For significant fractions of APF time, more than 45 nights a semester or >25% of the total
available time, please follow the LMAP guidelines for Keck proposals. This must be stated
as a LMAP in the coversheet abstract and on the first page of the proposal.
In summary:
LMAPs represent the largest commitments of UC APF time to individual projects. The goal
of the policies described here is to help ensure that LMAP projects are maximally
successful, once approved by the Time Allocation Committee.
Purpose of LMAPs:
An LMAP is a program with well-defined objectives that requires a large number of nights
to bring to completion. LMAPs will generally be directed toward obtaining a high quality,
coherent, homogeneous data set that will allow scientific questions of major importance to
be addressed in a thorough, systematic manner. The UC LMAP program allows programs
extending for more than one semester to be carried out with multi-year approval from the
beginning. The program is not to be open-ended, but must have a well-justified total
number of nights required to bring the project to completion. LMAPs normally are defined
as those requiring 10 or more nights per semester, though programs of fewer nights may
qualify for LMAP status if specifically justified. No more than 75% of the UC APF time will
be devoted to LMAPs. It is expected that LMAPs will generally involve the
collaboration of a fairly large group of UC PIs, with the size of the request
proportional to the number of PIs.
Process
To obtain approval for an LMAP, a special proposal must be submitted at the outset. The
scientific discussion with figures and references should be no longer than 10 pages with a 20
page maximum for the entire LMAP proposal. In addition to the normally-required
sections, it must include the following items:
1. A detailed discussion of the specific scientific goals of the program, including justification
for the program having LMAP status.
2. A clear and well-justified statement of the total number of nights needed. This statement
must relate the time requested to the specific intended outcomes of the project.
Additionally, the proposal should explain and justify the total duration (in years or
semesters) over which these requested nights are distributed.
3. For programs lasting more than two years, the program should be structured so that
intermediate results will be published before the entire project is completed. These
milestones and intermediate results should be discussed carefully in the proposal.
4. The discussion of the scientific team should be more lengthy than usual, making clear
who will be responsible for what, how the data will be reduced and analyzed, and how the
final results will be disseminated.
5. It is expected that all or most of an LMAP PI or Co-I's APF observing time requests will
be devoted to the LMAP, during semesters when the LMAP observations are being done.
However, occasional proposals for relatively small projects on clearly distinct subjects may
also be submitted.
6. If results to be obtained with other telescopes are an important part of the project, this
should be made clear. Information should be provided that will allow the TAC to judge the
likelihood of such data being available.
7. When an active LMAP proposal is resubmitted for *continued* observations, the
following additional guidelines apply:
7a. First section: LMAP continuation proposals should begin with a summary of progress to
date and a list of publications based on nights already allocated to this LMAP program. This
progress report should make reference to the specific goals and outcomes of the project as
described in the original proposal, and should describe progress on each. The page limit for
this progress report is four pages (including figures and references).
7b. Second section: The next section of the continuation proposal should contain, where
appropriate, a discussion of how the original proposal's methods or objectives have
changed since its original submission.
Neither the First nor Second sections described above shall count toward the 10-page limit
for LMAP proposals.
7c. Third section: For completeness and for the benefit of new TAC members, the third
section should consist of the scientific justification and technical sections of the version
originally submitted for the initial LMAP proposal.