TAC Results

The German SOFIA Cycle 10 Open Time call (deadline 29 January, 2022) attracted 20 proposals for an initial total offer of 100 observing hours. The Cycle 10 TAC members met on March 7 to 10 online, evaluated the proposals and provided a ranking. At the time the cancellation of the SOFIA program was still uncertain and the planning of Cycle 10 went forward. After a reevaluation of the available science hours, reconciliation with the US TAC results and program optimization the following proposals were marked up to be proposed to the project in the categories as follows: 4 proposals as WILL DO (Category I), another 5 proposals as SHOULD DO (Category II), and 11 proposals as DO IF TIME (Category III). There were a total of 51.9 h marked-up for the high priority schedule (Category I and II), while 50.9 h were marked-up to the lower priority (Category III).

The committee had the following members:

The following proposals could have been awarded observing time if SOFIA had been allowed to continue its mission beyond September 2022:

Category I: WILL DO proposals:

Category II: SHOULD DO proposals:

Category III: DO IF TIME proposals:

I would like to extend my sincere apologies to all observers who spent effort in preparing their Cycle 10 proposals and all those who were successful in previous cycles but ended up with incomplete datasets. I still hope that you all will do the best you can to publish the material that is available and mine the SOFIA archive as many scientific treasures may still be buried there. This is still the best way for our scientific community to show that SOFIA's retirement was premature and not in the scientific interest.

Dr. Bernhard Schulz
SOFIA SMO Deputy Director &
German SOFIA proposals selection official

The German SOFIA Cycle 9 Open Time call (deadline 5 September, 2020) attracted 29 proposals for an initial total offer of 80 observing hours that was later extended to about 120 hours due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the planned heavy maintenance period on Cycle 8. The Cycle 9 TAC members met on October 12 to 14 online and evaluated the proposals. After a reevaluation of the available science hours, reconciliation with the US TAC results and program optimization, 9 proposals were selected as WILL DO (Category I), of which one is a ToO program. Another 9 proposals were selected as SHOULD DO (Category II), and 8 proposals as DO IF TIME (Category III). There were a total of 59.1 h assigned to the high priority schedule (Category I and II, excluding the ToO observation), while 55.6 h were assigned to the lower priority (Category III).

The committee had the following members:

The following proposals were awarded observing time: 

Category I: WILL DO proposals:

Category I: WILL DO proposals - Target of Opportunity:

Category II: SHOULD DO proposals:

Category III: DO IF TIME proposals:

Thank you very much for your continued interest in SOFIA observations.

Dr. Bernhard Schulz
SOFIA SMO Deputy Director &
German SOFIA proposals selection official

The German SOFIA Cycle 8 Open Time call (deadline September 7, 2019) attracted 33 proposals for an initial total offer of 80 observing hours. The Cycle 8 TAC members met on October 7 to 9 at DSI/University of Stuttgart and evaluated the proposals. After a reevaluation of the available science hours, reconciliation with the US TAC results and program optimization, 4 proposals were selected as WILL DO (Category I), of which one is a ToO program. Another 4 proposals were selected as SHOULD DO (Category II), and 6 proposals as DO IF TIME (Category III). There were a total of 29.3 h assigned to the high priority schedule (Category I and II, excluding the ToO observation), while 32 h were assigned to the lower priority (Category III).

The committee had the following members:

The following proposals were awarded observing time:

Category I: WILL DO proposals

Category I: WILL DO proposals - Target of Opportunity

Category II: SHOULD DO proposals

Category III: DO IF TIME proposals

Thank you very much for your continued interest in SOFIA observations.

Dr. Bernhard Schulz
SOFIA SMO Deputy Director &
German SOFIA proposals selection official

The German SOFIA Cycle 7 Open Time call (deadline September 8, 2018) attracted 33 proposals for an initial total offer of 70 observing hours. The Cycle 7 TAC members met on October 16 and 17 at Reston in the USA and evaluated the proposals. In summary, the TAC recommended 4 proposals as WILL DO (Category I), 5 proposals as SHOULD DO (Category II), and 14 proposals as DO IF TIME AVAILABLE (Category III). After a reevaluation of the available science hours with improved accounting for observatory overheads, and reconciliation with the US TAC results, there were a total of 45.2 h assigned to the high priority schedule (Category I and II), and 62.1 h assigned to the lower priority (Category III).

The committee had the following members:

The following proposals were awarded observing time:

Category I: WILL DO proposals

Category II: SHOULD DO proposals

Category III: DO IF TIME AVAILABLE proposals

Thank you very much for your continued interest in SOFIA observations.

Dr. Bernhard Schulz
SOFIA SMO Deputy Director &
German SOFIA proposals selection official

The German SOFIA Cycle 6 Open Time call (deadline July 1, 2017) attracted 27 proposals for a total of 75 observing hours available (oversubscription factor 1.8). The Cycle 6 TAC members met on Sept 12 and 13 at DSI in Stuttgart and evaluated the proposals. In summary, the TAC recommended 4 proposals as WILL DO (category I), 13 proposals as SHOULD DO (category II), and 7 proposals as DO IF TIME AVAILABLE (category III).

