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SMA-Taiwan Key Science Projects

This opportunity is open to the researchers in Taiwanese institutions including ASIAA Hawaii.

The SMA-Taiwan (SMA-T) invites key science programs requiring substantial amount of time spreading over the multiple semesters. The SMA-T key science project is aimed at achieving significant scientific impact using the capabilities of the SMA such as wide bandwidth and large field-of-view efficiently. The project will be conducted using the ASIAA time of the SMA, which is 13 % of the total SMA observing time. Each semester, approximately half of the ASIAA time will be allocated to the approved key science project.

The proposing and reviewing procedures are as follows (similar to those of the large-scale projects).

Submission of Notice of Intent
Full submission of the proposals
Evaluation by expert external reviewers
Reviewed and ranked together with the regular proposals by the joint SMA TAC
Decision made by the enhanced (E-)ASIAA TAC

Submission of Notice of Intent (NoI)

Prospective PIs of the SMA-T key science projects need to submit a Notice of Intent (NoI) before one month of the proposal submission deadline. The NoI should include a brief scientific justification, an estimate of the time, and the required observing conditions, The list of expected Co-I's is needed to avoid conflicts of interest in seeking expert reviewers.

Submission of the proposals

The full proposals must be submitted by the deadline of the regular science proposals.

The requirements of the full proposal conform to those of the Large-Scale proposals, i.e

Further develop the scientific justification in the context of the current state-of-the-art and any on-going programmes in the field and explain the legacy science value to the community.
Justify the time and configuration requests through detailed estimates of expected source strength and spatial structure.
Describe the methods required to achieve the science goals.
Identify those team members who will perform data reduction and analysis, and those who will provide theoretical support to the observing program.
Demonstrate that sufficient resources are available to the team to enable the highest quality publications, presentations, and other data products to be made available to the wider astronomical community.
Provide a timetable and propose methods for dissemination of results to the community.

Proposals are submitted through the My Projects page under each individual PI's SMA Project Account. The proposal should not exceed 7 pages, comprising up to four pages of scientific and technical justification, up to two pages of figures, tables and references, and a one-page management plan. In addition, details of the observing plan and schedule should be included as an addendum to the proposal.

Proposal review

First, key science proposals will be evaluated by expert external reviewers solicited by the SMA-T on an ad-hoc basis. The primary role of the external reviewers will be to provide written reviews assessing the scientific merit of the proposal.

Next, the proposals of key science projects will be reviewed and ranked together with the regular proposals following the standard TAC process for regular proposals. The written reviews provided by the external reviewers will be referred by the joint SMA TAC in reviewing the scientific merits and technical feasibility of the submitted key science proposals.

The enhanced (E-)ASIAA TAC (including two joint SMA TAC members) will make the final decision of approval.Successful proposals will be assigned observing time and will be scheduled for observing on a semiannual basis, in coordination with the time allocation for regular SMA proposals.

Progress report

The PI is required to submit the progress report at the end of each semester. This report should include the progress in observations, data reduction, and preparation of publications.

Naomi Hirano
posted on 2019 Jul. 8