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 25A
The East Asian Observatory is now accepting proposals for the Principal Investigator (PI) queue for Semester 25A 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.eaobservatory.org/
The 25A Call for PI Proposals closes on November 9th 2024 00:00 UTC time. The Hedwig system permits the submission (and repeated re-submission) of proposals until this deadline.
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.
Proposers might be interested to note the proposal pressure in terms of RA and DEC. The figure below shows the distribution of target RA proposed in the past under Semester A. When allocating time the TAC is mindful to ensure that time is awarded across a range of RAs.
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions about either of the above Calls for Proposals.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 24B
The East Asian Observatory is now accepting proposals for the Principal Investigator (PI) queue for Semester 24B 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.eaobservatory.org/
The 24B Call for PI Proposals closes on March 17th 2024. The Hedwig system permits the submission (and repeated re-submission) of proposals until this deadline.
If this is your first time using Hedwig, you should ‘Log in’ and 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 preexisting proposals, in order to simplify the process of proposal re-submission.
Proposers might be interested to note the proposal pressure in terms of RA and DEC. The figure below shows the distribution of target RA proposed in the past under Semester B. When allocating time the TAC is mindful to ensure that time is awarded across a range of RAs.
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions about either of the above Calls for Proposals.
South Korea Call for Proposals – for Semester 24A
The East Asian Observatory is now accepting proposals PIs from South Korea for Semester 24A 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.eaobservatory.org
This Call for proposals closes on January 10th 2024 00:00 UTC. The Hedwig system permits the submission (and repeated re-submission) of proposals until this deadline.
If this is your first time using Hedwig, you should ‘Log in’ and 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 preexisting proposals, in order to simplify the process of proposal re-submission.
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions about either of the above Calls for Proposals.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 24A
The East Asian Observatory is now accepting proposals for the Principal Investigator (PI) queue for Semester 24A 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.eaobservatory.org/
The 24A Call for PI Proposals closes on September 10th 2023. The Hedwig system permits the submission (and repeated re-submission) of proposals until this deadline.
If this is your first time using Hedwig, you should ‘Log in’ and 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 preexisting proposals, in order to simplify the process of proposal re-submission.
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions about either of the above Calls for Proposals.
Call for Proposals – Supplemental Call for 23B for United kingdom & Ireland
The East Asian Observatory invites astronomers from UK & Ireland institutions to propose for time in 23B under the UK & Ireland supplemental call for proposals. More details can be found in the JCMT Hedwig proposal system. The supplemental call will cover the 23B semester running from August 1st to January 31st 2023.
The call opened 2023-07-13 00:00 UT and will close 2023-07-26 23:59 UT. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see:
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions about either of the above Calls for Proposals.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 23B
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for Semester 23B at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
The 23B Call for PI Proposals closes on 2023-03-16 01:00 UT. The Hedwig system permits the submission (and repeated re-submission) of proposals until this deadline.
If this is your first time using Hedwig, you should ‘Log in’ and 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 from this semester onward, Hedwig also allows a user to create copies of their preexisting proposals, in order to simplify the process of proposal re-submission.
For further details regarding current or previous Calls for Proposals, please see the proposal web pages.
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions about either of the above Calls for Proposals.
Call for Proposals – Supplemental Call for 23A for South Korea
The JCMT invites astronomers from South Korea to propose for time in 23A under the South Korean supplemental call for proposals. More details can be found in the JCMT Hedwig proposal system. The supplemental call will cover the 23A semester running from February 1st to July 31st 2023.
The call opened 2023-01-05 23:00 UT and will close 2023-01-26 23:00 UT
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions about either of the above Calls for Proposals.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 23A
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for Semester 23A at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
The 23A Call for PI Proposals closes on the October 12th 2022. The Hedwig system permits the submission (and repeated re-submission) of proposals until this deadline.
If this is your first time using Hedwig, you should ‘Log in’ and 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 from this semester onward, Hedwig also allows a user to create copies of their preexisting proposals, in order to simplify the process of proposal re-submission.
For further details regarding current or previous Calls for Proposals, please see the proposal web pages.
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions about either of the above Calls for Proposals.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 22B
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for Semester 22B at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
The 22B Call for PI Proposals closes on the 2nd of April, 2022 at 01:00 UT. The Hedwig system permits the submission (and repeated re-submission) of proposals until this deadline.
If this is your first time using Hedwig, you should ‘Log in’ and 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 from this semester onward, Hedwig also allows a user to create copies of their preexisting proposals, in order to simplify the process of proposal re-submission.
For further details regarding current or previous Calls for Proposals, please see the proposal web pages.
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions about either of the above Calls for Proposals.
