UK contributions to Rubin commissioning: call for proposals

Executive Summary

We invite members of the UK community to propose value added contributions to the commissioning of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory as part of LSST:UK’s in-kind package. This call for proposals follows acceptance of the commissioning element of our in-kind proposal, and initiates the detailed development and approval of the UK’s commissioning team and plans. Our in-kind “recipient group”, namely Rubin’s System Integration Test and Commissioning (SITCOM) team, have identified on-summit support of wavefront sensor sub-system commissioning as a high priority, in addition to a wider team that analyses commissioning data remotely in part-time roles while based at their home institute. All such roles are envisaged as lasting 1-2 years during the 2022 and 2023 calendar years. Our in-kind proposal included 3 staff years of new STFC funding for UK commissioning contributions, split roughly 50-50 between our summit and remote teams. Given the limited funding, and the exciting nature of this opportunity, we anticipate that most members of the UK commissioning team will be unfunded, volunteering a fraction of their research time. Whilst we envisage most of the proposals submitted in reponse to this call will come from groups that submitted an Expression of Interest in 2020, this call is open to all Uk colleagues regardless of previous expression of interest. This call includes background information on the process followed to date, examples of value-added contributions sought by SITCOM, and details of the rights and responsibilities of SITCOM team members, including individuals who join through this call. This call for proposals is coordinated with the recent Announcement of Opportunity for Community Engagement with Rubin Observatory Commissioning Effort in the US and Chile, however UK colleagues are only eligible to respond this UK-specific call. Proposals in response to this UK-specific call must be prepared using this template, and submitted to lusc_pm@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk before 5pm UTC September 30, 2021. Questions or concerns about this call for proposals may be directed to Graham Smith (gps@star.sr.bham.ac.uk) and Bob Mann (rgm@roe.ac.uk).

1. Overview and timeline

Colleagues are invited to submit proposals for contributions to Rubin Observatory commissioning as fully integrated members of Rubin's Systems Integration Test and Commissioning (SITCOM) team. Proposals are welcome from colleagues who seek new funding through this call, and also from colleagues who do not seek new funding. Given the significant opportunity to gain expertise with early data through this call and the limited new funding that is available, we anticipate that the amount of volunteer effort per person will be ~20-50% of an individual’s research time (i.e. modest fractional contributions are welcome and encouraged), and that the sum of the volunteer effort across the UK community may exceed the amount of funded effort.

This opportunity follows the Rubin Observatory's acceptance of the commissioning component of LSST:UK's In-kind proposal to Rubin Observatory, which incorporated input from the 21 UK groups that submitted Expressions of Interest (EoI) in response to the August 2020 call for interest. The proposal submission deadline will be followed by an internal UK review of proposals, with a remit that includes appropriate peer review of any funded effort requested in the proposals. This will be followed by preparation of a full UK proposal that integrates all accepted individual proposals, and submission of this full proposal to SITCOM leadership in late October 2021. The overall aim is for the UK contingent in the SITCOM team to be selected by the end of 2021 and to commence on-boarding and training in early 2022. The following table summarises this timeline:

2. Scope

Whilst we envisage that most of the proposals submitted in response to this call will be from groups that submitted an EoI, proposals from groups that did not submit an EoI are very welcome. We encourage discussion and collaboration between groups when developing proposals in response to this call, and include a summary of the EoIs submitted in 2020 in Appendix 1 so as to facilitate such discussion.

The text of the Commissioning component of the UK’s in-kind proposal (that was accepted in full by the Rubin Observatory and SITCOM) is also included as Appendix 2, so as to set out the current status of thinking on the UK’s commissioning contribution. Colleagues are strongly encouraged to refer this appendix to gain a sense of how thinking has developed since submission of EoIs in 2020. Some of the key points of general interest in Appendix 2 include:

• the UK team will work under the ultimate direction of SITCOM;

• the UK team will comprise a summit team and a remote team, and be coordinated by Graham Smith as the LSST:UK Commissioning Coordinator;

• up to ~50% of the funding available through this call is ear-marked for senior members of the remote team (Will Sutherland and Gavin Dalton) that SITCOM leadership has already identified as high priority UK contributors;

• the precise levels and mix of funding across the UK team are not fixed, and will be determined through the process initiated by this call for proposals.

