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European VLBI Network
Call for Proposals
Deadline 1st October 2015
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This text is also available on the web at http://www.oso.chalmers.se/evn/call.txt
Observing proposals are invited for the EVN, a VLBI network of radio telescopes spread throughout Europe and beyond, operated by an international consortium of institutes (http://www.evlbi.org/).
The observations may be conducted with disk recording (standard EVN) or in real-time (e-VLBI).
The EVN facility is open to all astronomers. Use of the Network by astronomers not specialised in the VLBI technique is encouraged.
The Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIVE) can provide support and advice on project preparation, scheduling, correlation and analysis. See EVN User Support at http://www.jive.eu.
Future Standard EVN Observing Sessions (disk recording)
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2016 Session 1 Feb 18 - Mar 10 18/21cm, 6cm ...
2016 Session 2 May 26 - Jun 16 18/21cm, 6cm ...
2016 Session 3 Oct 20 - Nov 10 18/21cm, 6cm ...
Proposals received by 1st October 2015 will be considered for scheduling in Session 1, 2016 or later. Finalisation of the planned observing wavelengths will depend on proposal pressure.
Future e-VLBI Observing Sessions (real-time correlation)
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2016 Jan 12 - Jan 13 (start at 13 UTC) 18/21cm, 6cm, 5cm or 1.3cm
2016 Feb 02 - Feb 03 (start at 13 UTC) 18/21cm, 6cm, 5cm or 1.3cm
2016 Mar 15 - Mar 16 (start at 13 UTC) 18/21cm, 6cm, 5cm or 1.3cm
2016 Apr 12 - Apr 13 (start at 13 UTC) 18/21cm, 6cm, 5cm or 1.3cm
Please consult the e-VLBI web page at http://www.evlbi.org/evlbi/e-vlbi_status.html to check for possible updates, and for the available array.
Successful proposals with an e-VLBI component submitted by the October 1 deadline will be considered for scheduling in the above e-VLBI sessions starting from January 12 2016.
Note that only one wavelength will be run in each e-VLBI session, selected based on proposal priorities.
See http://www.jive.eu/jivewiki/doku.php?id=evn:guidelines for details concerning the e-VLBI observation classes and observing modes.
Features for the Next Standard EVN and e-VLBI Sessions
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* Recording at 2 Gbps is available at C-, X-, K- and Q-band at a subset of the EVN telescopes. The remaining telescopes will record at 1 Gbps (mixed mode observation). The current status is given here:
https://deki.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/Working_Groups/EVN_TOG/2Gbps Use of this data rate should be clearly justified and limited to projects which really need it.
* A new e-VLBI class is available, automated e-VLBI trigger observations. It is an observation to be scheduled automatically during an e-VLBI run only if a specific set of triggering criteria is met. The expected response time to execute a new program may be as low as 10 minutes. For details see:
http://www.jive.nl/jivewiki/doku.php?id=evn:guidelines&#automated_e-vlbi_trigger_observations
* The rules for the e-VLBI class "Triggered e-VLBI observations" have been modified in such a way that a triggered project can override the scheduled observing frequency for a given e-VLBI session. For details see:
http://www.jive.nl/jivewiki/doku.php?id=evn:guidelines&#triggered_e-vlbi_observations
* Please consult
http://www.evlbi.org/evlbi/e-vlbi_status.html and the EVN User Guide
http://www.evlbi.org/user_guide/user_guide.html for updates on the current EVN and e-VLBI array, availability of different stations per observing band and for the dates of the e-VLBI observing sessions.
Global VLBI Proposals
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* Global proposals can be proposed up to 2 Gbps including VLBA, GBT and the JVLA.
* Some modes may require different bandwidth channels from EVN & NRAO telescopes; correlation at JIVE can handle this.
* JIVE support staff and Amy Mioduszewski at Socorro will assist during the scheduling process of such observations.
* Global observations will be correlated at the SFXC correlator at JIVE (default) or at the DiFX correlator in Bonn or at the DiFX correlator in Socorro (if appropriate justification is given in the proposal).
RadioAstron Observations
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Proposals requesting the EVN as ground array support for RadioAstron AO3 observations in the period 18 February 2016 to 30 June 2016 may be submitted at this deadline.
Large EVN Projects
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Most proposals request 12-48 hrs observing time. The EVN Program Committee (PC) also encourages larger projects (>48 hrs); these will be subject to more detailed scrutiny, and the EVN PC may, in some cases, attach conditions on the release of the data.
