After SDSS-IV: Call for Proposals

The After Sloan-IV (AS4) Steering Committee (SC) invites proposals for scientific projects to be carried out by a future AS4 Collaboration in the time period 2020–2026. Proposals are due 23 September 2016, but some components of the proposal may be submitted up to one week later as described in the call for proposals. After review, the AS4 SC will select elements from some or all of these proposals to formulate an AS4 program, which (like SDSS-II, III, and IV) will likely consist of a small number of large survey projects using common hardware assets. This program will be presented to the Board of Governors of the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC), and to the owners of any other assets (such as the 2.5-m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory) that are essential to the proposed program. If the program is approved by these governing bodies, then a Director, Project Scientist, Program Manager, and a new Steering Committee will be appointed to build the AS4 Collaboration and develop funding proposals.

The eventual decision on whether to proceed with AS4 will be made by the participating institutions based on fundraising sufficient to enable a viable program; based on previous cycles, the time required to reach this decision point following formulation of the program is 1–2 years with the recognition that the use of additional telescopes will increase the project cost.

See the full call for proposals and the SDSS website for more information. Review of proposals will begin after 23 September 2016.

Teams are welcome and encouraged to consult with members of the AS4 Steering Committee with questions regarding the scope and content of the proposal.

Juna Kollmeier (Carnegie Observatories, Chair)
Conny Aerts (KU Leuven/Radboud)
Scott Anderson (UW)
Matthew Bershady (University of Wisconsin)
Michael Blanton (NYU)
Daniel Eisenstein (Harvard)
Dani Maoz (TAU)
Hans-Walter Rix (MPIA)
Connie Rockosi (UC Santa Cruz)
David Weinberg (Ohio State)
Bruce Gillespie (ARC, Ex-Officio)
Rene Walterbos (ARC, Ex-Officio)