Call for concepts 
to replace, on site, 
the CFH Telescope on Mauna Kea

 
Deadline for responding to this call has been extended to March 25, 2000



 

The CFHT will mark two decades of operation with a Celebratory Meeting to be held in December 2000 (tentatively Dec 1-2).  A component of the planned program is a presentation of concepts for a future facility on our present Mauna Kea site.


Recently, the CFHT Board of Directors approved a program to offer some financial support to community-based groups interested in addressing this problem. The goal is to encourage scientifically exciting and technologically innovative ideas for a world-class research facility about a decade from now. The only constraint is that the posed facility should be consistent with the guidelines discussed in  Chapter 9 of the Mauna Kea Master Plan [see http://www.hawaii.edu/maunakea/ ]. The salient point here is that the proposed new facility should have approximately the same footprint and dome height as the present CFHT.

The present CFHT is expected to provide competitive science capability for another 5-10 years. Future facility concepts should take into account the timing, CFHT down-time, scientific niche, budget, and optimum use of the site and its natural image quality. The concept should also take into account other large telescope developments of the next decade.

The CFHT has strictly limited funds available to support this program. Consequently, the CFHT funding of any one study will be restricted to a maximum of $30,000 (US). CFHT would like to support at least one concept from each CFH community. However, groups may find it advantageous to propose collaboratively from more than one community. We also advise that additional support from industrial partners may be worth pursuing.


The program details are the following:

1. The Science Advisory Council (SAC) hereby solicits proposals from community  groups. The proposals should:

  • provide a brief description of the concept (or concepts) under study by the group
  • describe the scientific capability and niche to be addressed by the facility
  • provide a brief justification for the funds requested
  • identify the members of the group, their affiliations and any industrial partners
  • confirm that the study will be complete enough to present at the Celebratory Meeting.
  • 2. Proposals should be submitted as latex or postscript (gzipped) files to the SAC chair. Proposals should not be longer than 3 pages of text, with one optional additional page for diagrams. Proposals are due by March 25, 2000 to john.hutchings@hia.nrc.ca. SAC will evaluate the proposals received and provide recommendations to the CFHT Executive. Contracts are expected to be in place for the successful proposals before the end of April (definite date will be posted here when available).

    3. The Principal Investigator of each selected group will be contracted to perform according to a Statement of Work based on the submitted proposal. At a minimum, the tasks will include:

  • presentation of the study results at the Celebratory Meeting if requested,
  • a written report suitable for inclusion in the published record of the Celebratory Meeting.
  • Other requirements may also be imposed as appropriate.