The JCMT operates on a two-semester basis for PI time. Semester A running from February 1st to July 31st and Semester B running from August 1st to January 31st. The deadline for Semester A proposals is typically mid September. The deadline for Semester B proposals is typically mid March. The Call for Proposals usually open one month before the deadline.
In addition to the biannual semesters of the “Regular” queue, an “Urgent” queue, specifically for science proposals of an urgent nature, remains open for submissions throughout the year.
Call for Proposals for Semester 2026A
We are pleased to announce that the East Asian Observatory is now accepting proposals for the Principal Investigator (PI) queue for Semester 2026A at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see:
https://proposals.
The 26A Call for PI Proposals closes on December 9, 2025, 01:00 UTC. The Hedwig system permits the submission (and repeated re-submission) of proposals until this deadline.
The 2026A semester available instruments are listed below, with their availability dates:
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ʻŪʻū (230 GHz): Will be available throughout the semester (February 1st – July 31st).
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HARP (345 GHz): Will be available throughout the semester (February 1st – July 31st).
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ʻĀweoweo (345 GHz): Will be available from June until the end of the semester (July 31st).
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Kuntur, the LLAMA 690GHz receiver, will be available from the beginning of the semester until mid-May.
Kuntur and ʻĀweoweo are offered in a shared-risk mode. Kuntur is a 690 GHz receiver offered for the first time to the JCMT community in collaboration with the Large Latin American Millimeter Array (LLAMA). Kuntur is a sideband-separating (2SB), dual-polarization receiver, with an observable sky frequency of range approximately 609 — 715 GHz (default IF 5.5 GHz). When installed, the instrument replaces the Āweoweo cartridge in the Nāmakanui receiver. ʻĀweoweo will be re-installed in this position in mid-May 2026, in place of Kuntur.
For further information, please visit the JCMT instruments web page:
https://www.eaobservatory.org/
For information about PI eligibility and the Expanding Partner Program, please see:
https://www.eaobservatory.org/
If this is your first time using Hedwig, you should use the ‘Log in’ button to generate an account. There is a Hedwig ‘Help’ facility at the upper right corner of each page, and individual Help tags in many other places. Note that Hedwig also allows a user to create copies of their previous approved proposals that were not completed (‘Continuation Request’), in order to simplify the process of proposal resubmission.
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have any questions.
- Check the JCMT Science Archive to see if data already exists!
- Check if data already exists on your object:
- use the new general clash tool to check if the data already exists on your target (looks through all publicly available data).
- Are you eligible to submit as PI ? – check your nationality / affiliation here
- JCMT Proposal Collaboration rules are described here
- Proposal Submission
- Preparing justification files
- Submissions Checklist
- Closed calls for proposals
or – – if you are ready to go: login to Hedwig. Good Luck!