2014 Call for Proposals for Instrument Upgrades and New Instruments
Note: The submission deadline was February 28, 2014 - 23:59UTC
The context
The immediate future of LBTO is relatively clear, with the suite of first generation instruments and capabilities being delivered and hopefully commissioned before mid-2015 (namely MODS2, LUCI2, AO and ARGOS-GLAO capabilities on both LUCIs), and the observatory moving to full operation mode. Meanwhile, LBTI will continue to enhance its operational readiness and increase its scientific productivity, and the LINC-NIRVANA project, now in a phased development mode, will focus on its MCAO aspects.
Over the past years, there have been various calls for white papers for upgrades of the current instruments as well as next generation instruments. One can wonder if it is appropriate to issue a call for something new while the original instrument suite is barely in place. Actually, it is appropriate: AO capabilities at LBT have been shown to be astounding and there are no instruments, outside of those available (now or in the coming years) on the interferometers, actually ready to benefit from these capabilities at the highest level. New science interests have also emerged which no current instrument can support.
What is called for?
LBTO calls for proposals aiming at providing to the LBT partnership on a short time scale (in a maximum of three to four years) enhanced or new capabilities on the LBT, with a preference for those making good use of the high spatial resolution performances of the telescope.
Proposals can fall in one (or more) of the following categories:
Selection Criteria
A strong science case is paramount!
Beyond scientific appeal in itself, other criteria will be used in the selection process, such as
Your Proposal
Your proposal should provide the required information in seven chapters as outlined below:
The Process
If you intend to submit a proposal and want to advertise it so that interested members of the LBTO partnership can join your team, you are encouraged to send to this email address very early in the process:
- your name and email address,
- the title of your proposal and
- a short description (<400 characters) of your project.
It will be advertised here only as an intent to submit a proposal.
- February 28, 2014, 23:59 UTC - Deadline for proposal submission, to be sent as a pdf file to this email address.
- March 2014 - Your proposal will be reviewed by
o a committee set up by LBTO to assess its technical aspects, especially as they rely to the integration in the observatory environment, and
o the LBTO Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC)
- March 23-25, 2014 - You will be welcome to present your proposal to the LBTO users' community at a dedicated session of the LBTO Users’ Meeting to be held in Tucson.
- March 26-27, 2014 - The SAC will review the proposals at its Tucson meeting following the Users’ Meeting and send a recommendation to the LBTC Board of Directors.
- April 28-29, 2014. The selection of the successful proposal(s) will be made at the LBTC Board meeting.
Once Selected by the LBTC Board
The Board will select proposals, either giving them green light for full development, or asking for a feasibility study or another phase of development which would be needed before a decision can be made to move forward to a full development.
Depending on their development stage, LBTO may also provide “seed money” to the selected project(s) to help them move forward, such as a contribution to the funding of feasibility, conceptual or preliminary design studies.
Note: The submission deadline was February 28, 2014 - 23:59UTC
The context
The immediate future of LBTO is relatively clear, with the suite of first generation instruments and capabilities being delivered and hopefully commissioned before mid-2015 (namely MODS2, LUCI2, AO and ARGOS-GLAO capabilities on both LUCIs), and the observatory moving to full operation mode. Meanwhile, LBTI will continue to enhance its operational readiness and increase its scientific productivity, and the LINC-NIRVANA project, now in a phased development mode, will focus on its MCAO aspects.
Over the past years, there have been various calls for white papers for upgrades of the current instruments as well as next generation instruments. One can wonder if it is appropriate to issue a call for something new while the original instrument suite is barely in place. Actually, it is appropriate: AO capabilities at LBT have been shown to be astounding and there are no instruments, outside of those available (now or in the coming years) on the interferometers, actually ready to benefit from these capabilities at the highest level. New science interests have also emerged which no current instrument can support.
What is called for?
LBTO calls for proposals aiming at providing to the LBT partnership on a short time scale (in a maximum of three to four years) enhanced or new capabilities on the LBT, with a preference for those making good use of the high spatial resolution performances of the telescope.
Proposals can fall in one (or more) of the following categories:
- Improvements in the telescope infrastructure (e.g. AO, laser).
- Upgrades to existing instruments.
- New smart and quick instruments.
Selection Criteria
A strong science case is paramount!
Beyond scientific appeal in itself, other criteria will be used in the selection process, such as
- Complementarity with the LBTO instrumentation and capabilities existing at LBT by mid-2015.
- Appeal to a wide subset of (if not all) the LBT partnership.
- Project team spread over more than one LBT partner. Collaboration between Partners is strongly encouraged! Contact LBTO if you need assistance on this point.
- Experience of the proposed team commensurate to the proposed project.
- Use of the unique capabilities of LBT, in particular in high spatial resolution through AO or interferometry.
Your Proposal
Your proposal should provide the required information in seven chapters as outlined below:
- Science case - Do not forget to explain how the new capabilities brought by your project will complement the first generation of instruments (LBCs, LUCIs, MODSs, LBTI and LN-MCAO, PEPSI). Six pages maximum (be concise and to the point)
- Technical description of the project, including its integration within the LBT environment as well as its operation. Six pages maximum
- Demonstration of the ability of the team you have constituted to develop the instrument in a timely manner and on budget.
- Tentative schedule and overall cost estimate of the project.
- Envisioned project funding scheme.
- Statement on the amount of nights you foresee being used from the partners associated to the proposal and dedicated to the main projects identified in the science case (obviously, those numbers are not commitments at this time).
- - If your proposal is for an infrastructure improvement or a facility instrument upgrade, is to be used ultimately by the whole LBTO partnership, state your agreement with such an open use. - If your proposal is for an upgrade of a PI instrument or a PI instrument in itself, provide a statement on you intent (or the lack thereof) of offering the capabilities of your project to the whole LBTO partnership, beyond the partners involved in your proposal.
The Process
If you intend to submit a proposal and want to advertise it so that interested members of the LBTO partnership can join your team, you are encouraged to send to this email address very early in the process:
- your name and email address,
- the title of your proposal and
- a short description (<400 characters) of your project.
It will be advertised here only as an intent to submit a proposal.
- February 28, 2014, 23:59 UTC - Deadline for proposal submission, to be sent as a pdf file to this email address.
- March 2014 - Your proposal will be reviewed by
o a committee set up by LBTO to assess its technical aspects, especially as they rely to the integration in the observatory environment, and
o the LBTO Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC)
- March 23-25, 2014 - You will be welcome to present your proposal to the LBTO users' community at a dedicated session of the LBTO Users’ Meeting to be held in Tucson.
- March 26-27, 2014 - The SAC will review the proposals at its Tucson meeting following the Users’ Meeting and send a recommendation to the LBTC Board of Directors.
- April 28-29, 2014. The selection of the successful proposal(s) will be made at the LBTC Board meeting.
Once Selected by the LBTC Board
The Board will select proposals, either giving them green light for full development, or asking for a feasibility study or another phase of development which would be needed before a decision can be made to move forward to a full development.
Depending on their development stage, LBTO may also provide “seed money” to the selected project(s) to help them move forward, such as a contribution to the funding of feasibility, conceptual or preliminary design studies.