The JCMT is managed by the East Asian Observatory. The telescope is funded by the East Asian Observatory and a select number of institutions in the United Kingdom (UK).
PI Eligibility
PIs of PI observing proposals to JCMT must be from Taiwan, Thailand, or from the United Kingdom (UK, see list of unrestricted institutions below), or from the Expanding Partner Program regions (Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Brazil, and Argentina). Otherwise, if you do not qualify by national or institutional affiliation as defined below then you cannot be the Principal Investigator on a JCMT observing proposal. Co-I status is not similarly restricted*. For details of how collaborative projects with investigators from more than one participating regions are allocated, please see here.
*Co-I status is not restricted for PI programs but are restricted for JCMT Large Programs.
The Expanding Partner Program (EPP)
PIs from Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Brazil and Argentina are welcome to apply for a limited amount of time under the Expanding Partner Program – a program to encourage astronomers from new JCMT partners to make use of the JCMT**.
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- For programs with PIs from Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and India: The time is limited to 9 hours per program with a maximum of two accepted proposals per EPP region.
- For programs with PIs from Brazil and Argentina: The time is limited to 9 hours per program, this time constraint is not limited in Grade 5 time, and the number of accepted proposals is unrestricted.
**Completion of any science program awarded time is not guaranteed. Approval depends on the program being technically feasible, not clashing with existing proprietary data, and scientific review. Data collection is subject to weather conditions, instrument availability, scientific ranking, and queue pressures, with adjustments made in line with recommendations by the Time Allocation Committee (TAC). Under the EPP, priority will be given to new users of the JCMT.
For the purpose of applying for observing time with JCMT, the definition of regional affiliation varies among the partner regions:
Taiwan
- Anyone affiliated with an institute in Taiwan – funding from Taiwan comes from the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA)
Thailand
- Anyone affiliated with an institute in Thailand – funding from Thailand comes from the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT)
Contributing UK universities
Astronomers from the UK institutions listed below may submit an unrestricted number of proposals per semester per institution to the PI queue:
- Armagh Observatory and Planetarium
- Cardiff University
- University of Central Lancashire
- Durham University
- University of Edinburgh
- University of Hertfordshire
- Imperial College London
- University of Manchester
- The Open University
- University of Oxford
- University College London
Non-listed UK institutions may submit one proposal per institution per semester, requesting a maximum of 30 hours in Weather Bands 1-4, or an unlimited amount of time in Weather Band 5.
Please also note that any astronomer from any institute listed above can also be a member of any Large Program or submit “Urgent” queue proposals.