The NOT 'Fast-Track' Service ProgrammeWith the start of Observing Period 31 (April 1st, 2005), NOT has started a Fast-Track Service Observing Program offering the opportunity to propose short programmes on a running basis and with a short lead time from proposal to execution. A number of nights have been reserved for this service throughout each semester, and approved programmes will be executed on those nights (and only those).
Below, a brief description of the program is given, and links are
provided to the fast-track proposal form and a page providing
instructions on how the details of the observations can be defined
after the proposal has been accepted. If you have any questions or comments, please contact service. Scope of proposalsOnly short programs are accepted for the fast-track program, with a maximum total length of four hours. Proposals may concern short, self-contained projects, pilot projects, or observations needed to finish projects which were, e.g., cut short by bad weather or interrupted by ToO observations. The fast-track program is, however, open to anybody, and the evaluation criteria are only scientific quality and technical feasibility.ConstraintsA limited number of service nights will be reserved for the fast-track program in each semester; thus, fast-track programs do not have access to time already allocated to other programs. The observing schedules list the assigned service nights in the current semester(s).
To offer a broad set of observing capabilities, but at the same time
provide a system that allows both flexibility and the highest possible
rate of completion of the proposed observing programs, the instruments
that will be available are ALFOSC, NOTCam, FIES and StanCam.
For NOTCam, FIES and StanCam the instrument set-ups are in principle
fixed. For ALFOSC the instrument set-up can
vary widely, but we cannot provide changes of the set-up during an
observing night, and there is a limited amount of time for calibration
observations. Therefore, we limit each proposal to a selection of
2 grisms and 2 slits,
and 4 filters beyond the standard UBVRi set.
The maximum total time of the proposed observations is 4 hours, which must include the time needed for target acquisition and any night-time calibration observations (e.g., standard star observations). Proposals that do not comply with these constraints will be rejected. Proposal submissionTo submit a proposal a web-based proposal form is provided.
We have tried to keep the form as short and as simple as possible, so
we have provided a limited number of boxes that should be filled out.
For each item in the form, a short
Instruction window is provided. In the resulting form each box
has a maximum size, and applicants should check that no overflow
occurs before submitting the form.
The format is what-you-see-is-what-you-get. No HTML or LaTeX code will
be rendered, neither in PDFs nor for on-line viewing. However,
applicants can of course use these codes as long as their meaning is
clear (e.g., $\alpha$ in LaTeX). Note that when you fill in the form
you are working locally, and you can save the current contents of your
proposal in a file on your own computer. Thus, you can work on the
proposal whether or not you have a working network connection. Also,
intermediate versions of a proposal (which in principle could be
prepared by anyone else and sent to you) can be loaded into the form.
With a working network connection, you can create a PDF file of the
proposal for a final check, and submit the finished proposal.
The NOT Deputy Director is the contact person for all
applications and provides evaluation of their technical feasibility.
After submission and technical evaluation, the proposal is sent to the
OPC Chair, who will arrange for its prompt evaluation by a member of
the OPC. The resulting recommendation will assign a priority on a
scale from 1 (highest) to 3 (lowest) and specify a maximum time to be
allocated. No appeal of this decision will be possible. The goal of
the procedure is to give an answer to the proposer within 2 weeks.
Accepted proposals will remain in the queue for a maximum of one and a half year, after which a new proposal may be submitted. Project executionApproved programs will normally be executed in queue mode by the NOT staff on the pre-assigned service nights. For this we have set up a system of Observing Blocks (OBs), which define the requirements for a set of observations. Instructions on how to prepare OBs and provide us with the information needed to execute the requested observation are provided here .The data obtained will be made available to the PI by ftp, and the same proprietary period will apply as for normal observing programs.
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