Proposal Evaluation and Time Allocation

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Proposals to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) for the scientific use of its telescopes are evaluated on the basis of scientific merit and technical feasibility using a panel-based proposal review systemVolunteer to become a NRAO proposal science reviewer.  Proposals to use one, or a combination, of the GBT, the VLA, or the VLBA/HSA are submitted with the Proposal Submission Tool  (PST).

Three proposal types can be submitted for the standard deadlines of 1 Feb and 1 Aug each year: Regular, Large, and Triggered.  (NRAO policy regarding Large proposals may be found here.)  Director's Discretionary Time (DDT) may be submitted at any time and are reviewed by the observatory scientific staff on the basis of the proposals' scientific merit and technical feasibility.  DDT proposals are for Target of Opportunity proposals or Exploratory Time.  A number of tools are available to support proposal planning; e.g., sensitivity and exposure calculators, and a Proposal Finder Tool (PFT) that may be used to search cover sheets of proposals previously approved for time on NRAO telescopes.  There are also opportunities for commensal observing.

The NRAO has agreements with several facilities for joint proposals where telescope time on AUI's North American facilities may be granted by these external telescope time allocation committees (TACs).   Reciprocal agreements exist where the NRAO TAC may grant time on these external facilities.  Since ALMA is an international partnership, it has an independent international proposal review process coordinated by the Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO).

The NRAO Users’ Policies sets the long-term core policies for use of the GBT, VLA, and VLBA and their data by the scientific community. The policies set forth in this document supersede other documents in circulation.

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