What's New in 24B?

Joint Programs with JWST.  Starting in 24B, joint proposals may be submitted requesting time on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).  A maximum time of 50 hours can be allocated per year on the JWST.

Updated Dissertation Plans.  Students that have dissertation plans as part of their NRAO profile will be REQUIRED to update their plans following a strict thesis template.  The template is available in either Word or LaTex formats (see Section 7.2 of the NRAO and GBO Users' Policies).

As stated in the Users' Policies - While not a guarantee, the Observatory allows reviewers to consider elevating the proposal in the rankings if it is associated with an acceptable Plan of Dissertation. This is given in consideration to the time constraints students typically operate under, as having to resubmit a proposal due to minor criticisms may not be possible within the scope of their studies. Therefore, it is advantageous for students to provide a thoughtful and thorough Plan of Dissertation if their PhD research is reliant on the proposal data.

NRAO and GBO Users' Policies.  The policies have been substantially updated ahead of the 24B Call for Proposals.

   - The requirements and policies concerning Joint Proposals have been significantly revised in Sections 3.2.1 and 3.2.3.
   - The policies for VLA and VLBA Resident Shared Risk Observing (RSRO) and Shared Risk Observing (SRO) have been significantly revised in Section 5.2.
   - The policy for scheduling General Observing (GO) observations has been updated in Section 5.3. 
   - The requirements for student Dissertation Plans have been significantly revised in Section 7.2 (see above).

See the NRAO and GBO Users' Policies page.

VLA Spectral Line.  Starting with the 24B Call for Proposals, the VLA General Observing Setup Tool (GOST) is obsolete. The NRAO requires the use of a proposing specific version of the Resource Catalog Tool (RCT) for proposers requesting spectral-line or non-default VLA WIDAR resources.  See the RCT Proposing page for more details and to access the new proposal specific version of the tool.

Connect with NRAO

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Green Bank Observatory are facilities of the U.S. National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

Founded in 1956, the NRAO provides state-of-the-art radio telescope facilities for use by the international scientific community. NRAO telescopes are open to all astronomers regardless of institutional or national affiliation. Observing time on NRAO telescopes is available on a competitive basis to qualified scientists after evaluation of research proposals on the basis of scientific merit, the capability of the instruments to do the work, and the availability of the telescope during the requested time. NRAO also provides both formal and informal programs in education and public outreach for teachers, students, the general public, and the media.

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