SITCOM colleagues recently published guidance on the scope of value added community contributions to commissioning that they seek (see Appendix 3 to this call). This new guidance is much more extensive than was available when the UK call for EoI was published in 2020. We encourage colleagues to review Appendix 3 as they formulate detailed proposals in response to this call, regardless of whether they submitted an EoI in 2020.

3. Rights and responsibilities

This is an opportunity to become fully integrated members of the SITCOM team, and thus to benefit from the rights and to fulfill the responsibilities of SITCOM team members. Full details of the rights and responsibilities of SITCOM team members were published in the US/Chile Announcement of Opportunity discussed below, and are included as Appendix 4 to this call, for convenience. We draw attention to the important matters relating to on-summit working, data access, publication policy, and management structure. Colleagues are strongly encouraged to read Appendix 4 before submitting their proposal. Formal confirmation that individuals agree to comply with these rights and responsibilities is expected to take place when the Memorandum of Understanding of UK contributions to commissioning is signed.

4. Funding

We have travel and subsistence funds already in place to support UK colleagues who visit the US and/or Chile as part of their commissioning duties, as part of LSST:UK Phase B funding. We included a further 3 staff years of funding dedicated to commissioning in the UK’s in-kind proposal. This funding should be seen in light of SITCOM’s specific request for expertise from Will Sutherland and Gavin Dalton (see above), and a general expectation from SITCOM that a typical commissioning contribution will amount to ~20-50% of an individual's research time over a ~1-2 year period. This equates to effort of ~0.2-0.5 FTE per year for a postdoctoral fellow, and much less than that for an academic on a three-legged contract. Further details on SITCOM’s expectations are available from the recent US/Chile Announcement of Opportunity discussed in the next section.

5. Relationship with the US/Chile Announcement of Opportunity

This call runs in parallel with a similar opportunity for the US and Chilean communities that is the focus of a separate Announcement of Opportunity (AO). UK colleagues may come across that AO through their involvement in their respective Science Collaborations. International partners are not eligible to apply through the US/Chile AO. This is because the US/Chile AO extends the opportunity to join SITCOM that has effectively been available to international partners through the in-kind process, and of which this UK call for proposals is part. Nevertheless, we are collaborating with US colleagues to ensure that the US/Chile AO and this UK call are synchronised and consistent to the extent possible and that makes sense. For example, the detailed information in Appendices 3 and 4 comes from the US/Chile AO.

6. Proposal content and format

Proposals should be prepared using this template and not exceed three pages in length. The topics that must be included in the proposal are described in the template, and closely follow the US/Chile AO in order to facilitate joint review of the full UK proposal with SITCOM leadership in late 2021. In summary, the required information is as follows:

• contact information for proposal leader(s);

• details of the proposed contribution to commissioning;

• previous relevant experience and engagement with LSST:UK, Rubin Project, and LSST Science Collaborations;

• information about the proposed team members;

• resources already in place and requests for new resources;

• statement on equity, diversity and inclusion.

7. Evaluation criteria

Proposals from individual groups will be evaluated by a sub-committee of the LSST:UK Executive Group, on behalf of the LSST:UK Consortium Board. Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria, many of which are borrowed from the parallel US/Chile AO:

• Alignment with the strategic priorities of the LSST:UK community, as defined by the LSST:UK Consortium Board.

• Alignment of the proposed value-added contributions with Project goals to facilitate a smooth transition to LSST operations.

• Capability of the individual or group to apply their domain expertise to efficiently complete the intended valued-added contributions to the commissioning effort.

• Previous engagement with the Rubin Observatory Project and/or Rubin science community.

• Previous experience with commissioning as well as technical and/or science validation of other instruments/facilities.

• Financial and/or other relevant resources available to support the proposed contribution.

• Contributions to the training and preparation of the next generation of observatory builders.

• Commitment to include diverse staff.

8. Proposal submission

Proposals should be emailed as a pdf file to lusc_pm@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk before 5pm UTC, September 30 2021. Please include “Proposal for UK contribution to Rubin commissioning” in the subject line of your submission email. Safe receipt of each proposal will be acknowledged by email from Terry Sloan or George Beckett (LSST:UK Project Managers) following the submisison deadline.

Appendix 1: Summary of Expressions of Interest from UK colleagues

This appendix lists colleagues who submitted an Expression of Interest in 2020 and who have given permission for their contact details and EoI titles to be shared.