Welcome to the ESO User Portal General Information and FAQ page.

Introduced in November 2007, the ESO User Portal is an interface connecting ESO and its user community. Within this system, account information (username, password, contact information) for all science and observations related web-based applications (e.g. p1 (proposal preparation), p2 (observing preparation), etc.) is unified, and user-controllable.

This interface is the result of a large inter-division collaborative effort, that has involved all those ESO groups and departments responsible for providing operational support to the users via different web-based applications (e.g. proposal submission, preparation of Phase 2 packages, access to the ESO Archive). It is intended to make the use of ESO web applications simpler, and more manageable. For instance, users use the same username and password for all applications that require them.

And since the release of the User Portal we have released new features:

Release Date	Feature
1 April 2008	Principal Investigators (PIs) can access their own raw proprietary data at any time through the ESO Archive (see Delmotte (2008))
30 March 2009	The Science Data Products Forum was released to the Community (see The Messenger article). This was decommissioned in quarter 1 of 2018.
29 June 2009	PIs can now access their proprietary raw and reduced data (see Delmotte (2009)). NOTE: Access to reduced data was discontinued on 01 October 2011. Instead, users are now encouraged to take advantage of the CalSelector service.
28 February 2011	Owners of Phase 3 programmes can now delegate the Phase 3 rights to other ESO User Portal users.
24 March 2011	Principal Investigators of ESO observing programmes can now delegate access rights to their proprietary data to other ESO User Portal users.
5 July 2012	Principal Investigators of ESO Paranal observing programmes can now delegate Phase 2 preparation rights to another single ESO User Portal user (one per run) other ESO User Portal users (the "one per run" limitation was lifted on 23 July 2018) .
October 2019	Principal Investigators of ESO La Silla observing programmes can now delegate Phase 2 preparation rights to other ESO User Portal users.
October 2019	As a complement to the newly-released p1 proposal system, and as a first step towards better handling of the refereeing process and bias assessment/mitigation, users who wish to submit and/or referee proposals can provide additional information in their User Portal profile. Also, ESO User Portal account holders can supply their ORCID iD to allow for more robust associations between researchers and their publications of ESO data.

More features will be added in the future. For further information see the questions and answers below or read The Messenger article announcing the launch of the User Portal.

Below you will find the ESO User Portal frequently asked questions (FAQ).
If you have a question or issue not covered by one or more of the FAQ please feel free to contact usd-help@eso.org

ESO User Portal Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

When do I need to use the User Portal?

You will need to use your single User Portal username and password to access all science and observations related web-based applications where logins are normally required (e.g. p2 for Phase 2 preparation). Included in this is requesting data from the Science Archive Facility (especially when you as a Principal Investigator request to retrieve your proprietary raw data (click here for the service, or here for more information)), checking the WebLetter containing the OPC and scheduling information for observing proposals, checking the status of Service Mode runs,etc.

In addition, you will need your ESO User Portal account for proposal preparation (p1).

Which browser do I need to use to access the User Portal?

The ESO User Portal runs under any modern browser.

I have problems with the web form. Who should I contact?

In case of problems please contact the ESO User Support Department Please provide as many details as you think necessary (including what you are trying to do, in what way it fails, what browser (version) you are using, etc.).

Is there an ESO User Portal Newsletter?

No, there is no User Portal Newsletter. ESO does produce an electronic newsletter (see http://www.eso.org/sci/enews for details, including how to subscribe), and news about the ESO User Portal will be announced there.