Availability of EVN Antennas
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* The Sardinia 64 m telescope (Sr) has completed its VLBI commissioning phase and will be available in "shared risk mode", at L-band, M-band (6.7 GHz) and K-band.
* The WSRT will be participating with a single telescope, equipped with dual circular polarization receivers. The frequency coverage will remain the same. Pending characterization of the new receiver, proposers who wish to use the EVN Calculator, should select "W1"
instead of "Wb".
* Tm65 is the 65 m telescope at Tianma, about 6 km away from the 25 m Seshan telescope (Sh). The 2-letter abbreviation for Tm65 telescope is T6. Both of these telescopes can observe at 18, 13, 6, 5, 3.6, and 3.6/13 cm. Tm65 can also observe at 21 cm. Tm65 is the default telescope; Sh will be used if the Tm65 is not available for some reason. If you select both, you should also discuss the motivation for the very short baseline in the proposal.
* Both Jb1 and Jb2 will be available for EVN recording. At the moment, testing to incorporate the e-MERLIN stations as individual antennas within an EVN observation is ongoing. For updated information please
consult the web at: http://www.e-merlin.ac.uk/vlbi/
Use of Korean VLBI Network Antennas
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* The Korean VLBI Network (KVN) is an Associate Member of the EVN. KVN telescopes may be requested for EVN observations at 1.3 cm and 7 mm wavelengths. For more details regarding the KVN, see: http://kvn-web.kasi.re.kr/en/en_normal_info.php
Use of Australian VLBI Network Antennas
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* Some Australian Long Baseline Array (LBA) time will be made available for simultaneous scheduling with the EVN, thus enabling the possibility of joint LBA/EVN observations. The easternmost stations of the EVN are in a similar longitude range to the LBA telescopes, and for sources in equatorial regions, baselines to western European stations are also achievable. Joint LBA time is likely to be heavily oversubscribed, and authors are requested to note whether they are prepared to accept scheduling without LBA antennas being present. Any proposals for joint EVN+LBA observations submitted to the LBA by its 15 December 2015 deadline should also be submitted to the EVN by the 1 October 2015 deadline and will first be eligible for scheduling in EVN Session 1/2016. For more details regarding proposing time on the LBA, see: http://www.atnf.csiro.au/observers/apply/avail.html & http://www.atnf.csiro.au/vlbi/index.html EVN+LBA observations should be possible at all principal EVN wavebands from 21 cm to 1.3 cm.: See: (http://www.evlbi.org/user_guide/freq_cov.html) and http://www.evlbi.org/user_guide/EVNstatus.txt.
Out of Session Observing
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Out-of-Session observing time (up to a maximum of 144 hours/year), is now available to all proposals (disk recording or e-VLBI). Proposals requesting Out-of-Session observing time must provide
full scientific (and technical if appropriate) justification as to why observations must be made outside standard sessions. Out-of-Session observing blocks should be no less than 12 hours in duration (although individual observations can be shorter), and occur no more than 10 times per year. Proposals should specify which dates/GST ranges are being requested and indicate the minimum requirement in terms of numbers of telescopes (and any particular telescopes). Proposals will only be considered for dates occurring after the regular EVN session that follows EVN proposal review. Observations requiring much shorter lead times
should be submitted as "Target-of-Opportunity" (ToO) proposals.
How to Submit
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All EVN and Global proposals (except ToO proposals) must be submitted using the NorthStar on-line proposal submission tool. Global proposals will be forwarded to NRAO automatically and should
not be submitted to NRAO separately.
New proposers should register at http://proposal.jive.nl.
The SCIENTIFIC JUSTIFICATION MUST BE LIMITED TO 2 PAGES in length. Up to 2 additional pages with diagrams may be included.
When specifying requested antennas from the LBA, please specify 'LBA' under the "other" row in the telescope-selection box - this selects all that are available for joint observations.
The deadline for submission is 23:59:59 UTC on 1st October 2015.
Additional information
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Further information on EVN, EVN+MERLIN, Global VLBI and e-VLBI observations, and guidelines for proposal submission are available at: http://www.jive.eu/jivewiki/doku.php?id=evn:guidelines
The EVN User Guide (http://www.evlbi.org/user_guide/user_guide.html) describes the network and provides general information on its capabilities.
The current antenna capabilities can be found in the status tables. For the standard EVN see http://www.evlbi.org/user_guide/EVNstatus.txt
For the e-EVN array see http://www.evlbi.org/evlbi/e-vlbi_status.html
The On-line VLBI catalogue (http://db.ira.inaf.it/evn) lists sources observed by the EVN and Global VLBI.