The committee had the following members:

The following proposals were awarded observing time:

Category I: WILL DO proposals

Category II: SHOULD DO proposals

Category III: DO IF TIME AVAILABLE proposals

The Joint Impact Program was evaluated by the US and DE TACs separately and got awarded a total of 4h (US+DE time) in category II.

Thank you very much for your continued interest in SOFIA observations.

Dr. Holger Jakob
SOFIA SMO Deputy Director (acting) &
German SOFIA proposals selection official

The German SOFIA Cycle 5 open time call (deadline July 8, 2016) attracted 27 proposals for a total of 75 observing hours available (oversubscription factor 3.0). The Cycle 5 TAC member met on Sept 1 and 2 at DSI in Stuttgart and evaluated the proposals. In summary, the TAC recommended 6 proposals as MUST DO (category A), 12 proposals as SHOULD DO (category B, 6 in the B+ and 6 in the B- subcategory), and 3 proposals as DO IF TIME (category C). It is worth mentioning that the TAC judged the overall quality of the SOFIA Cycle 5 proposals to be very high.

The committee had the following members:

The following proposals were awarded observing time:

Category A: MUST DO proposals

Category B+: SHOULD DO proposals 

Category B-: SHOULD DO proposals

Category C: DO IF TIME proposals

Thank you very much for your continued interest in SOFIA observations.

Dr. Hans Zinnecker
SOFIA SMO deputy director & German SOFIA proposals selection official

The SOFIA German Cycle 4 call for proposals (deadline July 10, 2015) generated 30 proposals. The SOFIA Time Allocation Committee (TAC) met at DSI/Univ. Stuttgart on September 1 and 2 to evaluate and rank the proposals by scientific merit.

The committee had the following members:

The proposals were ranked in 5 categories:

• 5. Must do
• 4. Should do
• 3. Do if time
• 2. Filler
• 1. Don't do

Below we present tables for categories 5 (Must do), 4 (Should do) and 3 (Do if time). The entries per table are sorted alphabetically by PI name and do not represent a ranking within the category.

Category 5: Must do proposals

(*) This joint impact proposal was strongly endorsed by the U.S. selection process.

Category 4: Should do proposals

(**) As this joint impact proposal was declined in the U.S. selection process, by the rules it is automatically declined in the German selection process.

Category 3: Do if time proposals

Thank you very much for your continued interest in SOFIA observations.

Dr. Hans Zinnecker
SOFIA SMO deputy director & German SOFIA proposals selection official

The SOFIA German Cycle 3 call for proposals (deadline July 18, 2014) generated 32 proposals. The SOFIA Time Allocation Committee (TAC) met at DSI/Univ. Stuttgart on September 17 and 18 to evaluate and rank the proposals by scientific merit.

The committee had the following members:

• Prof. Dr. Dietrich Lemke, Chair (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg)
• Dr. Frank Bigiel (Institut für Theor. Astrophysik, Univ. Heidelberg)
• Dr. Eike Guenther (Thüringer Landessternwarte, Tautenburg)
• Dr. Mark Morris (Univ. of California Los Angeles, California)
• Dr. Markus Nielbock (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg)
• Dr. Michael Olberg (Onsala Observatory, Sweden)
• Dr. Nicola Schneider (Observatoire de Bordeaux, France)
• Dr. Bringfried Stecklum (Thüringer Landessternwarte, Tautenburg)
• Dr. Malcolm Walmsley (Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, Florence, Italy)

The proposals were ranked in 5 categories:

• A+ (excellent)
• A- (very good)
• B+ (good)
• B- (fair)
• C (poor)

Below we present tables for categories A+ (MUST DO), A- (DO with high priority), B+ (DO with lower priority). All of these proposals in the first 3 categories were awarded time, as listed. Proposals in category B- (DO if time) were not awarded time at this point. The targets in these proposals may be used as fillers, in case gaps occur in the flight plans. Proposals in category C were rejected.

The total available time for the German community in Cycle 3 is about 45 hours. It must be noted that many approved GREAT proposals request time which would require or benefit from a SOFIA deployment to the Southern Hemisphere. The time awarded here is therefore contingent on the GREAT instrument to be deployed to New Zealand, which is likely but still awaits final approval by NASA.

Table 1 (A+ proposals)

Table 2 (A- proposals)

  (*) pending scheduled GREAT observations during Cycle 2 in January 2015

Table 3 (B+ proposals)

Thank you very much for your continued interest in SOFIA observations.

Dr. Hans Zinnecker
SOFIA SMO deputy director & German SOFIA proposals selection official

The SOFIA German Cycle 2 call for proposals (deadline June 29, 2013) generated 22 proposals. The SOFIA Time Allocation Committee (TAC) met at DSI/Univ. Stuttgart on September 17 and 18 to evaluate and rank the proposals by scientific merit.