– 20220221
The Call for Proposals for Semester 22A has closed.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 22A
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for Semester 22A at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
The 22A Call for PI Proposals closes on September 15th, 2021. The Hedwig system permits the submission (and repeated re-submission) of proposals until this deadline.
If this is your first time using Hedwig, you should ‘Log in’ and 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 from this semester onward, Hedwig also allows a user to create copies of their preexisting proposals, in order to simplify the process of proposal re-submission.
Call for Large Programs (IV) – for Semester 22A
The East Asian Observatory is also happy to invite applications for the fourth Call for JCMT Large Programs. At this time, 4,200 hours in weather Grades 4 and 5 will be available for Large Programs up until the end of the 24B semester. Submissions will be accepted until the September 15th, 2021 deadline. Please see here for more details. The proposal handling system, Hedwig, is available here.
For further details regarding current or previous Calls for Proposals, please see the proposal web pages.
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions about either of the above Calls for Proposals.
– 20210815
The Call for Proposals for Semester 21B has closed.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 21B
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 21B at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
The 21B Call for Proposals closes on the 16th of March, 2021.
If this is your first time using Hedwig, you should ‘Log in’ and 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.
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions.
The Call for Proposals for Semester 21A has closed.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 21A
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
The 21A Call for Proposals closes on the 16th of September, 2020.
If this is your first time using Hedwig, you should ‘Log in’ and 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.
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions.
JCMT Semester 21A Proposal Review Timeline
Due to an exceptional combination of contributing factors this year, the JCMT TAC Meeting for Semester 21A is now expected to be take place on January 20th – 22nd, 2021. As this is much closer to the start of the new semester than usual, JCMT users that have submitted proposals targeting the semester 21A observing period should please bear in mind that, in the event that their proposal proves successful, the pre-semester window of opportunity for the upload of MSBs will be shorter than usual. In particular, proposers with astronomical target objects already observable in early-mid February may wish to plan ahead accordingly.
The Call for Proposals for Semester 20B has closed.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 20B
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 20B at JCMT (for details see here).
Semester 20B runs from 01 August 2020 to 31 January 2021. You can reach the proposal handling system, Hedwig, and find complete details of this Call at:
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
Any further questions should be directed to our help desk:
If this is your first visit to Hedwig, you should go to ‘Log in’ and generate an account. There is a ‘Help’ facility at the upper right corner, and individual Help tags at many other places.
The 20B Call for Proposals closes on the 31st of March 2020 (a two-week extension was granted in light of the COVID-19 crisis).
JCMT Rapid Turnaround Proposal Submission Opens on October 1st, 2019
The East Asian Observatory is pleased to invite proposals requesting Rapid Turnaround (RT) time at the JCMT. All prospective PIs should review the JCMT eligibility requirements page prior to the preparation and submission of a proposal.
A new RT submission cycle shall begin at the start of every month and close at the start of the next month. Any proposals not yet submitted by this time will be treated as still in preparation, and can be submitted during a subsequent cycle for the same semester. RT requests are limited to a maximum of 8 hours for Band 1 – 4 time requests, but are unlimited for Band 5 time requests. The Observatory shall aim to complete successful RT proposals within six months of their formal approval, after which time they shall be removed from the observing queue (regardless of their level of completion).
All RT proposals submitted shall be peer-reviewed by the proposal creator (or designated co-author) of other proposals submitted during the same submission cycle. The proposal peer review deadlines shall normally be two weeks after the close of the regular end-of-month RT proposal submission deadlines.
By submitting an RT proposal, all proposing teams are committing themselves to providing ratings and brief written assessments of several other proposals submitted for this Call by the corresponding deadline. Any proposing team that fails to provide a full set of reviews for their assigned proposals by the corresponding review deadline shall have their own proposal removed from the review process.
The MSBs for all approved RT projects should be created as soon as possible after their corresponding monthly RT review period has completed, ideally before the end of the month following the proposal submission deadline.
For further details regarding RT proposals, please see the relevant Call for Proposals page here. Any further questions should be directed to helpdesk@eaobservatory.org.
New Hedwig users should select ‘Log in’ and create an account. A ‘Help’ facility is available in the upper right corner, and individual Help tags at many other places.
The Call for PI Proposals for Semester 20A has closed.
JCMT Call for Semester 20A PI Programs
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 20A at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
The 20A Call for PI Proposals closes on the 16th of September, 2019. The Hedwig system permits the submission (and repeated re-submission) of proposals until this deadline.
If this is your first time using Hedwig, you should ‘Log in’ and 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 from this semester onward, Hedwig also allows a user to create copies of their preexisting proposals, in order to simplify the process of proposal re-submission.
The Call for Large Program Proposals for Semester 20A has closed.
