This page contains information specific to the 2020 Large and Long Program proposal cycle. General information on the LLP proposal process, including proposal format and requirements, can be found on the LLP Proposal Process webpages.
THE DEADLINE FOR LLP PROPOSALS HAS BEEN EXTENDED. PROPOSALS ARE DUE APRIL 7, 2020 23:59 HST (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time). |
Investigators must use the Gemini Phase I Tool to submit Large and Long Program proposals. See the PIT page for installation information and the PIT help pages for assistance. The proposal narrative templates for 2020 are available here.
The instruments available for new LLPs are listed below, along with any particular restrictions of note. At a minimum, facility instruments and modes must be currently commissioned to be available for new LLPs. Successful LLPs may also be limited by the semester-specific instrument availability restrictions announced with each semester's regular proposal Call for Proposals.
PIs from LLP participating partners are invited to submit proposals for Subaru Intensive programs to Gemini through the Gemini-Subaru time exchange program. Subaru Intensive programs applications follow the same rules and eligibility used for the Gemini Large and Long Programs (LLPs). The request of Subaru Intensive program must be clearly stated in the title of the proposal. At most, one proposal will be selected for observations beginning in 2020B. Subaru reserves the right to reject this program if it cannot be reasonably accommodated in the Subaru schedule.
Gemini Observatory welcomes LLP proposals utilizing visitor instruments. The policy on LLP proposals requesting a visiting instrument is available as part of the Visiting Instrument policy. Any PI, either from the instrument team, or from interested members of the community considering a LLP proposal using a visiting instrument is encouraged to contact Gemini Observatory at largeprograms@gemini.edu prior to Letter of Intent submission to discuss the feasibility of any request.
In previous LLP call for proposals, NIRI has not been available due to the risk of an instrument failure that could heavily impact a NIRI-dependent LLP. Under this current call for proposals, we are including NIRI as an available instrument. However, proposals using NIRI should include a statement on a mitigation strategy if NIRI becomes unavailable during the duration of their large program. This could include a discussion of how GNIRS keyhole imaging could be used to reach the scientific goals of the program, or a discussion of what could be obtained from a partial data sample.
Up to 20% of the total time allocation from participating partners is available for LLPs. Details on the distribution of telescope time at Gemini Observatory can be found here. The exact number of hours available to LLPs each semester is not known until each semester's regular Call for Proposals is released. In general, we expect to be able to offer ~200 hours to LLPs at each telescope per semester. Existing LLP allocations, and time reserved for completion of Band 1 LLPs and future LLP allocations will reduce the time available for new LLPs.
The estimated time available for new LLPs is provided in the table below. The time available is estimated as 200 hours less any previously allocated LLP time. The exact time available will depend on instrument commissioning, engineering, campaign science, limited-term partnerships, etc.
| Site | 2020B LLPs | 2021A LLPs | 2021B LLPs | 2022A LLPs | 2022B LLPs | 2023A LLPs |
| North | 111 hours | 125 hours | 188 hours | 190 hours | 200 hours | 200 hours |
| South | 161 hours | 165 hours | 157 hours | 158 hours | 200 hours | 200 hours |
An individual LLP need not request a balanced program across North/South, RA range, observing conditions, etc. However, the ensemble of approved LLPs must not overly impinge on other observing programs. Therefore, the ensemble of approved LPs should not exceed ~25% of any relevant parameter, such as hemisphere, RA range, and observing condition bins. See http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/telescopes-and-sites/observing-condition-constraints for further information on observing condition constraints.
For example, the best image quality, IQ20, in photometric conditions, CC50, only occurs approximately 10% of the time. For the total time available in a typical semester, one would expect these conditions to occur for only ~100 hours during the semester. LLP usage of these conditions would, therefore, be limited to ~25 hours per semester, across all RA bins.
LLPs will also be subject to general semester target availability restrictions, as published in the general call for proposals for each semester.
Previous LLP allocations further reduce the availability of certain Right Ascension and Observing Conditions constraint combinations in future semesters. Noted below are particular RA/Observing Conditions bins where the total time availability is further limited due to these allocations, listed by semester.