The ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey Large Early Galaxy Census (LEGA-C) has released science products from the first year of observations. LEGA-C started in December 2014 and observations are planned to be completed by mid-2018, with several data releases of the VIMOS spectra and value-added products before the completion of the survey. More information on the survey design, sample selection, observing strategy and data reduction in van der Wel et al. (2016) and a Messenger article.

The 1-D spectral data products from the HARPS observations for ESO programme 096.C-0082, P.I. Anglada-Escudé, from January to March 2016, are now available from the Science Archive Facility. The results on the detection of a planet candidate around Proxima Cen from the analysis of these spectra, among others, are published in G. Anglada-Escudé et al. 2016.

The Call for Proposals for observations at ESO telescopes in Period 99 (1 April 2017 – 30 September 2017) has been released. Please consult the Call for Proposals document for the main news items and policies related to applying for time on ESO telescopes. All technical information about the offered instruments and facilities is contained on ESO webpages that are linked from the Call.
The deadline for proposals is 12:00 CEST 29 September 2016.

3–7 July 2017, ESO Headquarters, Garching, Germany

Stars are mostly found in binary and multiple systems: at least 50% of all solar-like stars have companions and that fraction approaches 100% for the most massive stars. A large fraction of these systems will interact in some way and alter the structure and evolution of the components, leading to the production of exotic objects beyond standard stellar evolution models. This workshop (ImBaSE 2017) will examine in detail the impact of binaries on stellar evolution from observational and theoretical viewpoints.

16–19 January 2017, ESO Vitacura, Santiago, Chile

A complete, consistent calibration plan for each data set, fulfilling quality control criteria, was recognized as a cornerstone of VLT operation. In 2007, ESO organized its first calibration workshop and ten years later the 2017 ESO Calibration Workshop will bring together astronomers and instrument scientists to share their experiences, engage in open discussions, challenge current limitations and develop creative concepts for better calibration in the future.

ESO has a prominent post-doctoral fellowship programme in both Garching (Germany) and Santiago (Chile), with a yearly application deadline (15 October). The goal of these fellowships is to offer outstanding early-career scientists the opportunity to further develop their independent research programmes in an exciting scientific environment with close contact to the activities and staff at ESO.

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.

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 new ALMA Science Verification (SV) release contains commissioning test data 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. See the ALMA announcement for more details and the ALMA SV page for a description of the datasets available.

Principal Investigators (PIs) of ALMA Cycle 4 proposals received notification letters of the proposal review results on 8 August 2016. A total of 707 proposals were selected for scheduling on ALMA from among the 1573 received; two of the 29 Large Programmes were selected. The complete list of A+B projects can be found here.