Observing with e-MERLIN
e-MERLIN is open to proposals from the international astronomical community on the basis of scientific merit alone. Proposals are competitively peer-reviewed under standard STFC rules by the PATT e-MERLIN Time allocation Committee. During the first 5 semesters of e-MERLIN operations ~50% of observing time has been allocated to 12 large legacy projects and most of the remaining time will be allocated via PATT to standard proposals solicited prior to each observing semester
Cycle-1 e-MERLIN : CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The second open round for e-MERLIN proposals is planned for late 2012, with observations scheduled for February 2013 onwards. Further information regarding this call will be advertised soon.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS - Cycle-0 (Semester 2012A)
Deadline : Midnight (23:59 GMT) 26th January 2012
The first open Call for Proposals for e-MERLIN observing time (Semester 2012A) will allow limited modes of operation of the array under a shared-risk policy. PATT allocated observations in Semester 2012A (starting Feb 2012) will be dynamically scheduled alongside on-going commissioning activities and pre-allocated legacy programme observations.
For questions regarding technical capabilities and opportunities for cycle-0 observations please email, emerlin [at] jb.man.ac.uk.
Regular status updates on e-MERLIN developments and capabilities are available on e-MERLIN webpages. Proposal Submissions (Cycle-0, semester 2012A)
e-MERLIN cycle-0 proposals must be submitted via the e-MERLIN NorthStar web-based proposals submission tool. The e-MERLIN NorthStar tool will be open for the submission of e-MERLIN cycle-0 proposals from Janurary 5th 2012
Proposal process:
e-MERLIN cycle-0 proposals must be submitted via the e-MERLIN NorthStar web-based proposals submission tool. To submit an application for time, go to the NorthStar website (register as a new user if necessary) and follow the instructions given in the help file that you will find on the welcome page.
The web-based proposal tool NorthStar has been successfully used for MERLIN and EVN proposals and it will also be adopted for the initial submission of e-MERLIN proposals. Invitations for proposals for shared-risk observations within the commissioning period are now available. Open PATT time allocations will be made for observations from Semester 2012A.
From Cycle-1 (Semester 12b) invitations for proposals will be distributed twice per year and submitted proposals will be subject to peer review via a PATT e-MERLIN Time Allocation Committee (Phase 1). Successful proposals will then be subject to a second pass in which full observing details will be verified (Phase 2). By default e-MERLIN observations are dynamically scheduled by the operations team. Following the completion of the scheduled observations, users are encouraged to visit the e-MERLIN Visitors Suite at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (Alan Turing Building, University of Manchester) where full face-to-face support is available to assist with all aspects of data processing.
