FT Call for Proposals

Gemini North is accepting proposals for the Fast Turnaround (FT) pilot program. Here, we give information specific to this proposal cycle. Please see the other FT pages - particularly the rules - for general information about the program.

1. Important dates
   • Proposal deadline: 23:59, Hawaiian Standard Time (HST), September 30.
   • Reviews must be complete by 23:59 HST, October 14;
   • Results will be announced by October 21;
   • Observations must be ready by November 01 and will remain valid until the end of January;
   • FT observations will be merged with the queue and observed on queue nights. They will not be scheduled only on specific Fast Turnaround nights as was done previously.


2. Eligibility
   • PIs from all partners taking part in the FT program may apply for this cycle.
   • PIs from partner countries whose FT time for the semester has been used up should not apply for the remainder of the semester. Currently no partners have reached their limit. See the rules and Q&A for more information.


3. Acceptable RA ranges
   • Targets from RA~21 hrs to ~14 hrs can be accepted during this cycle. Note that RAs near 21 will only be accessible for a few hours during the first month (November). RAs near 14 will only be accessible for a few hours during the final month (January).


4. Available instruments and observing modes
   • Gemini North (only) is currently participating in the FT program. We expect to start accepting proposals for Gemini South later this year, likely for the October deadline.
   • GMOS, GNIRS, and NIRI will be available most or all of Oct-Jan. NIFS will be available only in late November and late January. There are only two LGS runs scheduled, partly during the NIFS runs. See the schedule posted here
   • GMOS' R600 grating is not offered for FT (or regular queue) observations. The R831 grating is not likely to be in the instrument frequently in 2015B, and users should consider whether one of the other gratings can meet their needs instead.
   • Users are welcome to propose for GRACES observations. Targets must be observable in the December GRACES block
   • MOS observations are now 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.


5. Time available
   • In 2015B, 20 hrs per month is available for FT observations. Very roughly, this implies:
     • i. 4 hrs of 20%-ile conditions (IQ=20, for example; see this web page)
     • ii. 10 hrs of 50%-ile conditions
     • iii. 14 hrs of 70%-ile conditions
     • iv. 17 hrs of 85%-ile conditions
   • PIs may propose for up to roughly the amount of time in their most restrictive observing conditions (see the rules).


6. 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).
   • 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.
   • We have created new, shorter Latex/Word templates for FT proposals (GemPhase1_FT.tex/doc). We encourage users to use these new templates, although participants using the old templates will not be penalized (as long as they stick to the page limits)
   • Submitting the same proposal more than once during a given cycle (e.g. after correcting/editing a submitted version) should be avoided if at all possible.


7. Changes to rules/policies since last CfP
   • Gemini staff are now permitted to be PIs of FT proposals
   • As noted above, multi-object spectroscopy with GMOS-N is now offered for FT programs.
   • Change made in July 2015: If <7 proposals are received, the program will not be cancelled (as happened earlier). We will instead send proposals to a standing panel of external reviewers, as well as PIs (or designated co-Is) reviewing each other's proposals in the usual way. See rule 12 and this blog post.

Gemini North is accepting proposals for the Fast Turnaround (FT) pilot program. Here, we give information specific to this proposal cycle. Please see the other FT pages - particularly the rules - for general information about the program.

1. Important dates
   • Proposal deadline: 23:59, Hawaiian Standard Time (HST), July 31
   • Reviews must be complete by 23:59 HST, August 14;
   • Results will be announced by August 21;
   • Observations must be ready by September 01 and will remain valid until the end of November;
   • FT observations will be merged with the queue and observable on queue nights. They will not be scheduled only on specific Fast Turnaround nights as was done previously.


2. Eligibility
   • PIs from all partners taking part in the FT program may apply for this cycle.
   • PIs from partner countries whose FT time for the semester has been used up should not apply for the remainder of the semester. Currently no partners have reached their limit but Canada has approximately 6 hrs remaining. See the rules and Q&A for more information.


3. Acceptable RA ranges
   • Targets from RA~17 hrs to ~10 hrs can be accepted during this cycle. Note that RAs near 17 will only be accessible for a few hours during the first month (September). RAs near 10 will only be accessible for a few hours during the final month (November).
   • Approximate coordinates of targets in the current FT queue are given here.


