NRT Observing time request: information page

Period: SEMESTER 2021B: July 1st to December 31st, 2021
deadline: May 11th, 2021.

Please, copy the .tex and .sty files to prepare your observing time request proposal:
The perl procedure requestTable6.perl may be used to fill the standard NRT request table (rename it with the .pl extension if necessary). This procedure reads an ASCII list of sources and produces latex tables also for the source list..
Telescope characteristics

Submission of proposals (.tex and .pdf) is expected by email, sent to P. Colom, chairman of the CdP.
Pierre.Colom at obspm.fr

Observing time is allocated on the basis of two semesters per year, A and B, upon a proposal selection process.
The Nançay radio telescope (NRT) programme committee ("Comité des Programmes", hereafter CdP) meets twice a year. Normal proposals will be examined for semesters A and B, while a call for KP is issued once a year, in October.


Rating & time allocation : Proposals are rated considering scientific value in view of the information provided, technical feasibility, possible character of urgency, and the report from previous observations if any. Scientific context or background must be included. Of course, publications obtained with the NRT data are considered as mandatory for pursuing long-term projects. A priority grade P is given, according to the scale below. The grade and the CdP's comments are a synthesis of the contributions from all the referees. As some applications are not homogeneous, each may be affected several grades referring to different parts. The actual time allocation is fixed according to both the priority rating and the right ascension distribution, because of the severe limits in telescope tracking ; indeed, top priority programmes may suffer from significant cuts when applying for a similar R.A. range, whereas at under subscribed R.A., lower priority programmes are likely to be scheduled.
The rating is made in accordance with the following scale :
0= top priority ; full time allocation, except for options being skipped for technical reasons, and in case of concurrence with equally rated proposals.
1= good programme ; most time allocated, may suffer from some reduction for scheduling reasons if required.
2= reasonable programme ; time allocated, but will be partly reduced.
3= possible, although of mean interest or moderately suitable for observations in Nançay ; will only be scheduled in the r.a. range that is not oversubscribed.
4= poor programme : insufficient justification, or observations unlikely to fulfil the scientific aims, or badly designed for the NRT. Rejected, no time allocated.

Key Programmes : This status is given to programmes that prove great scientific interest as well as clear reliability of the observing protocol and technical choices, and which requires important telescope resources (> 1000 hours), or to long term monitoring projects. Among the criteria used are how the proposal fit in the international context, the scientific interest, the technical justification and the publication plan, if any. Also the strength and the quality of the team (papers published in the field) will be appreciated. Users have to ask this status in the proposal form. The status holds for 2 years, starting with the semester following the CdP meeting. Follow-up full applications are not needed anymore during this period, but a summary of the science goals is needed for each semester application. Users must provide after one year, by the date of the Call for proposal deadline, 1) a progress report; 2) a brief log of the observations (done/still to do) and of major problems if any; and 3) the source list. . Also users must give the  standard “observing time ” table every semester, so that their time can actually be inserted into the schedule. The key programme status and a top priority rating are not always linked: this means in the case the quality of the project would lower somewhat (e.g. lack of information), the rate and time allocation would be lowered accordingly.
After these 2 years, the status is NOT maintained by default. A new complete proposal, explicitly detailed and justified, is due.

Cancelled observations : A significant amount of time is reserved for maintenance and for Target Of Opportunity observations. Moreover, along the semester the telescope scheduling is flexible as it is set monthly. Nevertheless, it may happen exceptionally that current observations need to be cancelled, in order to observe T.O.O. events or to perform urgent technical work. If this has to happen, P.I.s are advised, and cancelled observations may be re-allocated as soon as possible during the current semester, or during the next one if no other option exists. On the other hand, observing time lost because of weather or of "minor" bugs is not renewed systematically.


The Nançay Radio Telescope is operated by the Observatoire de Paris with co-funding from the CNRS-INSU and from the Région Centre.

12 April 2021

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