November 2024 Call for Proposals

Gemini North and South are accepting proposals for the Fast Turnaround (FT) program in this call. Here, we give information specific to this proposal cycle. Please see the other FT pages - particularly the rules - for general information about the program. FT (dual anonymous)-specific proposal templates must be used for all FT proposals. See the "PIT information" section below. The latest version of the PIT, Version 2025A.1.1.1, must be used for the submission of the proposals.

Important dates

• Proposal deadline: 12:00pm (NOON), Hawaiian Standard Time (HST), November 30.

• Please ensure the latest version of the PIT is used for submission (see the PIT information below).
• Reviews must be completed by 23:59 HST, December 14. If you have submitted a proposal, but by the 2nd of the month have not received an email from FT regarding reviewing proposals, contact FT as soon as possible.
• Results will be announced by December 21, 2024.
• The deadline for preparing observations (Phase II) is December 31. Accepted programs meeting this deadline will be active from 1 January until 31 March 2025.
• FT observations will be merged with the queue and observed on queue nights.

Dual Anonymous Review Process (DARP)

• Since Feb 2021, we have been using a dual anonymous review process. New proposal templates for FT have been updated. DARP compliance is mandatory. Proposals using the wrong template will be removed from consideration.  Proposals that do not follow all the DARP guidelines will either be removed from consideration or sent to the directorate for review.  
• Guideline for PIs
  • Enter information of the proposing team with the Phase I Tool (PIT) as usual.
  • Use the FT specific template.
  • The proposal template has been updated to be compliant with DARP since Feb 1, 2021
  • Avoid mentioning names and affiliations of the team in the PDF attachment that could be used to identify the proposing team.
  • Avoid claiming ownership of past work. (E.g., “my successful Gemini program in the previous semester (GS-18A-xxx)”, or “our analysis shown in Doe et al. 2020…”)
  • Including text in proposals discussing previous use of Gemini is ok, as long as that work is not referenced and program IDs are not listed.
  • Cite references in passive third person, e.g., “Analysis shown in Doe et al. 2020”, including references to data and software.
  • Do describe the proposed work, e.g., “We propose to do the following…”, or “We will measure the effects of …”
  • Unpublished work can be referred to as “obtained in private communication” or “from private consultation”.
• Guideline for Reviewers
  • Accept the assigned proposals based on abstracts whether you can provide an unbiased review or not.
  • Review proposals solely based on the scientific merit of what is proposed.
  • Do not spend any time attempting to identify the PI or the team. Even if you think you know, you can be wrong.
  • Utilize neutral pronouns (they/the PI/the team) when you write comments.
  • Flag the proposals that have not been sufficiently anonymized but DO NOT penalize them by lowering grades. (The FT support team will check the flagged proposals and send any violations to the Gemini Directorate for review.)  
• More detailed guidelines can be found on the FT webpage. 

Eligibility

• PIs from participant countries (except Chile) taking part in the FT program may apply for this cycle.  US open skies policy does not apply to FT.
• PIs from UH are able to apply for FT time at GS as US, but may not apply for GN time. 
• Chile and UH have withdrawn from Fast Turnaround since 2021A and 2024A, respectively.
• In agreement with Subaru Observatory, Japanese community proposers may only apply for up to 4 hrs of time on a single proposal (and no more than 4 hrs total will be awarded to Japanese community PIs in a cycle).
• PIs from participant countries whose FT time for the semester has been used up should not apply for the remainder of the semester.  AR has used up its time for 24B. Note that some participant countries only have very small amounts of FT time available each semester. KR has only about 4.6 h available for 24B per telescope. See Rule #4 and Q&A for more information.

Acceptable RA ranges

• Gemini North: Targets from about RA = 0 hr to 19 hr are acceptable during this cycle. Note, however, that RAs near 0h will only be accessible for a couple hours during the first half of the first month (January) and only at northern declinations (Dec > 0) . Likewise, RAs near 19h will only be accessible for a couple hours during the final month (March) and again only in the above declination range. Note Rule #9; an FT program may not fully backload its three-month active period; at least one of its targets must be observable during its first active month.

