Table of Contents
The response to this call for proposals is a two-phase process. Phase 1 is needed for every proposal while Phase 2 is only applicable to accepted proposals. In Phase 1, all proposals will go through peer review by the HOTAC, which will make a recommendation regarding time allocation to ESA's Director of Science and Robotic Exploration who will take the formal decision.
During Phase 2, the final version of these observations will be entered by 'successful' proposers into the Herschel database following the recommendations made by the HOTAC under the technical advise of the HSC. In both cases (Phase 1 and Phase 2), Herschel proposals must be prepared using HSpot, the software tool provided by ESA. For OT2 proposals, it is mandatory that the PDF file uploaded through HSpot must be generated using the current (OT2 AO version) HerschelFORM PDFLaTeX package distributed by the HSC. Proposals not generated using this version of the HerschelFORM PDFLaTeX package will automatically be rejected.
The following subsections describe the procedures to be followed and forms to be used for Phase 1 proposal submission, as applicable for OT2 proposers.
As described in the schedule in Chapter 3, OT2 AO schedule the OT2 proposals are due in the period between 9 June and 15 September 2011. In order to be able to submit a proposal using HSpot, the Principal Investigator (PI) must be registered first in the HSC as a Herschel services user. This can be done by clicking the User Registration button in the HSC web page and following the instructions there. By registering, users will also be joining Herschel e-mail distribution list(s) enabling us in the HSC to provide them with information as needed.
The HSC will provide support and answers to questions that may arise during the preparation of observing programmes through the Helpdesk web interface. Note that only registered Herschel services users are enabled to get support via the Helpdesk. To aid quick and accurate processing of queries, questions must be classified by the users according to pre-defined topics when they are submitted. Upon submission, they will receive an auto-generated e-mail with a ticket id (do not reply to this e-mail message!) which can be used to monitor the status of the query at any moment via the web interface. The expected timescale for reply is a few working days at most. A list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and answers, updated regularly, is also available from the Herschel Helpdesk web pages.
All proposals must be submitted using HSpot, Remember that you need to be a registered Herschel services user to be able to do this. For the OT2 AO the most recent HSpot version 6.0.0 must be used. It can be downloaded from the HSpot download web page .
Registered users submitting proposals can verify that their proposals have successfully been received at the HSC using the Proposal Handling link under the Herschel User Services menu available from the HSC web pages. The user submitting the proposal is the proposal PI as seen by the system. The Proposal Handling System can be used by the proposal PI to define 'co-users' who can also view and update the proposal as many times as needed until the deadline. Only the proposal PI can define these 'co-users'. The actual updating and re-submitting of the proposal is done always using HSpot.
The submission of OT2 proposals must be completed before 12:00 UT on 15 September 2011. Proposals (or updates of proposals) received after the deadline will not be considered.