Over 200 astronomers from all around the world have gathered in Indian Wells, California, U.S.A. to participate in the Half a Decade of ALMA: Cosmic Dawns Transformed conference held between September 20 and 23 and organized by ALMA and its partners: NRAO, NAOJ and ESO. This is the third international conference presenting ALMA’s results since the Observatory began its astronomical observation cycles.

More information: www.almaobservatory.org

ALMA announces that Configuration C40-7 will not be visited in October 2016 as indicated in the Cycle 4 Proposer’s Guide.

ALMA observations of the Galactic Centre obtained on July 12 and 18, 2016 UT are now available in the ALMA archive. The ALMA data were obtained using Director’s Discretionary Time under project code 2015.A.00021.S (Principal Investigator Gunther Witzel) and are being made available to the community with no proprietary period.

Information about ALMA Cycle 4 projects with public metadata, including all Cycle 4 A- and B-graded proposals, any Cycle 4 C-graded proposals with archived observations, are now available via the High Priority Projects page on the ALMA Science Portal.

A new installment of Science Verification data is available. The data contains observations of quasars obtained during the long baseline campaigns in 2012, 2013, and 2014. The data were taken to study the stability of the relative amplitude and phase of the system and the atmosphere.

IRAM invites applications for a postdoctoral research position at the ARC node in Grenoble.  The successful candidate is expected to invest 50% of the time on personal astronomical research and 50% on support activities. The position offers the opportunity for astronomers to work with world-class research facilities and pursue their career in a very dynamic and competitive field of research. IRAM's research program covers a wide range of subjects from ISM chemistry, planetary science, young stellar objects, late stage stellar evolution, to extragalactic research at low and high redshift.

The conference will be held in Indian Wells on 20-23 September 2016. It will highlight recent ALMA scientific results at the threshold  of its fifth year of operation and bring together researchers from around the  world to motivate collaborations for ALMA Cycle 5. Science topics will include all fields of astronomy: cosmology and galaxies in the distant Universe, nearby galaxies and the Galactic Center, the interstellar medium and star formation in our Galaxy, astrochemistry, circumstellar disks,  exoplanets, solar system, stellar evolution and the Sun, and more.

Postdocs from the different ALMA Regional Centres are cordially invited to attend the 2016 ALMA Postdoctoral Symposium which will take place on September 24 and 25 at Renaissance Indian Wells Resort & Spa in Indian Wells, CA, USA, immediately following the "Half a Decade of ALMA" meeting.  The Symposium will offer attendees a unique networking opportunity to establish and develop collaborations with other postdocs working at different ARCs and JAO, looking toward the Cycle 5 Call for Proposals.