• Gemini South: Targets from about RA = 1.5 hr to 18 hr are acceptable during this cycle. Note that RAs near 1.5h will only be accessible for a couple hours during the first half of the first month (January) and only at favorable declinations (Dec < 0) . Likewise, RAs near 18h will only be accessible for a couple hours during the final month (March) and again only in the above declination range. Note Rule #9; an FT program may not fully backload its three-month active period; at least one of its targets must be observable during its first active month.

Available instruments and observing modes

Gemini North

• The schedule for 25A (Feb, Mar) is not yet available.  Contact the FT team for any questions.
• IGRINS2 is offered in shared-risk mode during a short block in January.  The 25A schedule for Feb/Mar is not available yet. 
• GMOS-N, GNIRS, and MAROON-X are available in January and expected to be available for much of the cycle.
• GNIRS observations with the long red or long blue cameras, including HR-IFU observations, are only offered during specific blocks. There are no blocks scheduled in January.   
• We are offering Altair in NGS mode only, with GNIRS.
• The GNIRS Low-Resolution IFUs are offered. Reduction of the IFU data is supported under the newest version of Gemini IRAF (v1.16) that can be found here. 
• There are currently no Alopeke blocks scheduled in January. If you require 'Alopeke observations outside of scheduled blocks, please contact the FT team before proposal submission to check for availability.
• Make sure to check the detailed 24B instrument schedule for January. The 25A schedule is not available yet.
• For MAROON-X, it is now possible to check for target duplications. Please see the instructions in the Phase I checklist.
• Please contact the FT team in advance with any specific questions (Fast.Turnaround at gemini.edu).

Gemini South

• The schedule for 25A (Feb, Mar) is not yet available.  Contact the FT team for any questions.
• GHOST is offered this cycle.
• GMOS-S and F2 are also available this cycle. Note that DRAGONS v3.2.0 supports the reduction of imaging and longslit data from the recently upgraded GMOS-S CCDs. Reduction of MOS and IFU data from GMOS-S taken after the CCD upgrade is supported under the newest version of Gemini IRAF (v1.16) that can be found here.
• F2 MOS  may be offered in this cycle. F2 MOS is limited by the number of masks that can be inserted in the instrument. Please contact the FT team for more information.
• There is a Zorro block scheduled in January. If you require Zorro observations outside of Zorro blocks, please check for availability with the FT team ahead of proposal submission. 
• Make sure to check the detailed 24B instrument schedule for January. The 25A schedule is not available yet.
• Please contact the FT team in advance with any specific questions (Fast.Turnaround at gemini.edu).
• IGRINS is no longer offered.
• GeMS/GSAOI are not offered via FT.

Both telescopes

• FT observations may not be executed during classical observing, or priority visitor (PV), depending on the prevailing conditions.
• For visiting instruments not listed above, please contact the FT team to check availability (Fast.Turnaround at gemini.edu).
• The R600 grating in each GMOS instrument is NOT offered for FT (or regular queue) observations.
• MOS observations are available for FT, subject to some caveats/restrictions.
• As discussed in the rules and Q&A, please contact the Fast Turnaround team in advance of the deadline if you would like to propose for an unusual instrument configuration or observing mode.

Time available

• Up to 17.3 (17.2) hrs per cycle at GN (GS) is available for FT observations. Very roughly, this implies:
  • 3.5 hrs of 20%-ile conditions (IQ=20, for example; see this web page)
  • 9 hrs of 50%-ile conditions
  • 12 hrs of 70%-ile conditions
  • 15 hrs of 85%-ile conditions
• PIs may propose for up to the amount of time in their most restrictive observing conditions, subject to partner's time availability - see rule #4. For example, a proposal requesting CC50 IQ20 SB50 WVany conditions can request no more than 3.5 hrs of observing time.

PIT information

• Proposals must be submitted using the version of the Phase I Tool specified on this web page. 
• In the Time Requests tab, select "Fast Turnaround Observing at Gemini" as the proposal class and specify the reviewer (and mentor, if appropriate). Note that this is where the reviewer is defined; changes cannot be made after the proposal has been submitted.
• For the pdf attachment to the proposal, the dedicated LaTeX/Word template specifically for FT proposals must be used.
• Submitting the same proposal more than once during a given month (e.g. after correcting/editing a submitted version) should be avoided if at all possible. Only submit when you are sure your proposal is ready to be reviewed.