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<body style="font: 10pt/normal Segoe UI; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><div class="GroupWiseMessageBody" id="GroupWiseSection_1531293334000_secretaryobservatory@astron.nl_B84039501E000000AE3B00A024F00846_"><div><div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p align="center" style="text-align: center; mso-outline-level: 1;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><b>International LOFAR Telescope</b> </font></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p align="center" style="text-align: center;"><b><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Proposal Call to the Worldwide Community </font></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p align="center" style="text-align: center;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><b>Cycle 11: 15 November 2018 - 31 May 2019</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p align="center" style="text-align: center;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><b>Submission deadline Thursday 6 September 2018, 12 UT</b> </font></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Submission only via the online tool </font><a href="https://lofar.astron.nl/proposal"><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">NorthStar</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">. </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">** <b>Proposers must ensure that their justification files adhere to the instructions given in Northstar, including restrictions on formats and proposal length, repeated online </b></font></font><a href="http://astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-lofar/observing-proposals/justification-file-instructions/instructions-j"><b><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">here</font></b></a><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><b>. **</b> </font></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">SINGLE-CYCLE ONLY: Proposals are invited for new projects, in any supported general-user mode. Single-cycle projects should achieve their science goals with an allocation only in the upcoming semester (15 Nov 2018 – 31 May 2019). While they may, of course, stem from results of any previous LOFAR observations, they should stand on their own, and should not request supplements to Long-Term projects that are already allocated for Cycles 10-13. Genuine filler and expert shared-support projects are only considered for long-term projects, and such proposals thus are not admitted to this proposal round. The next long-term proposal opportunity will be offered in the Cycle 14 proposal call, in 2020.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">CYCLE EXTENDED BY 2 WEEKS: This call offers observing time in the period from 15 November 2018 to 31 May 2019, as the future cycles will be shifted by two weeks for operational reasons. Approximately 650 hours of observing time are available. </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">COMMUNITY ACCESS: Time on the ILT is available to scientists from the worldwide community. It is allocated in tandem between National Consortia and the ILT-PC, and endorsed by the ILT Board. Scientific excellence and breadth as well as the technical strength of the proposals are taken along in the evaluations. In view of the novel and evolving character of the ILT, first-time proposers are strongly urged to get in contact with Science Operations & Support at ASTRON through the Radio Observatory </font><a href="http://www.astron.nl/radio-observatory/submit-support-request/jira-ro-helpdesk-ticketing-system"><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">helpdesk system</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> well ahead of the deadline, or to seek suitable collaborators; novice groups should also consider keeping the scope of initial projects modest while they become familiar with the complexities of data handling and analysis. </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">TIME, PROCESSING, AND DATA RIGHTS: Allocations will consist of observing time, as described above and detailed </font><a href="http://www.astron.nl/radio-observatory/astronomers/requesting-observations-and-data/lofar-announcement-opportunities-earl"><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">online</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">. Restrictions on the available processing resources and on the total data storage in the archive will also be taken into account. For Cycle 11, there will be 650 observing hours, 900 processing hours and 2.3 PB of archive storage available. Of the 650 observing hours available, up to 500 hours could be observed at night. The availability of observing time as a function of LST after taking into account the already allocated long-term projects is presented </font><a href="http://www.astron.nl/radio-observatory/cycles-allocations-and-observing-schedules/time-requests-lst/time-requests-lst"><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">online</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">. Each proposal must request processing time to match the observing time within appropriate documented ratios (see documentation </font><a href="https://www.astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-capabilities/depth-technical-information/major-observing-modes/major-obs"><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">online</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">), or should justify how processing will proceed elsewhere. In relation to this, <i>if a proposing group needs the data to be archived at a specific LTA site, this should be explicitly requested and justified in the proposal</i>. The PC will define restricted data access rights (default period 1 year) based on the specific science goals and arguments in the proposal. Other groups may be allocated simultaneous access for different science. </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">MINIMUM USEFUL ALLOCATIONS: For all proposals, the technical case must argue both the optimal and the minimal required total amount of time and other resources (and any requirements on cadence or time span). If the stated minimum requirements cannot be allocated, the proposal will not be carried out at all. </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">PRIORTISED OBSERVING LIST: If proposals request multiple observations (e.g. multiple fields/pointings, or multiple instrumental settings) these will be taken in all cases to be listed in decreasing order of preference/priority of the proposers. In case only a partial allocation can be made, the ILT-PC may, based on its science assessment, decide to deviate from the proposed priorities, but the proposer priorities must anyway be clear in advance. </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">SYSTEM CAPABILITIES: The International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) is a powerful radio telescope for frequencies below 240 MHz that offers state-of-the-art observing capabilities thanks to its phased-array technology with digital beam-forming. LOFAR delivers correlated visibility data for synthesis imaging, plus in/coherently added single and multiple station data (several beam-formed modes) as well as transient buffer read-out, for example for studies of pulsars, transients, and cosmic rays. LOFAR capabilities are described in detail </font><a href="http://astron.nl/radio-observatory/astronomers/technical-information/lofar-technical-information"><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">online</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">. LOFAR is now a responsive system capable of automatically responding to triggers within 5 minutes, overriding any lower priority observations (currently undergoing final testing). PIs interested in using the latest system enhancements or who are otherwise unsure of the possibilities for their projects after studying the details given </font><a href="http://www.astron.nl/radio-observatory/lofar-system-capabilities/responsive-telescope/responsive-telescope"><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">online</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> should get in contact with Science Operations and Support through the Radio Observatory </font><a href="http://www.astron.nl/radio-observatory/submit-support-request/jira-ro-helpdesk-ticketing-system"><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">helpdesk system</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">. </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">CO-OBSERVING WITH THE SURVEYS KSP PROGRAMME: The International LOFAR Telescope encourages co-observing and co-processing of data for the Surveys KSP team and the PIs of standalone Cycle proposals requiring targeted imaging. By utilizing the multi-beam capability of LOFAR, some Surveys KSP Tier-1 pointings could be observed alongside other science targets, maximizing the telescope efficiency. As a benefit of co-observing, the PIs of the standalone projects will receive the standard results of the data processing performed by the Surveys KSP team (see details </font><a href="http://astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-proposals/co-observing-surveys-ksp-team/co-observing-surveys-ksp-team"><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">online</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">). There will be no requirement for joint science analysis or publications</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><i><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">To apply for this option, the observing setup of the standalone project should be the same as that of Surveys KSP Tier-1 observations (see details </font></i><a href="http://astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-proposals/co-observing-surveys-ksp-team/co-observing-surveys-ksp-team"><i><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">online</font></i></a><i><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">). Any of the proposers interested in this opportunity should clearly state so in their proposals. Moreover, they should confirm that their observations could adopt the Surveys KSP Tier-1 observing and processing setup.</font></i></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><i><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">While planning their projects, proposers are encouraged to check the availability of public LOFAR data for their targets in the </font></i><a href="https://lta.lofar.eu/"><i><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">long-term archive</font></i></a><i><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">. Additionally, in case the Survey observing/processing setup could apply to their observations, they are solicited to verify the ( current or forthcoming) availability of Survey Tier 1 data for their targets at </font></i><a href="http://www.astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-proposals/co-observing-surveys-ksp-team/co-observing-surveys-ksp-team"><i><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">this page</font></i></a><i><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">.</font></i></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><i>ADDITIONAL INFORMATION</i> </font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">The Observatory will explore the possibility for a few users unfamiliar with the reduction of LOFAR data to come to ASTRON for assistance with this by Observatory personnel. If this is desired, it must be specified in the proposal. Limited travel subsidies for eligible users can be supported by RadioNet. Further details are given </font><a href="http://astron.nl/radio-observatory/observing-proposals/radionet-transnational-access-programme/radionet-transnational"><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3">online</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">. </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p style="mso-outline-level: 1;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">R.C. Vermeulen </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Director, International LOFAR Telescope </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font><br></div></div><br></div></div></body></html>