Call for proposals for ALMA Cycle 5

The call for proposals for ALMA Cycle 5 has been issued on the science portal.

The planned timeline for ALMA Cycle 5 is

  • 21 March 2017 
    Release of the ALMA Cycle 5 Call for Proposals and Observing Tool, and opening of archive for proposal submission

  • 20 April 2017
    Proposal deadline

  • End of July 2017
    Result of the proposal review sent to Proposers

  • September 2017
    Submission of Phase 2 by Proposers

  • October 2017
    Start of ALMA Cycle 5 observations

  • September 2018
    End of Cycle 5 observations

In Cycle 5 ALMA will offer

  • Band 5 observations
  • Full polarisation Band 4 and 5
  • 46% more observing time
  • At least 43 antennas
  • 16 km baselines

Live Support chat

The live support chat is now open:
Monday - Friday, 9.30 - 12.00

Click here to go to the chat!

Support from the Nordic ARC node

In connection with the call for proposals, the Nordic ARC node will plan activities and provide additional support for users to write and submit outstanding, competitive proposals. Instead of planning large general tutorials, the activities this year will concentrate on providing maximum support on an individual basis.


ALMA Cycle 5 seminars

We will give seminars on ALMA, the Cycle 5 capabilities, and updates to the ALMA OT close to the call for proposals. The seminars will provide an introduction for novice users, and contain important updates also for experienced users. In connection to the seminars, the speakers will be available for discussions and face-to-face support.

March 14, 2017: Tuorla Observatory, University of Turku, Finland

March 16, 2017: Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, Norway

March 23, 2017: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Sweden

March 24, 2017: Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, Sweden

March 29, 2017: Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

Support pathways

There are a number of different pathways to contact the Nordic node and to receive help with your proposal. You can use any of these pathways to

  • ask questions on ALMA in general.
  • ask about ALMA Cycle 5 capabilities specifically.
  • ask questions on the OT and how to setup your project.
  • setup a face-to-face visit in Onsala or face-to-face support via skype.
  • ask questions on the proposal submission and selection procedure.
  • ask about any other issue you can think of!

Direct contact to the node
You can contact the node directly for support by sending us an email: contact@nordic-alma.se. You can also contact us by skype or find an ARC node member directly. See our contact page for full details.

Contact through the ALMA helpdesk
You can submit a helpdesk ticket with your question. The ticket will then be delegated to us. The helpdesk can be found here.

Live support chat
Between the call for proposals on March 21 and the deadline on April 20, you can use our Live support chat to get into immediate contact with ARC node staff to help you with your questions.

Final proposal check
If you have completed your proposal, we can offer you to give it a final technical check to see whether any of the settings can be optimised. Note that this is only in regard to the technical setup of the project, not the science, and that the PI still has final responsibility for the submitted project. 

A summary of the ALMA Cycle 5 key dates and capabilities