Call for GBT Proposals - Trimester 08C

Call for GBT Proposals - Trimester 08C
Deadline: 2 June 2008, 5:00 P.M., EDT

The 2 June deadline will cover the 08C observing period from 1 October 2008 through 31 January 2009. We will accept proposals for the following receivers: 290-920 MHz (PF1), 910-1230 MHz (PF2), 1.15-1.73 GHz (L), 1.73-2.60 GHz (S), 3.8-6.1 GHz (C), 8.0-12.0 GHz (X), 12.0-15.4 GHz (Ku), 18.0-26.5 GHz (K), 26.0-39.5 GHz (Ka) and 38.2-49.8 GHz (Q) receivers.

Two new instruments are also available for the June 2 deadline. Proposals submitted to use either of these instruments must be a collaborative effort with the appropriate instrument team.

• The Zpectrometer backend. Zpectrometer will be the backend of choice for galaxy searches in the CO J = 1-0 transition from redshifts 2 to 3.5, among other similar experiments. It has 14 GHz of instantaneous bandwidth that cover 26-40 GHz with moderate resolution and with superb baselines, due to its correlation design. Those considering Zpectrometer projects will find details about the instrument at in the January, 2008 and October, 2007 NRAO newsletters (http://www.nrao.edu/news/newsletters/nraonews114.pdf, p. 22 and (http://www.nrao.edu/news/newsletters/nraonews113.pdf, p. 21-22). The first CO detection with Zpectrometer is described at http://www.gb.nrao.edu/gbt/Zpectrometer/firstDetection.shtml. Please contact Andy Harris (harris@astro.umd.edu) for more details and collaboration information.
• The Mustang bolometer array has 64 pixels and operates with a 20 GHz bandwidth centered at 90 GHz. More details about Mustang commissioning and the call for proposals can be found in the April 2008 Newsletter (http://www.nrao.edu/news/newsletters/115/nraonews115.pdf, pp. 21-22) and at http://www.gb.nrao.edu/mustang. Please Brian Mason (bmason@nrao.edu) for more details and collaboration information.

Available observing modes include spectral line (including cross-polarization), continuum, pulsar, and VLBI/VLBA. Pulsar modes include the Pulsar Spigot, the Spectral Processor and the BCPM (Berkeley-Caltech Pulsar Machine) through agreement with its developers. The VLBA back end with Mark5A disk recorder may be used as a high-time resolution (> 2 ns) back end for single-dish observing. Details of all GBT observing modes are described in the proposer's guide at: http://www.gb.nrao.edu/gbtprops/man/GBTpg/GBTpg_tf.html Proposers should also consult the more general document, "The Performance of the GBT: A Guide for Planning Observations", available at the link http://www.gb.nrao.edu/~rmaddale/GBT/ReceiverPerformance/PlaningObservations.htm

In addition to regular GBTproposals, the following will be accepted

• Large Proposals (http://www.nrao.edu/administration/directors_office/largeprop.shtml) at this deadline. Proposals will be accepted for the fully commissioned hardware only (Zpectrometer and MUSTANG are excluded).
• Proposals for the Lunar Crater and Observation Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Mission. This opportunity was described in the October 2007 NRAO Newsletter (http://www.nrao.edu/news/newsletters/nraonews113.pdf, p. 29-30). NRAO will accept proposals related to the LCROSS mission for peer review at the 2 June 2008 deadline. More details are available at http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/

Proposals requesting GBT participation in HSA, VLBA or global VLBI observations should be submitted to the VLBA only, not to the GBT. Proposers requesting joint GBT and VLA and or VLBA observations must submit separate proposals for each instrument and indicate in these proposals that they are a joint request.

The Observatory continues to offer financial support for graduate and undergraduate students performing research with the GBT through the Student Support Program. Awards of up to $35,000 are possible. Applications are made in conjunction with GBT observing proposals, and will be accepted at the 2 June 2008 deadline. Student support applications are now made through an integrated feature of the proposal submission tool. Information about the program can be found at the NRAO Student Observing Support Program link http://wiki.gb.nrao.edu/bin/view/Observing/NRAOStudentSupportProgram

We remind proposers of the NRAO policy requesting a Plan of Dissertation (http://www.gb.nrao.edu/gbtprops/gbtproppolicies.shtml) as part of the support for PhD dissertations using NRAO facilities. If the proposal is part of a dissertation thesis and a Plan of Dissertation has not been submitted in the past (or one has been but there are major changes) please use the NRAO Proposal Submission Tool to submit one.

Proposers must use the NRAO Proposal Submission (PST) tool available at the link http://www.gb.nrao.edu/nraoPST.htm or directly from http://my.nrao.edu. Several modifications to the PST have been made and will be in place starting 12:00 EDT (noon) Friday, 16 May 2008, and accessible from NRAO Interactive Services at http://my.nrao.edu. The principal investigator, the contact author and any students who will use the proposed observations for their dissertation thesis, must be registered users. On the registration form you will be asked contact information which will be used for notification about proposal status, telescope schedules, funding, etc. We encourage proposers to register early. The PST can now upload a Plan of Dissertation either within the Author's page for a specific proposal or from a student's profile under user preferences. For more details see: https://wikio.nrao.edu/bin/view/Software/PSTReleaseNotesJun2008.

The policy for observing with the GBT, including a description of the strict restrictions concerning remote observing, can be found at the link http://wiki.gb.nrao.edu/bin/view/Observing/GbtObservingPolicies

Proposal receipt will open on 12:00 EDT (noon) Friday, 16 May 2008 and will close at 17:00 EDT (5pm) on Monday, 2 June 2008.

Questions about the proposal process may be addressed to Carl Bignell (304-456-2165 or cbignell@nrao.edu). Technical questions about GBT hardware, software, and observing modes may be addressed to Ron Maddalena (304-456-2207 or rmaddale@nrao.edu). Questions about the proposal submission tool should be sent to proposal@aoc.nrao.edu.