The committee had the following members:

• Prof. Dr. Dietrich Lemke, Chair (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg)
• Priv. Doz. Dr. Dominik J. Bomans (Ruhr-University Bochum)
• Prof. Dr. Artie P. Hatzes (Thüringer Landessternwarte, Tautenburg)
• Prof. Dr. Francesco Palla (Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, Florence, Italy)
• Dr. Ralf Siebenmorgen (ESO, Garching)
• Prof. Dr. Marco Spaans (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Groningen, The Netherlands)
• Prof. Dr. Harold W. Yorke (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California)

The proposals have been ranked into 5 categories:

• category A (MUST DO)
• category B (SHOULD DO)
• category C (DO IF TIME)
• category D (FILLER)
• category E (DON'T DO)

Below, we present 3 tables for category A,B and C. The total open time available for the German community is about 42 hours, including a few hours for FIFI-LS science verification.

Table 1 (category A proposals)

Table 2 (category B proposals)

Table 3 (category C proposals)

Thank you very much for your interest in SOFIA observations.

Dr. Hans Zinnecker
SOFIA SMO deputy director & German SOFIA proposals selection official

The SOFIA German Cycle 1 call for proposals (deadline March 2, 2012) generated 39 proposals, asking for a total of 200+ hours observing time. The SOFIA Time Allocation Committee (TAC) met at DSI/Univ. Stuttgart on April 16 and 17 to evaluate and rank the proposals by scientific merit.

The committee had the following members:

• Prof. Dr. Michael Grewing, Chair (Univ. Tübingen, Germany)
• Dr. Pierre Cox (IRAM Grenoble, France)
• Dr. Andy Harris (Univ. Maryland, USA)
• Dr. Frank Israel (Leiden Observatory, The Netherlands)
• Dr. Hans-Ulrich Käufl (ESO, Garching)
• Dr. Jesús Martin-Pintado (Centro de Astrobiologia, Madrid, Spain)
• Dr. Katharina Schreyer (Univ. Jena, Germany)
• Dr. Bingfried Stecklum (Landessternwarte Thüringen, Tautenburg, Germany)

The committee was asked to rank the proposal into 3 main categories:

• category A (MUST DO)
• category B (CAN DO, if time)
• category C (DON'T DO in this cycle)

Interestingly, the panel decided to introduce a 4th category, intermediate between A and B, labelled A/B (SHOULD DO, if at all possible).

Below, we present 3 tables, one for category A, one for category A/B, and one for category B. The order of appearance of the selected proposals in each table is alphabetical and does not represent a ranked sequence. The total open time available for the German community is about 35 hours.

Table 1 (category A proposals)

Table 2 (category A/B proposals)

Table 3 (category B proposals)

While we will make every effort to schedule all category A proposals, in the end it all depends if they can be fitted into an optimised flight schedule. Therefore it is conceivable that a category A/B or even B proposal will make its way into the schedule, while a more meritorious A proposal may have to be left out. Note that we plan to have a SOFIA deployment to the southern hemisphere in July 2013 (most likely Christchurch, New Zealand).

Thank you very much for your interest in SOFIA observations.

Dr. Hans Zinnecker
SOFIA SMO deputy director & German SOFIA proposals selection official

The DSI is pleased to announce the results of the review of the proposals submitted in response to the German Call for Proposals for SOFIA Science Demonstration Time.

Members of the Review Panel

• Prof. Dr. Michael Grewing, Chair (Tübingen)
• Prof. Dr. Ed Churchwell (Madison, WI)
• Prof. Dr. Alain Omont (IAP, Paris)
• Dr. Ulli Käufl (ESO, Garching)
• Dr. Thomas Stanke (ESO, Garching)
• Prof. Dr. Malcolm Walmsley (Arcetri Obs., Florence)

Highest Ranked Proposals

Of the 22 proposals submitted, 18 requested observing time with GREAT and 4 requested observing time with FORCAST.

The following table lists the 8 successful proposals with the highest ranking. Every effort will be made to schedule these proposals for execution. The last column of the table provides an estimate of the effective observing time (including a realistic overhead of 100% for GREAT and 50% for FORCAST) granted to the proposals. The observing times listed are preliminary and subject to some change. The effective overhead will be finalized during the scheduling process

Second highest ranked proposals

The following table lists proposals in the group of the second highest ranking. Given the complexity of efficient flight planning and the limited observing time it is expected that only several but not all of these proposals will be scheduled. The observing times listed are preliminary and subject to some change. The effective overhead will be finalized during the scheduling process.

The abstracts of actually scheduled proposals will be provided in due time. 

Phase 2 Procedure

Both groups of proposals above are eligible to enter Phase 2 of the proposal procedure. For Phase 2, the PIs of these proposals will be contacted by the SMO staff. Deadline for Phase 2 for FORCAST proposals is April 29, for GREAT proposals May 13.

Note that all selected proposals during Science Demonstration Time are subject to shared risk. 

Thank you very much for your interest in SOFIA observations.

Dr. Hans Zinnecker
SOFIA SMO Deputy Director & Selection Official