Call for Proposals for SMA Large Scale Science and ASIAA Key Projects

Opportunity for Large Scale Science and Key observing programs with the SMA

Overview
Proposing
Proposal Review
Oversight

Overview

The SMA invites proposals for large resource observing projects dedicated to answering major astrophysical questions having significant scientific impact. These are projects requiring observing time beyond the maximum in standard proposals (e.g. more than 200 hours for SAO, 100 hours for ASIAA) that can make efficient use of the sensitivity, field of view, and u-v coverage of the SMA, and can take advantage of particular strengths of the SMA such as its wide bandwidth, large field-of-view and flexible scheduling. For a description of the current capabilities of the SMA, please refer to Array Status and Technical Information. Projects requiring less than 200 hours (SAO) or 100 hours (ASIAA) of observing time should propose in response to a standard Call for Proposals.

• SMA Large Scale Science proposals may be submitted to the SAO pool by scientists from the worldwide astronomy community in addition to those affiliated with SMA partner institutions. Accepted Large Scale Science proposals will likely be observed over multiple semesters, and multiple large scale observing programs may run concurrently. However, the total amount of time allocated to large-scale projects will not exceed 33% of SAO's available observing time in any semester (approximately 30 'tracks' or rise-to-set observations).
• ASIAA Key Science proposals may be submitted to the ASIAA pool by researchers in Taiwanese institutions, including ASIAA Hawaii. Please see the ASIAA Key Science description, which provides up-to-date information on the ASIAA Key projects progam, including important review steps and fraction of time available.

SMA Large Scale Science and ASIAA Key projects are subject to extensive review and should therefore include a strong scientific justification, and follow a phased proposal development, submission, and review process as described below.

Proposing

Prospective PIs of Large Scale Science and ASIAA Key project proposals may submit a Notice of Intent (NoI) at any time. The NoI must include a brief scientific justification, an estimate of the time and observing conditions required to perform the observations and the rationale for the use of the SMA as opposed to another facility. In addition, it should provide a list of expected Co-I's in order to avoid conflicts of interest in seeking expert reviewers if deemed necessary.

The PI or a designated Co-I may be asked to provide further details and justifications on any aspect of the proposal to the SMA TAC Chair so that an accurate understanding can be assured.

The full proposal should:

• Further develop the scientific justification in the context of the current state-of-the-art and any on-going programmes in the field and explain the legacy science value to the community.
  
• Justify the time and configuration requests through detailed estimates of expected source strength and spatial structure.
  
• Describe the methods required to achieve the science goals.
  
• Identify those team members who will perform data reduction and analysis, and those who will provide theoretical support to the observing program.
  
• Demonstrate that sufficient resources are available to the team to enable the highest quality publications, presentations, and other data products to be made available to the wider astronomical community.
  
• Provide a timetable and propose methods for dissemination of results to the community.
  

Proposals are submitted through the My Projects page under each individual PI's SMA Project Account. The proposal should not exceed ten pages, comprising up to seven pages of scientific and technical justification, figures, tables and references, a one to two page management plan, and a one page schedule (semester by semester) outlining how observations should proceed.

To ensure timely review, proposers of large-scale projects should consult with the SMA TAC chair to ensure sufficient lead-time for discussion and proposal development, and if necessary for the external review process. To prepare and allow time for this process, a Notice of Intent is first required, in advance of the submission of a full proposal.

Proposal Review

Proposals will be evaluated by a team of SMA experts, the full SMA TAC, and if deemed necessary further review by expert external reviewers solicited by the SMA SAO or ASIAA TAC Chairs on an ad-hoc basis. If required, any expert reviews will be available to the TAC members to guide their individual evaluations and the review of the large-scale, key and regular proposals will be merged. All proposals, including SAO large-scale proposals, will be assessed and ranked following the standard TAC process for regular proposals. For 2023B, ASIAA Key Projects proposals will be evaluated through a separate ASIAA process (see Key Project details for more information).

Successful proposals will be assigned observing time and will be scheduled for observing on a semiannual basis, in coordination with the time allocation for regular SMA proposals.

Oversight and the role of the PI:

For smaller programs our regular proposal procedures continue to apply and proposals for very small projects may be submitted at any time as filler projects.

Questions may be addressed to sma [hyphen] largescale [at] cfa [dot] harvard [dot] edu.