Call for Letters of Intent to Submit a CFHT Large Program Proposal

CFHT in the twilight. Credit: CFHT

January 30, 2024

CFHT is pleased to announce that in February 2024, we will open a call for new Large Programs. We invite interested teams to submit a "Letter of Intent to Submit a CFHT Large Program Proposal" before March 1st 23:59 UT by sending an email (plain text or PDF file) to the Executive Director director@cfht.hawaii.edu . An acknowledgment that a submission has been received will be sent within 2 business days.

A Letter of Intent is required for teams who plan to submit a Large Program proposal.

Large Programs are offered on MegaCam, ESPaDOnS, and SPIRou; note that SITELLE, WIRCam, and VISION Mode 3 (simultaneous ESPaDOnS and SPIRou observations) are not offered as part of this call for LP.

A Large Program shall require a minimum of 50 nights total and may extend over 3 semesters on MegaCam (25B to 26B) or 4 semesters for ESPaDOnS and SPIRou (25A to 26B). A total of up to 400 nights over those 4 semesters is offered.

This round of Large Programs will be followed by a 4 to 5-year Community Survey (or surveys) similar to the very successful Legacy Survey CFHTLS, starting in 27A or 27B.

We invite interested teams to submit a Letter of Intent before March 1st 23:59 UT by sending an email to director@cfht.hawaii.edu . The LoI shall contain:

  • The name, institute, and email address of the PI
  • A preliminary list of co-I, with name, institute, and email address (more co-I may be added in the proposal later)
  • A Title
  • An Abstract or short description of the Large Program (no longer than 5000 characters)
  • Up to 6 scientific keywords
  • The instrument(s) requested
  • The agencies involved (NRC, CNRS, UH, ASIAA, NAOC), noting that UH, ASIAA, and NAOC have not committed to allocating time to Large Programs
  • The number of nights or hours requested over the duration of the LP
  • The list of semesters during which the LP is expected to be executed (25A, 25B, 26A, 26B)
  • A list of potential unbiased referees

The content of the Letters of Intent will be used to start the search for external referees.

For questions, please email the Director of Science Operations manset@cfht.hawaii.edu