[ASA] Call for Proposals for Australian community access to the Keck telescopes in Semester 2017B

[International Telescopes Support Office]

      Call for Proposals for Australian community access to the Keck
      telescopes in Semester 2017B


Proposals for Australian community access to the Keck telescopes in 
Hawaii for Semester 2017B (1 Aug 2017 - 31 Jan 2018) are due by

*5:00pm AEST, Wednesday 22 March 2017.**
*
Separate calls for Gemini, Blanco, and Magellan proposals in Semester 
2017B (with proposal deadlines of 31 March for Gemini/Blanco and 7 April 
for Magellan) will be issued shortly.


        What's new in 2017B?

  * KTAC proposals are now submitted via the use of the AAO Lens
    proposal handling system. See below for information on how to go
    about submitting your proposal.
  * The Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) will be offered on Keck 2 for
    shared-risk science beginning in mid-August 2017. KCWI enables
    integral field spectroscopy over a seeing-limited field up to 20" x
    33". Initially only the blue channel covering 350-700 nm at spectral
    resolutions between 1,000 and 20,000 with a Nod-and-Shuffle option
    is available. Further information about KCWI and its anticipated
    performance will be made available in coming days at
    http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/kcwi/. Applicants are encouraged to
    submit targets covering a range in Right Ascension to minimise the
    number of first-half night requests in August.
  * Semester 2017B is currently the final semester in which AAL is
    contributing community time to the KTAC joint program. ANU and
    Swinburne University of Technology are currently negotiating
    individual extensions to their own Keck access beyond 2018A, but any
    AAL access in 2018A or beyond will be dependent on as yet uncertain
    funding decisions. ANU, Swinburne, and AAL are exploring the option
    of continuing KTAC. Large Programs (defined to be those requiring 4
    or more nights total, allocated over 1 or more semesters) extending
    beyond 2017B will require either an ANU or Swinburne PI (with
    participation from other institutions welcome) with any allocation
    beyond 2018A provisional until extensions of the ANU/Swinburne
    access agreements are finalised.
  * KTAC are taking a number of proactive steps to help mitigate the
    impact of unconscious bias on proposal assessment, including
    pre-grading discussion; suppressing the PI surname from the
    scientific justification; and viewing proposals with the scientific
    and technical justification sections first, followed by the Keck
    cover sheet information.


        How to apply

Details on how to prepare and submit a KTAC application for 2017B can be 
found on the ITSO website at

https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/keck/apply

via the "Call for Proposals" and "Submitting" tabs. There is a new LaTeX 
template for 2017B which must be used by all applicants. The page limit 
for the technical justification has been increased to 1.5 pages. 
Applicants will need to register for an account with the AAO Lens system 
if they have not previously applied for AAT, Magellan, or Blanco time in 
Lens. To submit a proposal you will simply need to answer a few 
questions, then upload your Keck Observatory cover sheet PDF as well as 
your science + technical case PDF. Lens will merge these documents 
together and e-mail you a copy as acknowledgement of your submission.

Applicants should consult the Keck Observatory instrument availability 
page (http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/observing/instavail.html) and the Keck 
Observatory pages for individual instruments 
(http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/index.php) for the most up-to-date 
information.

Principal Investigators (or their Australian-based designates) granted 
KTAC time will normally be expected to travel to the Keck Observatory 
headquarters in Waimea on the Big Island of Hawaii. Suitably-experienced 
observers are invited to make use of the dedicated Keck remote observing 
facilities at Swinburne or at ANU. ITSO will reimburse a single 
observer's travel costs in either case.


        Need Help?

For general enquiries concerning Australian access to Keck, please 
contact the International Telescopes Support Office (itso at aao.gov.au). 
For enquiries about a specific instrument please contact the instrument 
master listed on each instrument's home page, or contact the ITSO to be 
directed to a local expert if you need a rapid response.


Stuart Ryder
Head of International Telescopes Support
itso at aao.gov.au

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