Biennial Report 2003-2004 - Merlin

40
Biennial Report 2003-2004
ACCESS CCESS CCESS T TTO
T O THE THE MERLIN/VLBI MERLIN/VLBI NA NA NATI NA NA TI TIONAL TI NAL F FFACILITY
F CILITY
MERLIN/VLBI National Facility
Observing time on the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility is allocated on an open-access, peer-review basis to all astronomers worldwide. Observing time for MERLIN is allocated
by the MERLIN Time Allocation Group (TAG) of the Panel for the Allocation of Telescope Time (PATT), while that for VLBI is allocated by the European VLBI Network’s Programme
Committee (EVN PC). Two days per semester are available to be used at the discretion of the Director of the National Facility. MERLIN is one of the participating institutes
in the RadioNet (www.radionet-eu.org) project from which transnational access (TNA) within the EU to existing observing facilities is financially supported.
The deadline for the receipt of applications for MERLIN time occur twice per year, on March 15 and September 15. A call for MERLIN proposals is issued several weeks prior
to each deadline. Full details on the capabilities of MERLIN and no how to apply for time can be found on the MERLIN home page at http://www.merlin.ac.uk.
The deadlines for the receipt of applications for time on the European VLBI Network (EVN), the global VLBI network and for joint EVN+MERLIN observing time occur three
times per year, on February 1, June 1 and October 1. A call for proposals is issued several weeks prior to each deadline. Full instructions on how to apply for time and on
the capabilities of the Network can be found on the EVN home page at http://www.evlbi.org.
All astronomers are encouraged to apply for National Facility time to complement their existing research or to use the National Facility as the main instrument for their
research topics.