A detailed report on the outcome of the ALMA Early Science Cycle 3 Proposal Review Process is available. The report details the proposal review process, proposal statistics and regional distributions, the proposal distribution across science categories and receiver bands, as well as the anticipated observing pressure as a function of Local Sidereal Time and configuration. The accepted high priority Cycle 3 projects are listed here.
The Call for Proposals for ESO Period 97 (1 April 2016 – 30 September 2016) closed on 1 October 2015. 1020 proposals were received (the second highest, after Period 84), including 22 for Large Programmes, 48 for Target of Opportunity and 5 for Monitoring Programmes, for a total of 2212 nights. The number of proposals received shows an increase of 6.5% over Period 96.
The ESO research studentship programme provides an outstanding opportunity for Ph.D. students to experience the exciting scientific environment at one of the world's leading observatories for a period of up to two years.
The refurbishment of the VLTI laboratory, in preparation for the arrival of GRAVITY, has been completed and VLTI is ready to re-start science observations. Successful recommissioning occurred during August and September. The GRAVITY instrument was transported from the Paranal Integration Hall to the VLTI laboratory in early October 2015, an important milestone in its Assembly, Integration and Verification (AIV) and Commissioning process.
The fourth ALMA user survey was conducted between the 1 May and 1 June 2015. A total of 536 users (representing 15% of the users who were sent the questionnaire and 44% of the Cycle 3 PIs) responded to the survey. This survey focused on topics related to proposal preparation and submission, including interaction with the ARC / ARC nodes for ALMA proposal preparation and usability of tools such as the ALMA Science Portal or the helpdesk. A summary is available.
The latest ALMA Status Report, available here, includes Cycle 2 Early Science observing progress (including Cycle 1 Transfer projects), project completion and data delivery summary, Extension and Optimization of Capabilities (EOC) activity, and preparations for Cycle 4, since the last Report (November 2014).
If you wish to conduct a PhD in astronomy-astrophysics within one of the largest centres of astrophysical research in the world, which covers every subject from planets, stars, and galaxies to cosmology, you should seriously consider applying to the IMPRS studentship programme in Munich.
The "F. Lucchin" International PhD School STEEL will provide a comprehensive training in both the science and the technologies used to deliver astronomical results with the range of E-ELT instruments. The school is open to postgraduate and masters students and early career postdoc researchers, with space for around 80-100 participants. Lectures at the School will cover the full range of E-ELT science cases and hands-on sessions will be offered in techniques ranging from crowded-region photometry to simulations of AO observations. Details can be found on the School webpage or by email for further enquiries.
The objective of the workshop is to present and discuss the various approaches to science data management in spacecraft missions and ground-based facilities for astronomy. The workshop continues the series of ESO/ESA joint meetings on operating ground- and space-based astronomical facilities. Topics for the current workshop include: quality assurance of science data and related calibrations; data reduction and analysis; and science archives (content and user services). Full details on the workshop website or by enquiry to sciops2015.
