Call for Keck Proposals
All proposals for the 2009A semester must be emailed to the STACK technical secretary (Sarah Brough) before September 1st, 2008, 5pm AEST. This deadline has now passed - the next call for proposals will be made in February 2009.
We have 9 nights (approximately 30% bright, 36% grey, 34% dark) available in 2009A (Feb 1 - July 31 2009).
First check your eligibility in the STACK policies and Procedures document.
A single application should comprise of two parts: The first part, an online cover sheet, has to be submitted to the Keck Observatory and is available here (this requires you to create a Keck user account). Using your web browser's print facility this cover sheet can be saved as a postscript (and converted to pdf using the ps2pdf command) or PDF file. The PDF version of the Keck cover sheet should be sent with the second part of the proposal: A PDF outline of the project following the headlines given in the pro-forma latex file (available here) . The project outline should be no more than 4-pages long (including figures and references) with a minimum of 12pt font as detailed in the pro-forma. Colour images are accepted, however they should not be so large that the files cannot be emailed. The 2 PDF files should be emailed to the STACK technical sectretary.
If the application is for a student's thesis, the importance of the proposed work in the student's thesis should be described clearly in the proposal.Observers are instructed to indicate which observing runs during the semester are preferred (P) or acceptable (A) for their programs. It is to the observer's advantage to be as liberal as possible in specifying acceptable runs.
Details of Keck instruments available in 2009A are given in the Keck Instrument Availability page. More detailed information about the various instruments is available in the Keck Instruments & Facilties page. For example, LRIS and DEIMOS masks are due at least 4 weeks prior to the observations.
The schedule will be released early December 2008. As soon as the schedule is released, applications should be made to the ANSTO (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) Access to Major Research Facilities Program (AMRFP) for financial support for your run.
We also have access to 5 nights a semester through collaborating with researchers at Caltech. To access this time you need to apply to the Caltech TAC with a Caltech member of staff as PI. Information relating the preparation of those proposals can be found here. Their 2009A deadline is 5pm Friday, September 26, 2008 their time. (i.e. 10am Saturday 27 September 2008 AEST)
The Swinburne Advisory Committee for Keck (SACK) proposes that applications for Keck Observing Support (KOS) funds should be made by PIs of successful proposals once they have determined the amount of funding to be available from other sources, particularly the Faculty Research Committee and AMRFP funds. KOS applications will be by a simple pro forma (available here) in which the PI will state their total costs and the other sources of funds they have pursued. KOS applications should be sent to the STACK technical secretary. The technical secretary will check the reasons for the request and pass any queries to the SACK. The SACK will approve all allocations of KOS funds. The maximum KOS funding allocated to any given proposal will be $2200. At the end of each calendar year, residual funds in the Keck support budget for that year may be distributed retrospectively to that year's Keck users.
Contact the STACK technical secretary with any problems/suggestions.
External Chair: Ken Freeman; Members: Karl Glazebrook, Duncan Forbes, Chris Blake, Greg Poole and Trevor Mendel (Student representative). Technical Secretary: Sarah Brough.
The talk I gave at Director's Lunch 11th August 2008 in pdf and powerpoint formats.