March 2021 Call for Proposals

Gemini North and South are accepting proposals for the Fast Turnaround (FT) program. Here, we give information specific to this proposal cycle. Please see the other FT pages - particularly the rules - for general information about the program. FT-specific proposal templates must now be used for all FT proposals; see the "PIT information" section below. The revised 2021A PIT must be used (it was most recently updated January 19).

Important dates

• Proposal deadline: 23:59, Hawaiian Standard Time (HST), March 31.
• Please ensure the latest version of the 21A PIT is used for submission.
• Reviews must be complete by 23:59 HST, Apr 14. If you have submitted a proposal, but by the 2nd of the month have not received an email from FT regarding reviewing proposals, contact FT as soon as possible.
• Results will be announced by Apr 21.
• The deadline for preparing observations (Phase II) is Apr 30. Accepted programs meeting this deadline will be active from 1 May until 31 Jul 2021.
• FT observations will be merged with the queue and observed on queue nights.

Dual Anonymous Review Process (DARP)

• Starting from Feb 2021, we have implemented a dual anonymous review process. New proposal templates for FT have been updated. 
• Guideline for PIs
  • Enter information of the proposing team with the Phase I Tool (PIT) as usual.
  • Use the FT specific template.
  • The proposal template has been updated to be compliant with DARP starting on Feb 1, 2021
  • Download from http://software.gemini.edu/phase1/templates/2021A/
  • Avoid mentioning names and affiliations of the team in the PDF attachment that could be used to identify the proposing team.
  • Avoid claiming ownership of past work. (E.g., “my successful Gemini program in the previous semester (GS-18A-xxx)”, or “our analysis shown in Doe et al. 2020…”)
  • Cite references in passive third person, e.g., “Analysis shown in Doe et al. 2020”, including references to data and software.
  • Do describe the proposed work, e.g., “We propose to do the following…”, or “We will measure the effects of …”
  • Unpublished work can be referred to as “obtained in private communication” or “from private consultation”.
• Guideline for Reviewers
  • Accept the assigned proposals based on abstracts whether you can provide an unbiased review or not.
  • Review proposals solely based on the scientific merit of what is proposed.
  • Do not spend any time attempting to identify the PI or the team. Even if you think you know, you can be wrong.
  • Utilize neutral pronouns (they/the PI/the team) when you write comments.
  • Flag the proposals that have not been sufficiently anonymized but DO NOT penalize them by lowering grades. (The FT support team will check the flagged proposals and adjust grades only if necessary.)
• More detailed guidelines can be found in the PDF document linked here. 

Eligibility

• PIs from all participant countries (except Chile) taking part in the FT program may apply for this cycle.
• Chile has withdrawn from Fast Turnaround starting in 2021A.
• We further welcome Japanese community PI proposals.
• PIs from participant countries whose FT time for the semester has been used up should not apply for the remainder of the semester. Note that some participant countries only have very small amounts of FT time available each semester. Currently no partners have reached their limit. See Rule #4 and Q&A for more information.

Acceptable RA ranges

• Gemini North: Targets from about RA = 8 hr to 2.5 hr are acceptable during this cycle. Note, however, that RAs near 8 will only be accessible for a couple hours during the first half of the first month (May) and only at northern declinations (Dec> 0) . Likewise, RAs near 2.5 will only be accessible for a few hours during the final month (July) and again only in the above declination range. Note Rule #9; an FT program may not fully backload its three-month active period; at least one of its targets must be observable during its first active month.
• Gemini South: Targets from about RA = 7 hr to 4 hr are acceptable during this cycle. Note that RAs near 7h will only be accessible for a couple hours during the first half of the first month (May) and only at favorable declinations (Dec< 0) . Likewise, RAs near 4h will only be accessible for a few hours during the final month (July) and again only in the above declination range. Note Rule #9; an FT program may not fully backload its three-month active period; at least one of its targets must be observable during its first active month.

Available instruments and observing modes

Gemini North

• Please check the GN 2021A telescope schedule for the instrument availabilities. 
• GMOS, GNIRS, and NIRI are offered this cycle. Please check the 2021A telescope schedule for specific availability including Alopeke, GRACES, and MAROON-X. 
• NIRI + Altair NGS is offered.  Altair is not offered with any other instrument this cycle. LGS is NOT yet offered.

Gemini South

• Please check the GS 2021A telescope schedule for the instrument availabilities. 
• GMOS and F2 are offered this cycle. 
• We are offering IGRINS and Zorro but please contact the FT team in advance with any specific questions (Fast.Turnaround at gemini.edu).

Both telescopes

• FT observations may not be executed during classical observing, or priority visitor (PV), depending on the prevailing conditions.
• For visiting instruments not listed above, please contact the FT team to check availability (Fast.Turnaround at gemini.edu).
• The R600 grating in each GMOS instrument is NOT offered for FT (or regular queue) observations.
• MOS observations are available for FT, subject to some caveats/restrictions.
• As discussed in the rules and Q&A, please contact the Fast Turnaround team in advance of the deadline if you would like to propose for an unusual instrument configuration or observing mode.

Time available

• 20 hrs per cycle at each telescope is available for FT observations. Very roughly, this implies:
  • 4 hrs of 20%-ile conditions (IQ=20, for example; see this web page)
  • 10 hrs of 50%-ile conditions
  • 14 hrs of 70%-ile conditions
  • 17 hrs of 85%-ile conditions
• PIs may propose for up to the amount of time in their most restrictive observing conditions, subject to partner's time availability - see rule #4. For example, a proposal requesting CC50 IQ20 SB50 WVany conditions can request no more than 4 hrs of observing time.

PIT information

• Proposals must be submitted using the version of the Phase I Tool specified on this web page. 
• In the Time Requests tab, select "Fast Turnaround Observing at Gemini" as the proposal class and specify the reviewer (and mentor, if appropriate). Note that this is where the reviewer is defined; changes cannot be made after the proposal has been submitted.
• For the pdf attachment to the proposal, the dedicated LaTeX/Word template specifically for FT proposals must be used: tex | sty | doc. This is compulsory for all FT proposals.
• Submitting the same proposal more than once during a given month (e.g. after correcting/editing a submitted version) should be avoided if at all possible. Only submit when you are sure your proposal is ready to be reviewed.