Special call for WHT and Stella proposals – semester 2020A

This is a special call for WHT, and STELLA proposals for Spanish CAT night observing time in semester 2020A (February – July 2020). Proposal submission deadline is November 30th, at 22:59 h Canarian time (+1 h CET).

• We recall that every proposal within the Spanish CAT scheme must be led by a principal  investigator (PI) affiliated to an Institution in Spanish soil. 
• Applicants can assume that the usual A-semester range or right ascension is observable. 
• STELLA-SES: 100 h, STELLA-WIFSIP: 30 h are offered in this special call for proposals.
• No large programs are offered in this special call for proposals.
• Proposals in visitor mode should include a proper backup scientific program that does not require good weather conditions. The backup program is also evaluated by the CAT.
• Only proposals requesting WHT and/or STELLA observing time will be accepted for evaluation. To submit proposals, use the http://cat.iac.es tool by selecting “Spanish CAT (CATESP)” type. Please, be cautious when selecting the telescope(s) during the submission phase.

WHT

• Read the full text of the ING announcement of opportunity.
• Offered instruments are: ISIS, LIRIS, ACAM.
• Investigators wishing to submit proposals to use an established WHT visitor instrument (PAUCam, PN.S) should follow the instructions given in the ING announcement of opportunity.

Applicants must ensure that their proposals comply with the required page limits and layout indicated below. The use of English is recommended for normal proposals. Large program proposals must be written in English. To send proposals, use the night time CAT application tool at http://cat.iac.es.  A simple manual to learn how to deal with this application is available in this pdf document. To submit a proposal, the PI and co-Is need to be registered. If you are already registered but you do not remember your password, please do NOT register twice (in order to avoid confusions for statistical purposes). You can find instructions about how to reset your password in the same webpage or contact the CAT for additional help.

THERE IS A NEW FORM to build the scientific case of the CAT proposals. All applicants of standard and large proposals are kindly requested to use this new form, which is available here  (a “tar” file will be downloaded; read the README file first).  Please note that applications forms are different for LARGE (long-term) and REGULAR programs. Note also that the time request in the on-line application tool has changed, as one should now specify the  time requested for each semester by creating as many “Observations” as needed.

In the evaluation of proposals, CAT will take into account the publications derived from previous observations with the CAT telescopes. Therefore, in the BIBCodes menu of the application tool, remember to update the fields Comment and Bibliographic code  for all proposals approved in the last two years.

Before the deadline expires, please check that the uploaded pdf file (created with the new form) contain the latest version of your proposal, and that it prints correctly. No replacement or updating of the proposal content will be made after the deadline, and those proposals which do not correctly print out or lack relevant sections will be automatically withdrawn from the evaluation process. Those proposals where the font size (10pt) has been reduced or the text of the scientific justification exceeds limitations (one page for common/regular proposals and two pages for large programmes) will also be withdrawn. Figures and Tables cited in the scientific justification should fit a maximum of one page (normal proposals) and two pages (large programs). It is advised to follow the instructions described at http://cat.iac.es/faces/ayuda/pdf_latex.jsf

UPDATED on 7 Nov 2019.