Welcome to ALMA and the European ALMA Regional Centre!

ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) is the world's largest ground-based facility for observations in the millimeter/submillimeter regime located on the Chajnantor plateau, 5000 meters altitude in northern Chile. It enables transformational research into the physics of the cold Universe, probes the first stars and galaxies, and directly images the formation of planets. ALMA comprises a giant array of fifty 12-m antennas, which can be configured to achieve baselines up to 16 km. It is equipped with state-of-the-art receivers that cover all the atmospheric windows up to 1 THz. In addition, a compact array of 7-m and 12-m antennas greatly enhance ALMA's ability to image extended sources.

The European ALMA Regional Centre (ARC) provides the interface between the ALMA project and the European science community. It supports its users mainly in the areas of proposal preparation, observation preparation, data reduction, and data analysis.

Below you can read the latest Announcements from the European ARC Network.. More details and up-to-date information can be found in the News section and the ALMA Science Portal.

ALMA Cycle 12 Call for Proposals

Published: 30 Mar 2025

ALMA Cycle 12 Call for Proposals for scientific observations is now OPEN! 

ALMA Cycle 12 is currently scheduled for observations from October 2025 to September 2026. Users of any nationality or affiliation are invited to submit proposals before the deadline of 15:00 UT on Thursday 24 April 2025.

Cycle 12 Call for Proposals preparation events

Published: 29 Mar 2025

The European ALMA Regional Centre (ARC) network is organizing virtual and in-person proposal preparation events related to the Cycle 12 Call for Proposals across Europe.  A complete overview of the activities and information about participating can be found here

Czech ARC Node pre-Cycle 12 workshop

Published: 29 Mar 2025

The Czech ALMA Regional Centre node is organising a workshop aimed to prepare the local communities for the upcoming ALMA Cycle 12. The focus will be on the preparation of observations, capabilities of ALMA in Cycle 12, important observation parameters, examples of observing proposals, work with the Observing Tool application for the preparation and submission of proposals, etc.

Upcoming workshop about ALMA development study on focal plane arrays

Published: 19 Mar 2025

ALMA is exploring key upgrades to enhance its sensitivity, resolution, and imaging capabilities, focusing on transformative advancements that will unlock its full scientific potential. As part of an ongoing ESO ALMA development study aimed at advancing ALMA's capabilities, the community workshop "Unlocking ALMA's Potential with Focal Plane Arrays" will take place on September 2 - 4, 2025, at MPIfR, Bonn.This event will explore the scientific drivers and technological innovations behind focal plane arrays (FPAs) - a breakthrough that could significantly expand ALMA's field of view and mapping speed

Italian ARC Node proposal preparation day

Published: 26 Feb 2025

In preparation for the ALMA Cycle 12 proposal deadline on 24th April 2025, the Italian node of the European ALMA Regional Centre (ARC) is organising a community meeting (in person and online) on Friday 4th April 2025. This meeting is to inform all potential users of new capabilities and the most important changes concerning the proposal preparation and the available tools.

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