likelihood of program completion. Rollover status will be assigned by the ITAC. Programs with rollover status will automatically be carried forward for up to 2 semesters until their time allocation is exhausted, i.e. PIs need not re-apply if the currently approved allocation is sufficient to reach the science goals of the program. Starting in 2007B, ToO programs are not given rollover status. National policies that affect eligibility are defined by the relevant NTAC.

Electronic Submission

All partners support electronic submission of proposals from within the Gemini Phase I Tool (PIT). In the US, submission of non-joint proposals using the NOAO web form continues to be supported. A new version of PIT is available, including new features described in PIT Hot News. If re-using a previous proposal, please read the joint proposal instructions on how to reset the submission flag.

Joint Proposals

If you submit the same proposal to several partner countries (a "joint proposal") you must do so using PIT. The PIT software, and backend servers installed at each National Office, allow automatic ("one-click") submission of the same proposal to multiple partners.  Joint proposals must be submitted by the deadline applicable to the institution of the Principal Investigator (PI); if the PI is not based in a partner country, the deadline will be the same as the Gemini staff deadline. Likewise, joint proposals must adhere to the proposal guidelines (regarding format and page length for example) of the same partner (that of the PI).

See the joint proposal instructions for more details including how to reset the submission status if re-using a (single or joint) proposal from previous semesters.

Under-Utilized Instruments

Community demand is a critical factor in determining instrument availability.  Each instrument introduces significant overhead to the Observatory, and access to instrument ports is at a premium.  If an instrument is requested for less than 6% of the Bands 1+2 time, the Observatory reserves the right to limit the RA range available to programs, or to not schedule the instrument.

Rapid Response or Target of Opportunity programs

We continue to encourage Target of Opportunity (ToO) programs (formerly called "Quick Response"), intended to allow observation of targets that cannot be specified in advance but which have a well defined external trigger (e.g., Supernovae or Gamma Ray Bursts which will be identified throughout the observing semester by non-Gemini programs). 
"ToO" mode may be requested with any facility instrument.  Proposals for ToO mode should be made via the normal proposal process and must select the type of trigger in the PIT and summarise the trigger event (e.g. identification of a target brighter than a pre-determined threshold) in the proposal abstract.  ToO covers trigger types from several months to minutes in response time.  Two types of ToO triggers are defined: "Rapid Response" and "Standard" which differ by response time.  Rapid response programs must be allocated time in Band 1. Starting in 2007B, ToO programs will not be given rollover status.

Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) programs: in previous semesters many separate proposals for Gamma Ray Burst follow-up studies were submitted to the NTACs and a subset were forwarded to ITAC. As in those semesters, the ITAC and Observatory will seek to combine or otherwise substitute such proposals, e.g. by forming partnerships or time-division strategies, so that only one proposal is active on each telescope at any time. Applicants for GRB studies are strongly encouraged to coordinate their proposals before submission. The Observatory and ITAC reserve the right to form umbrella programs based on the proposals forwarded by the NTACs.

GMOS Mask Definition

Mask making from non-GMOS images for GMOS multi-object spectroscopy (MOS) observations is available, but GMOS pre-imaging is recommended for MOS programs using slits narrower than 1.0" and for programs requiring very long observations of faint targets. If pre-imaging is required, then sufficient pre-imaging time should be included in the proposal. For classical programs, pre-imaging will be scheduled in the queue. Any unused pre-imaging time will be returned to the program.

Poor Weather Proposals

Often the queue contains insufficient proposals for the poorest conditions, despite the best efforts of the National TACs to pass on a balanced package of proposals to Gemini. To encourage submission of more proposals in this category, those with the observing condition constraints specified below will receive special consideration at the TACs. If the programs are ranked lower than band 3 they may be placed in a "Poor Weather Queue" (Band 4) and neither the PI nor partner country will be charged for any time used.  Note however that poor weather programs are lower in priority than scientific ranking band 3.  Poor weather programs may be submitted for any facility instrument but the observing constraints must match one of the following:

Water Vapour constraints for all poor weather proposals need to be set to "any". The Sky Background constraint can be specified and it is acceptable for these programs to request dark time. 

Poor weather programs can now be submitted at any time in the semester. Use the Phase I tool to submit your proposal, selecting "Poor weather" from the drop down menu in the Submit tab. Such programs will be automatically placed in the Band 4 "Poor Weather Queue".

Exchange Time

Gemini Observatory encourages fruitful exchanges with other major observatories in order to expand the instrument capabilities available to the Gemini community.  At present, the Observatory has two exchange programs in place.  The first agreement is an exchange of classical nights for HIRES time on the Keck I telescope in exchange for classical nights with Michelle on Gemini North or T-ReCS on Gemini South.  See the Keck time application page for information on applying for the Gemini time through Keck.  The second agreement is for observing time on Subaru in exchange for observing at Gemini.  Previously the Subaru nights were carried out in service mode, and the Gemini nights in queue; starting in 2008A the exchange is classical nights for classical nights. The Subaru instruments currently available to the Gemini community are Suprime-Cam and MOIRCS (imaging and multi-object spectroscopy).  In exchange, the Subaru community has access to both GMOS instruments (North and South), NIRI, NIFS and T-ReCS.  See the Subaru call for proposals for more information on applying for the Gemini time through Subaru.  Joint proposals for Gemini time between the Japanese community and Gemini partners are permitted and encouraged.  The details of the amount of time currently available and other restrictions are provided in the current call for proposals.

Target Information

Time-specific (including periodic monitoring and follow-up) programs may be accepted on a best-efforts basis. Proposers should specify these time constraints in the PIT. Note that the instrument scheduling may impose additional restrictions on this class of programs.

All observations require the use of one wavefront sensor (WFS) star for fast guiding, primary mirror active optics control and/or as an adaptive optics wavefront reference source. The specific requirements for each instrument are given in the relevant science instrument web pages ("performance and use" section). As the technical feasibility of proposals relies in part on the availability of WFS stars, all proposals with well-defined targets must include suitable WFS stars. Proposals to observe non-sidereal objects should indicate the likely availability of WFS stars in the technical justification but are not required to supply specific stars.  Target of Opportunity programs do not need to define WFS stars.

Non-sidereal tracking is available for all instruments.  Non-sidereal tracking with GMOS is fully supported with the peripheral wavefront sensors and partially supported with the OIWFS (see GMOS non-sidereal information).

Duplicate Observations

Proposers should check their observations against the Gemini Science Archive to ensure that similar or identical observations have not already been executed.  The Phase I Tool includes a function to facilitate this.  Any duplicate or seemingly duplicate observations should be well-justified in the proposal.  The NTACs will consider duplication of existing observations as part of the proposal evaluation.  The ITAC evaluates and resolves any duplication of targets (or potential duplication in the case of ToO observations) between proposals from different partner countries.

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Last update 19 February, 2008; Sandy Leggett