FAQs

About the conference

• What is the SMA Interferometry School?
  The main goals of the school are to provide graduate students, advanced undergraduates, post-docs and scientists outside the field with a broad knowledge of interferometry and data reduction techniques at (sub)millimeter wavelengths. The workshop will provide a series of lectures focusing on fundamentals of radio interferometry, with a special emphasis on the Submillimeter Array (SMA) interferometer and its new capabilities.


• How is it different from similar interferometry schools?
  The school will also extensively utilize the SMA, located on Maunakea. Unlike other interferometry schools, school participants will propose, observe, and perform data reduction on their own projects as part of the curriculum.

Logistics

• Where is the SMA Interferometry School being held?
  The Submillimeter Array Interferometry School is normally held at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory offices (SAO) in Hilo, Hawaii. However, due to limitations imposed by the current pandemic, we have decided to hold the school virtually this year. All activities will be organized online, and we will aim to help support participation from across the globe.


• When is the SMA Interferometry School being held?
  The school will be held from 18-22 January 2022.


• What are the registration costs?
  There are no registration costs for the workshop.

Application Process

• What is the application process for the SMA Interferometry School?
  Each prospective student is required to fill out an application form (which can be accessed through the registration page ). Along with some basic information, the application requires the submission of a limited, 1-page proposal for an observation, and a brief (1-2 paragraph) personal statement on why you are interested in attending the school.


• How will proposals/attendees be selected?
  24 participants will be selected based primarily on the contents of the personal statement and the observing proposal. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration without regard to race, color, creed, national origin or gender. We particularly encourage applications from individuals belonging to historically underrepresented groups.


• Why is an observing proposal required?
  As part of the school will involve students collecting data for their own purposes, we use the observing proposal to evaluate scientific proficiency of each applicant. Deep technical mastery of interferometry is not required -- that's part what we are hoping to teach you!


• I just put in an observing proposal, can I reuse that for my application?
  If you put in an observing proposal for the 2021A or 2021B semesters, then you may reuse material that you were the primary author for (i.e., the same proposal material for two separate applications). Please note that the page and technical limits for SMA standard proposals and for the school are different, so some degree of proposal editing is likely to be required.


• When will applications close?
  Applications will close on Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 0000 UT (Oct 23 at 8 PM EDT). We intend to notify students of the status of their applications the weekend of November 19, 2021.

Observations

• Will I get the data I proposed for as part of the school?
  That will depend on what was proposed for. Each student will be awarded one hour of observing time (weather permitting), to be used at their discretion provided the proposed observations fall within certain guidelines, most notably that they can use the standard 230 GHz tuning. Students may join into groups of at least 3 to combine resources and request longer observations (e.g., a group of 4 can ask for a 4-hour observation) which may be at frequencies other than the standard tuning, subject to the approval of the SOC.


• When will my observations be run?
  Observations will be conducted in advance of the school, starting in early December and concluding on January 17, 2021. In the (hopefully) unlikely event that severe weather or technical issues prevent us from conducting your observations, a backup data set will be made available to you and your group.