JCMT Call for Large Programs (III)
The East Asian Observatory is also happy to invite applications for the third Call for JCMT Large Programs. At this time, 4,800 hours will be available for Large Programs up until the end of the 22B semester. Submissions will be accepted until the September 16th deadline. Please see here for more details. The proposal handling system, Hedwig, is available here.
For further details regarding current or previous Calls for Proposals, please see the proposal web pages.
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions about either of the above Calls for Proposals.
The Call for Large Program Proposals for Semester 20A has closed.
Announcing the JCMT Call for Large Programs (III)
The East Asian Observatory is pleased to provide an announcement of the third Call for JCMT Large Programs. This information is being provided ahead of the opening of the 20A Call in order for current and new teams to pursue discussion and planning. Submissions will be accepted from August 15th (TBC) up until the September 15th deadline (TBC). This will likely coincide with the 20A PI Call. Fore more details click here. To reach the proposal handling system, Hedwig, and submit a proposal click here:
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
Please note the scientific justification may be up to 8 pages in length and the technical justification may be up to 5 pages in length.
The Special Supplementary Call for South Korean Proposals – for Semester 19B has now closed.
Special Supplementary Call for South Korean Proposals – for Semester 19B
The East Asian Observatory invites JCMT observing proposals with Principal Investigators (PIs) affiliated with a South Korean institution only for a special Supplementary Call for Proposals. All prospective PIs should review the JCMT eligibility requirements page prior to the preparation and submission of a proposal. The length of the proprietary period for all data taken for successful proposals shall be the usual 1 year.
Proposals for this “Rapid Turnaround”-style Call are limited in accordance with the following constraints:
- All proposals must be led by a PI affiliated with a South Korean institution;
- Specific time allocation limits:
- Time allocations may be made for up to 24 hours for proposals requesting weather bands 1 – 3 (with no guarantee of a full allocation);
- Time allocations may be made for up to 48 hours for proposals requiring weather band 4;
- There is no time allocation limit for proposals requesting band 5 weather.
The proposal submission deadline for this special 19B Supplementary Call for Proposals is July 8th, 2019.
All proposals submitted for this Call shall be peer-reviewed by the proposal creator (or designated co-author) of other proposals also submitted for this Call.
The proposal Peer Review deadline for this Call is July 22nd, 2019.
By submitting a proposal, all proposing teams are committing themselves to providing ratings and brief written assessments of several other proposals submitted for this Call by this deadline.
Any proposing team that fails to provide a full set of reviews for their assigned proposals by the above review deadline shall have their own proposal removed from the review process. All such proposals shall be regarded as abandoned by the Observatory.
Semester 19B runs from August 1st, 2019 to January 31st, 2020. You can access the proposal handling system, Hedwig, and find complete details of this Call at:
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/jcmt/semester/12/rapid
Any further questions should be directed to our help desk:
If this is your first visit to Hedwig, you should go to ‘Log in’ and generate an account. There is a ‘Help’ facility at the upper right corner, and individual Help tags at many other places.
The Call for Proposals for Semester 19B has closed.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 19B
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 19B at JCMT (for details see here).
Semester 19B runs from 01 August 2019 to 31 January 2020. You can reach the proposal handling system, Hedwig, and find complete details of this Call at:
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
Any further questions should be directed to our help desk:
If this is your first visit to Hedwig, you should go to ‘Log in’ and generate an account. There is a ‘Help’ facility at the upper right corner, and individual Help tags at many other places.
The 19B Call for Proposals closes on the 15th of March 2019.
The Call for Proposals for Semester 19A has now closed.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 19A
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 19A at JCMT (for details see here).
Semester 19A runs from 01 February 2019 to 31 July 2019. You can reach the proposal handling system, Hedwig, and find complete details of this Call at:
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
Any further questions should be directed to our help desk:
If this is your first visit to Hedwig, you should go to ‘Log in’ and generate an account. There is a ‘Help’ facility at the upper right corner, and individual Help tags at many other places.
The 19A Call for Proposals closes on the 15th of September, 2018.
The Call for Proposals for Semester 18B has closed.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 18B
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 18B at JCMT (for details see here).
Semester 18B runs from 01 August 2018 to 31 January 2019. You can reach the proposal handling system, Hedwig, and find complete details of this Call at:
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
Any further questions should be directed to our help desk:
helpdesk@eaobservatory.org
If this is your first visit to Hedwig, you should go to ‘Log in’ and generate an account. There is a ‘Help’ facility at the upper right corner, and individual Help tags at many other places.
The 18B Call for Proposals closes on the 15th of March 2018.
The Call for Proposals for Semester 18A has closed.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 18A and for Urgent Observing
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 18A at JCMT (for details see here).
