Proposing observations with ALMA
Call for proposals of ALMA is generally issued on an annual basis, with the submission deadline in spring. Information on observing capabilities in the next cycle is made public in the pre-announcement normally released in winter, and this information can be used to start the proposal planning. At the opening of the Call for Proposals, the necessary tool (Observing Tool) and documentation will be made available. Please carefully read the Proposer's Guide and other documents if you are going to propose observations with ALMA.
Official documents and other information related to the proposals
Please refer to the documents on the ALMA Science Portal for official information.- ALMA Science Portal top page
Information related to proposal submissions is included in the "Proposing" menu, including Proposer's Guide, Proposing Guidance, Cycle XX capabilities.
http://www.almascience.org/ - Documents for the new/present/past observation cycle
https://almascience.org/documents-and-tools - Sensitivity Calculator
https://almascience.org/proposing/sensitivity-calculator
Supplemental Information
Cycle 13 Call for Proposals
Cycle 13 Call for Proposals is now open.
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 19 March 2026 (15:00 UTC) | Release of Cycle 13 Call for Proposals, Observing Tool, and supporting documents, and opening of the Archive for proposal submission |
| 23 April 2026 (15:00 UTC) | Proposal submission deadline for Cycle 13 proposals |
| 3 June 2026 (15:00 UTC) | Deadline to submit reviews for the distributed peer review system |
| August 2026 | Announcement of the outcome of the proposal review process |
| October 2026 | Start of Cycle 13 observations |
New capabilities in Cycle 13
- Band 2 on the 12-m Array. Band 2, covering 67–116 GHz, is offered for the 12-m Array, including full polarization with a single pointing.
Observations that are particularly encouraged
ALMA encourages proposals in configurations, Local Sidereal Time (LST) ranges, and receiver bands for which oversubscription is expected to be low.
- ACA, especially in the LST range of 20h to 1h
- High frequency (Bands 8, 9, and 10) in any configuration
- Low frequency (Bands 1 through 4) at long baselines (C-7 through C-10), particularly for proposals focused on sources near RA of 22h
Cycle 12 Information
Cycle 12 Call for Proposals is now closed (the deadline: 15:00 UTC on Thursday 24 April 2025).- ALMA Cycle 12 is currently scheduled for observations from October 2025 to September 2026.
- Cycle 12 is currently being observed.
- Please visit the following page for more details on Cycle 12 observing modes: ALMA Cycle 12 Proposal Proposer’s Guide
Cycle 11 Information
Cycle 11 Call for Proposals is now closed (the deadline: 15:00 UTC on Thursday 25 April 2024).- ALMA Cycle 11 is currently scheduled for observations from October 2024 to September 2025.
- Poster on the brief summary of Cycle 11
(Click to open) - ALMA Cycle 11 Proposal Preparation Meeting (held on March 22, 2024)
New observing modes in Cycle 11
The following modes will be offered in Cycle 11:- Full polarization in Band 1 on the 12-m Array. The polarization accuracy and capability will be the same as in Bands 3-7.
- Band 1 on the 7-m Array for Stokes I only (no Stokes Q/U/V).
- High-frequency and long-baseline observations with Band 9 in C-10 configuration, and Band 10 in configurations of C-9 and C-10.
- 4x4-bit spectral mode on the 7-m Array (dual polarization). The 4x4 mode is available for the 7-m Array and allows spectral setups that are fully compatible with those of the 12-m Array.
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