4. Available instruments and observing modes
   • Gemini North (only) is participating in the FT trial
   • GMOS, GNIRS, and NIRI will be available most or all of Sep-Nov. NIFS will be available only in the latter part of November. There is only one LGS run scheduled, also during the latter part of November. See the schedule posted here
   • MOS observations are not available through the Fast Turnaround program. 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.


5. Time available
   • Assuming typical weather loss, it is expected that there will be ~20 useable hours to allocate to FT programs during this cycle. Very roughly, this implies:
     • i. 4 hrs of 20%-ile conditions (IQ=20, for example; see this web page)
     • ii. 10 hrs of 50%-ile conditions
     • iii. 14 hrs of 70%-ile conditions
     • iv. 17 hrs of 85%-ile conditions
   • PIs may propose for up to roughly the amount of time in their most restrictive observing conditions (see the rules).


6. 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).
   • In the Time Requests tab, select "Fast Turnaround Observing at Gemini" as the proposal class and specify the reviewer (and mentor, if appropriate).
   • Please use the GemPhase1.tex/doc template to prepare the pdf required by the PIT, following the page limits specified in that file.
   • Submitting the same proposal more than once during a given cycle (e.g. after correcting/editing a submitted version) should be avoided if at all possible.


7. Changes to rules/policies since last CfP
   • As noted above, FT programs is now merged into the regular queue and not reserved for separate FT nights.
   • If <7 proposals are received, the program will not be cancelled (as happened earlier). We will instead send proposals to a standing panel of external reviewers, as well as PIs (or designated co-Is) reviewing each other's proposals in the usual way. See rule 12 and this blog post.

Gemini North is accepting proposals for the Fast Turnaround (FT) pilot program. Here, we give information specific to this proposal cycle. Please see the other FT pages - particularly the rules - for general information about the program.

1. Important dates
   • Proposal deadline: 23:59, Hawaiian Standard Time (HST), May 31
   • Reviews must be complete by 23:59 HST, June 15;
   • Results will be announced by June 21;
   • Observations must be ready by July 01 and will remain valid until the end of September;
   • Observations will be executed on scheduled Fast Turnaround nights as shown here. Note that August and September FT dates have not yet been scheduled; we expect that there will be three nights in each of August and September for FT.


2. Eligibility
   • PIs from all partners taking part in the FT program may apply for this cycle.
   • PIs from partner countries whose FT time for the semester has been used up should not apply for the remainder of the semester. Currently no partners have reached their limit but Canada has approximately 6 hrs remaining. See the rules and Q&A for more information.


3. Acceptable RA ranges
   • Targets from RA~13 hrs – 6 hrs can be accepted during this cycle. Note that RAs of 13-15 will only be accessible for a few hours during the first month (July), and the block of FT nights in July is SB Any (bright time) for the first half of the nights. RAs of 4-6 will only be accessible for a few hours during the final month (September).
   • Approximate coordinates of targets in the current FT queue are given here.
   • This page gives some information about the number of observations already in the FT queue at a range of RAs.


4. Available instruments and observing modes
   • Gemini North (only) is participating in the FT trial
   • GNIRS, NIFS, and Altair (natural guide star mode) are expected to be available for all June-July FT nights in this period. It is probable that GNIRS will be available in August.
   • NIRI is expected to be available for the July FT nights
   • The availability of GMOS in July and August depends on whether the CCD swap goes ahead as planned. At this point there is a good possibility that GMOS will be available in July and possibly August although the 15B schedule has not been finalized (as of May 28).
   • A very limited amount of LGS time is potentially available (one FT night in June falls in a laser guide star run; August and September nights are not yet scheduled).
   • Short observations can generally be accommodated on non-FT nights (see rule 10 ). However, the visiting instrument DSSI is not offered for FT proposals.
   • See the 2015A telescope schedule for details about instrument availability.
   • MOS observations are not available through the Fast Turnaround program. 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.


