NA ALMA Development - Cycle 4 Study Proposals
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) invites interested parties in the North American ALMA partnership to submit proposals for "Development Studies of Upgrades for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)."
Questions about this Call for Proposals
Questions related to this Call for Proposals should be submitted via email.
A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page is available, and will be updated as questions are received and answered.
Coordination Meeting - March 09, 2016
Submitting a Notice of Intent (NOI)
Proposers are requested to submit a Study Proposal NOI by March 15, 2016. This will ensure that all Proposers are included in the Cycle 4 mailing list. A NOI is non-binding. Please submit your Notice of Intent HERE.
Preparing a Cycle 4 Study Proposal
Details regarding the preparation of a Cycle 4 Study Proposal can be found in the following documents:
| Cycle 4 Study Proposal Documents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Call for Cycle 4 Proposals - Cover Letter | ||
| Call for Cycle 4 Proposals - Instructions | ||
| Cycle 4 Study Proposal Template | Word |
NRAO Employees must submit a New Ideas Notification Form (CLOSED) and receive authorization from the Director's Office before proceeding with preparation of a formal Study Proposal.
Submitting a Cycle 4 Study Proposal
Please submit your Cycle 4 Study Proposal HERE (CLOSED).
Call for Cycle 4 Study Proposals Schedule
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Release of Call for Study Proposals | 2016 March 01 |
| Informational Meeting |
2016 March 09 |
| Notice of Intent | 2016 March 15 |
| Proposer's Questions Submitted | 2016 April 15 |
| Proposal Deadline | 2016 May 02 |
| Notification of Awards | 2016 July 30 |
| Validity Date of Proposals | 2016 September 30 |
| Study Completion Date | 2017 September 30 |
Post Award Documents
| Post Award Document | Document Date | |
|---|---|---|
| FFATA Subrecipient Profile Questionnaire | 12 June 2012 | |
| ALMA Development Subrecipient Agreement | 29 February 2016 | |
| Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement | 02 February 2016 | |
| Subrecipient Representations & Certifications |
Cycle 4 Study Important Dates
Cycle 4 Study Proposals received by 5:00pm EDT, 02 May 2016 will receive full consideration. Multiple proposals may be submitted by individual organizations and institutions. Each proposal, however, must comply fully with all of the applicable requirements, including content and submission by the deadline.
The completed Studies will be used, together with similar studies from the other ALMA partners, to augment and implement the ALMA Development Plan. Please see documents developed by the ALMA Scientific Advisory Committee at the Call website describing development priorities.
Supporting Documents & Links
| ALMA Development Documents | ||
|---|---|---|
| A Road Map for Developing ALMA | ASAC | |
| Pathways to Developing ALMA | Bolatto, Corder, Iono, Testi, Wootten | |
| Major Science Themes in the 2020-2030 Decade | ||
| Major Facilities by 2030 | ||
| ALMA Development Strategic Goals & Objectives | Link | |
| ALMA Development Studies Implementation Plan | ||
| ALMA Standards | Document No. | |
| ALMA Product Assurance Requirements | ALMA-80.11.00.00-001-D-GEN | |
| ALMA Quality Management Systems | ALMA-80.11.00.00-0092-A-STD | |
| ALMA Specifications | Document No. | |
| ALMA System Electromagnetic Compatibility Requirements | ALMA-80.05.01.00-001-B-SPE | |
| ALMA Environmental Specifications | ALMA-80.05.02.00-001-B-SPE | |
| ALMA Front End Specifications | ALMA.40.00.00.00-001-A-SPE | |
| ALMA Procedures | Document No. | |
| ALMA Design Reviews - Definitions, Guidelines and Procedures | ALMA-80.09.00.00-001-D-PLA | |
| ALMA Review Panel Instructions and Guidelines for Call Ending 2 May 2016 | ALMA-H-001.1 | |
| ALMA Product Tree | ALMA-80.03.00.00-001-M-LIS | |
| ALMA Documents from Earlier Calls | ||
| Report from the ALMA Development Working Group | November 3, 2008 | |
| Principles for the ALMA Development Program | July, 2011 | |
| ALMA in the Coming Decade, Development Workshop | April 18, 2013 | Link |
| ALMA Software Development Workshop | October, 2011 | Link |
ALMA Development Studies History
Cycle 1
The first call for ALMA Development Studies (Cycle 1) was reported in eNews
https://science.nrao.edu/enews/5.6/index.shtml#almadev.
