NA ALMA Cycle 8 Call for Study Proposals

The Cycle 8 call for North American Development Studies Proposals deadline is extended by one week owing to difficulties brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.  

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) invites interested parties to submit proposals for Studies of Upgrades for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The call for proposals is open to the North American (NA) ALMA Operations Partnership, which is defined as the community of astronomers and scientists in related fields from North American ALMA partner countries. Studies will be funded for Cycle 8 for 1 year up to $250,000 per individual award. Priority will be given to those Studies which align with the ALMA Development Roadmap (ALMA Memo 612) and the ALMA 2030 strategic vision. Study topics of particular interest to the NA ALMA Partnership include larger bandwidths and improved receiver sensitivity, longer baselines, increasing wide field mapping speed, phased array feeds, and improvements to the Archive.

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 - January 16, 2020

Coordination Meeting Page

Submitting a Notice of Intent (NOI)

Proposers are requested to submit a Study Proposal NOI by March 16, 2020. This will ensure that all Proposers are included in the Cycle 8 mailing list. A NOI is non-binding. Please submit your Notice of Intent HERE.

Preparing a Cycle 8 Study Proposal

Details regarding the preparation of a Cycle 8 Study Proposal can be found in the following documents:

NRAO Employees must submit a New Ideas Notification Form,  which must approved by the Director before proceeding with preparation of a formal Study Proposal. Prospective NRAO Proposers are encouraged to prepare and submit the New Ideas Notification Form as soon as possible. NRAO Proposers will follow the standard NRAO proposal development process, and the proposal document set must be approved by the Director's Office, AUI, and NSF prior to submission. Please allow adequate time for this process and receive authorization from the Director's Office before proceeding with preparation of a formal Study Proposal. The NA ALMA Development Program Manager will assist each PI with this process.

Submitting a Cycle 8 Study Proposal

Submit the completed Cycle 8 Study Proposal (with signatures), in “.pdf” format, online at this webpage.

Cycle 8 Study Proposals received by 11:59pm EDT, 08 May 2020 will receive full consideration. Individual organizations and institutions may submit multiple proposals. Each proposal, however, must comply fully with all of the applicable requirements, including content and submission by the deadline.

Call for Cycle 8 Study Proposals Schedule

Supporting Documents & Links

Previously and Currently funded Studies and Projects