5. Time available
   • Assuming typical weather loss, we expect to have about 20 useable hours to allocate to FT programs during this cycle. Very roughly, this implies:
     • i. 4 hrs of 20%-ile conditions (IQ=20, for example; see this web page)
     • ii. 10 hrs of 50%-ile conditions
     • iii. 14 hrs of 70%-ile conditions
     • iv. 17 hrs of 85%-ile conditions
   • PIs may propose for up to roughly the amount of time in their most restrictive observing conditions (see the rules).
   • While very good conditions can be requested, please note that FT observations will be executed in a “mini-queue” on dedicated nights with no compensation for weather losses.


6. 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).
   • In the Time Requests tab, select "Fast Turnaround Observing at Gemini" as the proposal class and specify the reviewer (and mentor, if appropriate).
   • Please use the GemPhase1.tex/doc template to prepare the pdf required by the PIT, following the page limits specified in that file.
   • Submitting the same proposal more than once during a given cycle (e.g. after correcting/editing a submitted version) should be avoided if at all possible.


7. Changes to rules/policies since last CfP
   • None.

Gemini North is accepting proposals for the Fast Turnaround (FT) pilot program. Here, we give information specific to this proposal cycle. Please see the other FT pages - particularly the rules - for general information about the program.

1. Important dates
   • Proposal deadline: 23:59, Hawaiian Standard Time (HST), March 31
   • Reviews must be complete by 23:59 HST, April 14;
   • Results will be announced on April 21;
   • Observations must be ready by May 03 and will remain valid until the end of July;
   • Observations will be executed on scheduled Fast Turnaround nights as shown here.


2. Eligibility
   • PIs from all partners taking part in the FT program may apply for this cycle.
   • PIs from partner countries whose FT time for the semester has been used up should not apply for the remainder of the semester. Currently, no partners have reached their limit. See the rules and Q&A for more information.


3. Acceptable RA ranges
   • Targets from RA~08 hrs – 20 hrs can be accepted during this cycle.
   • Approximate coordinates of targets in the current FT queue are given here.
   • March 20 update: dark time in the first half of the night is now under heavy pressure from accepted FT programs, especially in good conditions. Investigators whose science can tolerate sub-optimal conditions (e.g. IQ85, CC70, bright/grey time) are encouraged to apply. Proposals for targets at later RAs are also particularly welcome.


4. Available instruments and observing modes
   • Gemini North (only) is participating in the FT trial
   • GNIRS, NIFS, and Altair (natural guide star mode) are expected to be available for all FT nights in this period
   • NIRI is expected to be available for the July FT nights
   • GMOS will be available in May and June. The availability of GMOS in July depends on whether the CCD swap goes ahead as planned. This CfP will be updated if further information becomes available before the deadline.
   • A very limited amount of LGS time is potentially available (one FT night in each of May and June falls in a laser guide star run; the first half of the May 08 LGS night is now full of FT LGS targets - see the list of accepted proposals.)
   • Although short observations can generally be accommodated on non-FT nights (see rule 10 ), the visiting instrument DSSI is not offered for FT proposals.
   • See the 2015A telescope schedule for details about instrument availability.
   • MOS observations are not available through the Fast Turnaround program. 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.


5. Time available
   • Assuming typical weather loss, we expect to have about 20 useable hours to allocate to FT programs during this cycle. Very roughly, this implies:
     • i. 4 hrs of 20%-ile conditions (IQ=20, for example; see this web page)
     • ii. 10 hrs of 50%-ile conditions
     • iii. 14 hrs of 70%-ile conditions
     • iv. 17 hrs of 85%-ile conditions
   • PIs may propose for up to roughly the amount of time in their most restrictive observing conditions (see the rules).
   • While very good conditions can be requested, please note that FT observations will be executed in a “mini-queue” on dedicated nights with no compensation for weather losses.


6. 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).
   • In the Time Requests tab, select "Fast Turnaround Observing at Gemini" as the proposal class and specify the reviewer (and mentor, if appropriate).
   • Please use the GemPhase1.tex/doc template to prepare the pdf required by the PIT, following the page limits specified in that file.
   • Submitting the same proposal more than once during a given cycle (e.g. after correcting/editing a submitted version) should be avoided if at all possible.


7. Changes to rules/policies since last CfP
   • None.