Joint CSTG/IERS
Call for Participation in the
International VLBI Service
for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS)
SUMMARY
The CSTG VLBI Subcommission's IVS Steering Committee and the IERS Directing Board request proposals for participation in a new entity, the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry. The primary objective of the IVS, an international collaboration of organizations which operate or support VLBI components, is to foster VLBI programs as a joint service to support geodetic, astrometric, geophysical, and other research and operational activities.
Proposers should read the Terms of Reference for the new organization to familiarize themselves with the objectives of the IVS and its data products and research.
The IERS expects to recognize the IVS as the operational entity which is designated to provide VLBI products to the IERS. Many organizations submitted proposals in 1995/6 for VLBI participation in the IERS. Therefore the IERS will allow those proposers to transfer their commitment to the new organization by so stating in their IVS proposal. Such a transfer will imply that there is no break in the continuity of the original commitment.
Qualified organizations are encouraged to submit proposals for one or more of the following components of the IVS:
Before preparing a proposal for a particular IVS component, proposers should carefully read the Terms of Reference which describe the responsibilities and functions of each component.
Proposers must provide their own financial resources to carry out the functions of the IVS components and must indicate their organizational commitment in their proposal. As the IVS cannot provide financial resources, the commitment of organizations hosting the proposed IVS components will be an important consideration in the proposal review.
Proposers must use a standard form to prepare their proposals. Standard proposal forms for each of the IVS components are available as ASCII, Word (version 6/7), and WordPerfect (version 6/7/8) documents.
Please download the proposal form in the desired file format and then edit it to fill in the requested information. The file will expand as you insert the information requested on the form. Descriptive text may be inserted in the form at the point it is requested or you may attach separate pages. The final length of the proposal should be no longer than a total of four pages, and two pages is preferred.
If you proposed to the IERS in 1995/6 and wish to have that proposal carry over to the IVS, please make such a statement in your proposal. The signature on the proposal form will then indicate your agreement to participate in the IVS while the commitment of your organization will be indicated by the signature on the original IERS proposal.
If this is a new proposal, the proposal form must be signed by a responsible individual committing the organization to participate in the IVS.
After you have completed the proposal form, print it out, obtain the required signature, and send it via mail to the addresses below. We also request that you e-mail the proposal (without signature but with the signature name typed in) to nrv@gemini.gsfc.nasa.gov for archiving. The e-mail version may be in ASCII or you may attach a Word or WordPerfect file.
Organizations that are proposing multiple components should submit a separate proposal for each component.
Proposals for participation in IVS should be submitted by mail (with original signature) so that they are received by 20 September 1998. Mail proposals to:
James Campbell
President, CSTG VLBI Subcommission
University of Bonn Geodetic Institute
Nussallee 17, D-53115 Bonn
Germany
Phone: (49) 228-733565
Fax: (49) 228-732988
E-mail: campbell@sn-geod-1.geod.uni-bonn.de
with a printed copy by mail and an e-mail copy to:
Nancy Vandenberg
Secretary, CSTG VLBI Subcommission
NVI, Inc./Goddard Space Flight Center
Code 920.1
Greenbelt, MD 20771
USA
Telephone: (1) 301-286-9019
Fax: (1) 301-286-0213
E-mail: nrv@gemini.gsfc.nasa.gov
PROPOSAL DEADLINE
Proposals are due, at the locations given above and via e-mail, no later than 20 September 1998. Proposals received by this date will be reviewed by the CSTG's IVS Steering Committee. Proposals received any time after this date will be reviewed by the IVS Directing Board after the IVS is formed.
PROPOSAL REVIEW
The CSTG's IVS Steering Committee will review the proposals. Steering Committee
members are:
| James Campbell, Chair | Univ. of Bonn Geodetic Institute | Germany |
| Yasuhiro Koyama | Communications Research Laboratory | Japan |
| Chopo Ma (IERS representative) |
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | USA |
| Arthur Niell | Haystack Observatory | USA |
| Axel Nothnagel | Univ. of Bonn Geodetic Institute | Germany |
| Jim Ray | U.S. Naval Observatory | USA |
| Nancy Vandenberg | NVI, Inc./Goddard Space Flight Center | USA |
Proposals will be reviewed by the IVS Steering Committee on the basis of their consistency with the IVS Terms of Reference. Proposals will be reviewed and selection of the IVS components will be made at an IVS Steering Committee meeting held in advance of the IAG Symposium in Munich, Germany, 5-9 October 1998.
Successful proposers for the IVS components will be notified by November, 1998. Soon thereafter a call for proposals for the Network Coordinator, Analysis Coordinator, and Technology Coordinator will be sent to the relevant IVS components. The goal is to fully implement the IVS by 1 March 1999.
Released: May 28, 1998