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Gemini Staff Proposal Process and GemTAC
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The Gemini staff apply for time to a Time Allocation Committee via a competitive
process:
- Staff apply for time to a Gemini TAC (GemTAC) with same deadline as the US
community (on or around 31 March and 30 September; see the current call for proposals).
- The
GemTAC consists of two Gemini Observatory representatives and four
external members appointed by the Director. The GemTAC is chaired
by one of the external members.
The current GemTAC members are listed on the Gemini Observatory governance
page.
- The GemTAC conducts scientific and technical assessments of each proposal and assigns an
overall grade from 1 - 5, as defined below:
Grade 1 = excellent, strongly recommend
2 = very good, should get time
3 = average, some useful science
4 = fair, but some problems
5 = significant problems
- The GemTAC forwards the overall grade and scientific/technical comments to the Gemini Director.
The Director weighs the GemTAC assessment together with other considerations, generates
the staff proposal ranked list(s) and defines where the cut for their inclusion in the
queue/schedule should be made. There is no fixed amount of staff time - it is at the
Director's discretion; however, a suggested time allocation is included in the Call for Proposals.
- The draft schedule and queue are assembled using the NTAC and GemTAC ranked lists. The
staff proposals are inserted into the queue/schedule using a merging sequence which includes GeminiStaff (effectively as
another 'partner').
- The staff ranked list and successful proposals (those above the cut) are sent to the ITAC members for comment (at the same time as they
are sent the draft schedule and queue, and other pre-ITAC information).
- The Director annually presents a summary of staff observing time to the GSC and Gemini
Board.
Last update February 28, 2006; Jean-Rene Roy and Bernadette Rodgers