This Knowledgebase article is a repository for information relevant to submission of Cycle 13 proposals. These items may affect how users write their proposals or set up their observations in the OT. The content may evolve rapidly as the 23 April 2026 proposal deadline approaches. Items added to this list after its initial deployment will include the date they were added. We encourage all PIs to check back here regularly prior to proposal submission.
Important News Items:
Please watch this space for quick updates during the call
The PDF for my newly submitted proposal on SnooPI is missing all parts except the science justification (or includes information from an older proposal)!
The web-OT does not submit the entire PDF to the server, only the science case. The full PDFs will be generated by the Observatory after the deadline and before the distribution to the reviewers (and will be retrievable again from SnooPI).
Currently you can only generate the full PDF on the web-OT clicking on the button just below the Abstract, or the icon (of a pdf document) in the header in the top right.
Announcement for early proposal planning for Cycle 13
Web-based OT for Cycle 13 Call and expected capabilities during Cycle 14
Date | Milestone |
19 March 2026 | Release of the ALMA Cycle 13 Call for Proposals and Observing Tool, and opening of the archive for proposal submission |
23 April 2026 (15:00 UT) | Proposal submission deadline |
October 2026 | Start of Cycle 13 observations |
Observing Tool Known Issues - Please check this page for updates on OT known issues
Issue | Description |
C13_001 | Band 2 Single Continuum: The wider separation of continuum spectral windows possible for Band 2 is currently only implemented for the default sky frequency. If a user wants to take advantage of the broader IF range of Band 2 for a continuum setup, then the spectral line mode should be used, choosing the broad correlator modes for all spectral windows. |
C13_002 | Field setup - Rectangular Field: If a source is set up with Target Type “1 Rectangular Field”, the observations require the TP array and then the source list is replaced from a file, the validation error “When TP is scheduled, non-mosaic targets must only have a single pointing” is raised. In this case, reset the Target Type to “1 Rectangular Field” for each source in the Field Setup. |
C13_003 | Field Setup - Pointings: Switching between Rectangular and Individual pointings as well as coordinate systems can lead to large numbers of the pointings. If that is the case, please reset the pointings to the desired values. |
C13_004 | Field Setup - Pointings/Rectangular Field - Spatial Visualizer: The spatial visualizer does not allow to move or remove individual pointings or to draw, resize, or rotate the rectangular field. |
C13_005 | Control & Performance - Spatial resolution: If the Desired Angular resolution is set to “Any” and the spectral setup and calibrator availability require Band-to-band observations, a 500: OK error is raised upon validation. Additionally, the PDF generation does not work. As a workaround, the Desired Angular resolution shall be set to “Custom” and the full range of C-1 to C-6 be chosen. |
C13_006 | Control & Performance - LAS (B2): For Band 2 projects, the GUI might raise an error under the “Largest Angular Structure in source” field if the sensitivity is not yet specified. The LAS will only raise a validation error if the LAS is so large that ACA (or ACA+TP) observations are triggered. |
C13_007 | Field Setup - Spatial Visualizer: If you are opening a multi-dimensional FITS file, the spatial visualizer will only display the last dimension. Either write out only that dimension or change the order of dimensions to display the correct one. |
C13_008 | Generate PDF: If you opened your project as new from a submitted one, then the generated PDF might not contain your science case document. If this is true, make a small change to your abstract and reload your project. The generated PDF now contains your science case. |
C13_009 | Spectral Setup - Spectral Line Picker: The spectral line picker in the web OT is only using the offline catalogue of Splatalogue that was implemented in the desktop OT. There is currently no connection to the online catalogue. Thus, not all lines available in Splatalogue will be visible in the spectral line picker. As a workaround, spectral windows can be added manually, centred on the desired spectral line. |
C13_010 | Spectral Setup - Spectral line: If the spectral window of the representative frequency has the narrowest bandwidth, then the times shown in the PDF might not agree with the times in Time Summary (or maybe even be infinity). If that is the case, please re-select the 58 MHz correlator mode in the spectral setup. The times should then be correct in the PDF. |