77 investigators associated with 26 institutions responded to the Call with a total of 21 Study Proposals, of which the following 8 were funded.
|
Cycle 1 Study Title (hover for linked reports) | PI | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Second Generation Receiver for ALMA Band 6 (Study continues into Cycle 2) | Anthony R. Kerr (NRAO) | |
| Ultra-wideband quantum limited amplifiers for receiver frontends | D. Woody (Caltech) | |
| Design Study for Production of the Band 2 Cartridges | Eric Bryerton (NRAO) | Study has become a Cycle 2 ALMA Development Project: Design and Testing of a Prototype Band-2 Cartridge (PI: K. S. Saini) |
| A Visualization Portal for ALMA Data | E. Rosolowski (UBC-Okanagan) | Study has become a Cycle 2 ALMA Development Project: The Next Generation ALMA Viewer (PI: E, Rosolowsky) |
| Millimeter/Submillimeter VLBI with ALMA | Jeff Kern (NRAO) | Study was associated with an ALMA Development Project now reaching realization: The ALMA Phasing Project (PI: S. Doeleman, MIT) |
| Unleashing Large Dataset Science | Lee Mundy (Univ. Maryland) | Study has become a Cycle 2 Development Project: ALMA Data Mining Toolkit: ADMIT (PI: Lee Mundy) |
| Increasing the ALMA Data Rate | B. Glendenning (NRAO) | NOTE: Study proposal was withdrawn |
| ALMA Band 1 Receiver Development Study | P.T.P. Ho (ASIAA) | Study has become an ALMA Development Project led by East Asia, in collaboration with North America and Universidad de Chile |
Cycle 2
The second call for ALMA Development Studies (Cycle 2) was reported in eNews Feb 2014:
https://science.nrao.edu/enews/7.3/index.shtml
9 submissions were received from 8 PIs with teams totaling 41 investigators from 17 institutions; 6 were funded.
|
Cycle 2 Study Title |
PI | Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
T. Bastian, NRAO |
Study has resulted in ALMA offering solar observations in Cycle 4 Observations | |
|
A. Kerr, NRAO |
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|
A. Leroy, NRAO |
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|
A. Kerr, NRAO |
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|
S. Claude, NRC-Herzberg |
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|
T. Wilson, NRL |
Cycle 3
Results from the third call for ALMA Development Studies (Cycle 3) were reported in eNews Dec 2015:
https://science.nrao.edu/enews/8.11/index.shtml
15 submissions were received from 15 PIs with teams totaling 53 investigators from 19 institutions; 7 were funded.
Note: the due date for Reports for Cycle 3 Studies has not yet occurred.
| Cycle 3 Study Title | PI | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Extensions & Enhancements to the ALMA Phasing System | L. Matthews, MIT | |
| Spectral Resolution and Bandwidth Upgrade of the ALMA Correlator | R. Lacasse, NRAO | |
| Improving the Calibration of Atmospheric Spectral Features | T. Hunter, NRAO | |
| Pulsars, Magnetars, and Transients with Phased ALMA | J. Cordes, Cornell | |
| Feature Extraction and Data Cube Visualization through Topology | P. Rosen, U of Utah | |
| Advanced Materials and On-wafer Chip Evaluation: 2nd Generation | A. Lichtenberger, UVA | |
| Digital Correlation and Phased Array Architectures | J. Weintroub, SAO |
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