Notes:
[1] Applications are accepted from other countries, see below.
[2] The normal submission deadline for the ING service programme
is the end of each month,
and there are occasional announcements of opportunity, e.g. for time on visiting
instruments.
Nights on which service time is available are flagged on the
ING schedules
by 'S' or 'S/D' in the 'Programme' column.
[3] Typically ~ 4 - 5 months before the start of
the semester.
[4] Specific nights are allocated each semester, flagged in the
ING schedules as
'CAT S' (service) or 'CAT DDT'.
Principal Investigators (PIs) employed or studying in a Dutch, Spanish or UK institution
at the time of submission
should submit their proposal(s) to the Dutch, Spanish or UK TAC respectively.
Proposals submitted to a national TAC by a PI
employed or studying in one of the other partner countries may be assessed
by that TAC or, at its discretion, may be passed on
to the correct national TAC.
Each national TAC will also accept proposals from
a PI based in countries other than the partner countries.
Such international proposals (which must be in English) may be assessed by
that TAC, or at its discretion may be passed to an international
TAC comprising members of the three national TACs, and must be written in English.
Observing programmes of less than one night are not accepted
on either the WHT or the INT
unless agreed in advance by the Director of ING or
the Head of Astronomy. For such programmes,
please consider applying for service observations, see
the relevant entries in the table above.
For both the WHT and INT applicants are encouraged to submit proposals for large time allocations. This applies particularly to the INT, where
ING can only support a small number of instrument changes.
Applications for override observations should be submitted to the TACs
in the same way as proposals for scheduled time. Applicants should
first consult the
ING overrides page and the proposal-submission advice
provided by the individual TACs (linked above).
This definition of a target of opportunity can also be useful when planning your submission. Note that override programmes for less-used instruments (e.g.
WHT INGRID, OASIS or prime-focus imaging) are less likely to be
schedulable than for the more popular instruments.
PIs planning to submit a proposal for observations with a
visitor instrument which is new to ING should follow the procedure for
new visitor instruments.
This includes informing the Director of ING of the PI's intention, at least three
months before the proposal deadlines.
The ING astronomy web pages
provide additional relevant information, e.g. about:
planning observations;
observer support at the telescope;
calculating exposure times;
data ownership;
and subscription to
[INGNEWS] mailing list.
International Time Programme
Up to 5% of ING telescope time is available for
large-scale
international projects through the International Time Programme (ITP). This
time is allocated on an annual basis by the
International Scientific Committee (CCI).
The proposal deadlines are usually in February, and the time is usually allocated
over the following B and A semesters.
OPTICON time
The OPTICON scheme fosters
pan-European access to the ING telescopes, under the auspices of the
EC-funded Research Infrastructure Programme.
OPTICON time is available to eligible astronomers
based in EU member states and associated states, and EC funding may be
available to cover travel, accommodation and subsistence costs.
Applications from new users and young
researchers, and astronomers based in countries without
similar research facilities, are strongly encouraged.
International proposals that otherwise meet OPTICON's criteria of
eligibility, but which are submitted to and awarded telescope
time by the national TACs, do not qualify for OPTICON financial support.
