OPTICON Transnational Access Programme under the auspices of

OPTICON Trans-national Access Programme under the auspices of the European Commission MID TERM REVIEW Corfú, September 2007 OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review September 2007. Corfú

OPTICON Access Programme • Objective: Widen access to all European telescopes of 2 m+ aperture which have state of the art instrumentation. • Special emphasis on new users, especially those from CEE countries. OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review September 2007. Corfú

Proposal and Contract • Initial proposal was for 25 telescopes/2555 nights-days • After contract negotiations 22 reduced to telescopes. • Immediate concern was that we could not meet likely demand. • Special additional conditions for qualifying proposals agreed at first TDF. OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review September 2007. Corfú

OPTICON Access Programme General Overview • 17 institutions involved (OPTICON partners) – 18 optical-infrared telescopes (between 1. 5 – 4 m aperture) – 4 solar telescopes • Commencement date and duration: – 1 st January 2004 , 60 months • External users are welcome to apply for observing time: – Free access to each of these 22 European operated telescopes • Scientific, technical and logistic support • Travel and subsistence grants – Standard selection procedures: • Scientific merits and feasibility OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review September 2007. Corfú

OPTICON Access Programme General Overview • Approx. 1200 observing nights/days – 630 users, 400 observing runs, 400 - 500 T&S grants. • Usual deadlines and application forms/procedures. • New users, young researchers and users from countries with no similar facilities are strongly encouraged to apply. • OPTICON Trans-national Access Office: Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review September 2007. Corfú

OPTICON Access Programme: Observatories TBL CAHA 3. 5 m Calar Alto UKIRT OHP CAHA 2. 2 m Obs. Saint-Michel Obs. Pic du Midi Aris tarc hos Obs. Helmos, Kalavryta Canary Islands (OT & ORM) Mauna Kea Hawaii CFHT ESO 3. 6 m ESO 3. 5 m La Silla Chile ESO 2. 2 m WHT LT TCS TNG NOT SST THEMIS VTT OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review INT Anglo. Australian Observatory AAT UKST DOT September 2007. Corfú

18 night-time and 4 solar telescopes OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review September 2007. Corfú

After first 18 Months • 409/1188 observing periods supported equivalent to 35% of available budget in just 2 semesters • Prediction was that 5 year budget would be expended by middle of year 3 which was unacceptable to TDF and OPTICON board. • Not all qualifying nights supported in years 2 and 3 to return spend to roughly flat profile over 5 years • Limited number of nights at each telescope each year OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review September 2007. Corfú

Situation by late 2006 • Due to these strict controls most telescopes were close to 60% of the contracted access by mid 2006, restoring the flat spend profile. • There were a few, well understood exceptions (eg LT, Aristarchos, ESO 3. 5, TBL) • The September 2006 TDF rebalanced some allocations to achieve 80 -90% commitment at most telescopes by end 2007. OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review September 2007. Corfú

Provisional situation by August 2007 Most of the telescopes have already surpassed the 80% of allocation time OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review LT, Aristarchos, ESO 3. 5 m and ESO 3. 6 m present a considerable delay September 2007. Corfú

Provisional situation by 2007 Last three observing campaigns show a significant oversubscription rate for the OPTICON Access Programme Satisfactory participation of researchers form Central and Eastern European countries OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review September 2007. Corfú

Provisional situation by 2007 New Observers and Young researchers New Observers 2004 - 2007 Young researchers 2004 - 2007 OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review September 2007. Corfú

Nr. of users / Telescope 1088 astronomers January 2004 – December 2007 OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review September 2007. Corfú

Accumulative results (2004 - 2007) • 69, 84% - of the total amount of access to be provided under the contract. • 1088 users (members of observing teams). • 211 travel and subsistence grants (plus an extra 9% of user groups pending of select their observers) • 57% new observers OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review September 2007. Corfú

Future Plans • October 2007 TDF will make final rebalancing to ensure contract obligations are met. • Unused travel and Access Office funds (if any) will be converted into extra access. • New Access programme will be defined for FP 7 building on strengths of FP 6 experience. OPTICON Access Programme. Mid-term review September 2007. Corfú