Applying for time at NOTGeneral RulesIt has been a long-standing policy at the NOT to accept observing proposals from anyone, regardless of nationality, affiliation, or status. Thus, projects by non-Nordic P.I.s typically received 10-12% of the Nordic observing time in open competition after peer review by the NOT OPC. In recent years, however, the demand from external European groups without competitive instrumentation has risen to the point where 'foreign' time at the NOT far exceeded the share available to any of the sponsoring countries, with little return of such favours for Nordic astronomers.Plans for equitable time sharing arrangements with other competitive European 2-4m telescopes are being prepared through the ASTRONET and OPTICON. However, in the interim, the NOT Council has decided to limit outside access to the NOT to 15% of the total science time, excluding Spanish, ITP and technical time. Moreover, to ensure equitable and competitive review of all eligible proposals for time at the NOT and all other European telescopes, the Council also decided that ALL non-Nordic proposals MUST be submitted through the OPTICON common proposal and evaluation system (see deadlines below and link to the latest call). Proposals submitted outside the OPTICON procedure will in future be considered only in exceptional cases. This policy will be reviewed and adjusted as appropriate, semester by semester. The OPTICON Trans-National Access Programme: The OPTICON Trans-National Access Programme provides access for European, but non-Nordic users to NOT and several other European telescopes with support from the European Commission. Proposals for OPTICON time at the NOT must be submitted to OPTICON well before the usual NOT deadline - see the OPTICON Call text for all details on this programme. International Time Programme: 5% of the observing time at the Canarian observatories is allocated to international teams for periods of up to two years directly through the CCI International Time Programme. The ITP programme has its own proposal form which can be accessed here. 'Fast-track' Observing Proposals for short programmes: Any proposal for a programme requiring up to 4 hours of observing time in service mode and with standard instrumentation can be submitted at any time through the 'Fast-Track Service Programme'.
Regular Observing Proposals:
Who can apply?
How do I apply for observing time at NOT?Applications for observation time at NOT must be prepared and submitted electronically using the Latex proposal package for the period applied for (proposal template, style file, and README file). The updated proposal files will be available 4-6 weeks before each proposal deadline.NB: The competition for observing time at the NOT is very keen, and our small OPC cannot contain experts in all fields of astronomy. Therefore, it is CRUCIAL that proposals outline CLEARLY the scientific background and context of the proposed project, and also explain CLEARLY what contribution the planned observations will make to advancing our understanding of the field in question! As a more practical matter, note that proposals will only be accepted if prepared with the appropriate NOTFORM style macros and submitted to proposal@not.iac.es, a special mail-only account reserved for processing observing proposals. Please specify "Proposal" as the Subject when submitting a proposal, and "Question" in case of any preparatory inquiries.
Deadlines
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