Semester 18A runs from 01 February 2018 to 31 July 2018. You can reach the proposal handling system, Hedwig, and find complete details of this Call at:
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/jcmt/semester/other
Any further questions should be directed to our help desk:
helpdesk@eaobservatory.org
If this is your first visit to Hedwig, you should go to ‘Log in’ and generate an account. There is a ‘Help’ facility at the upper right corner, and individual Help tags at many other places.
The 18A Call for Proposals closes on the 15th of September 2017.
The Call for Proposals for Semester 17B has closed.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 17B
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 17B at JCMT (for details see here).
Semester 17B runs from 01 August 2017 to 31 January 2018. You can reach the proposal handling system, Hedwig, and find complete details of this Call at:
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
Any further questions should be directed to our help desk:
helpdesk@eaobservatory.org
If this is your first visit to Hedwig, you should go to ‘Log in’ and generate an account. There is a ‘Help’ facility at the upper right corner, and individual Help tags at many other places.
The 17B Call for Proposals closes on the 15th of March 2017.
The Call for Large Programs (II) has closed.
Announcing the JCMT Call for Large Programs (II)
The East Asian Observatory is pleased to provide an announcement of the second Call for JCMT Large Programs. This information is being provided ahead of the opening of the Call in order for current and new teams to pursue discussion and planning. Submissions will be accepted from February 13th up until the March 15th deadline. This will coincide with the 17B PI Call. Fore more details click here. To reach the proposal handling system, Hedwig, and submit a proposal click here:
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
Please note the scientific justification may be up to 8 pages in length and the technical justification may be up to 5 pages in length.
The Call for Proposals for Semester 17A has closed.
Call for Proposals – for Semester 17A and (NEW) for Urgent Observing
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 17A at JCMT (for details see here).
Semester 17A runs from 01 February 2017 to 31 July 2017. You can reach the proposal handling system, Hedwig, and find complete details of this Call at:
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
Any further questions should be directed to our help desk:
helpdesk@eaobservatory.org
If this is your first visit to Hedwig, you should go to ‘Log in’ and generate an account. There is a ‘Help’ facility at the upper right corner, and individual Help tags at many other places.
The 17A Call for Proposals closes on the 15th of September 2016.
NEW: The East Asian Observatory invites requests for Urgent Observing at any time – and you can now submit these request via a special Call in our Hedwig proposal system. You can find details here.
Constraints and guidance on applicant eligibility, the available instrumentation, the required content of the proposal, and other aspects of the proposal are as described in the Call for Proposals for the current semester – except as itemized below.
Urgent Requests should clearly describe the following:
1. The urgency for the observations, and why a response to the regular, semi-annual Call for Proposals is/was inappropriate.
2. The time span over which observations may be made or the specific times at which they must be made.
3. The timescale for analysis of resulting data and for publication thereof; which ought to be proportionately urgent . . .
The above information should appear in the Scientific Justifications section of the proposal; itemized as above, please. If approved, proposals will be graded with respect to the approved projects in the current semester and executed via JCMT’s Flexible Observing scheme.
The Call for Proposals for Semester 16B has closed.
Call for Proposals – Semester 16B
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 16B at JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission go to:
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
New in 16A: the likely availability of POL-2. If you are interested in conducting polarimetry observations with SCUBA-2, please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org.
The 16B Call for Proposals closes on the 15th of March, 2016.
If this is your first visit to Hedwig, you should ‘Log in‘ and generate an account. There is a Hedwig ‘Help’ facility at the upper right corner of each page, and individual Help tags at many other places.
Please contact us at helpdesk@eaobservatory.org if you have remaining questions.
The Call for Proposals for Semester 16A has closed.
The next Call – for 16B – opened on 16 February 2016.
Semester 16A runs from 01 February 2016 to 31 July 2016. We are launching this Call through a new proposal handling system: Hedwig. You can reach Hedwig and find complete details of this Call at:
https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/
At your first visit, you should go to ‘Log in’ and generate an account. We hope you will find Hedwig easy to use: there is a ‘Help’ facility at the upper right corner, and individual Help tags at many places on the proposal pages.
The 16A Call for Proposals closes on the 22nd of September 2015.
In addition, it should be noted that we will embark on survey observing in the 16A semester – and as such, PI time is more limited than the current semester, however we still strongly encourage PI submissions as at least 800 hours of time will be available to EAO and partner region investigators. Some alterations have also been made to the PI eligibility for Canada – please see the Call for details.
It should be noted that proposals will now be accepted via the Hedwig Proposal Submission System. Please see the above link for details and proposals requirements.
The Call for JCMT Survey Proposals has now CLOSED
The Call for Proposals for Semester 15B has now CLOSED.
The following pages will help you prepare a proposal for submission:
- 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).
- use the old JLS clash tool to check if the JLS planned to observe your target area (looks through JLS planned survey areas).
- 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
- Sourceplot – are your sources available
or – – if you are ready to go: login to Hedwig. Good Luck!