Introduction
UK researchers will obtain access to proprietary LSST data in return for the UK’s in-kind contribution to Rubin operations, which is primarily provided by the STFC-funded LSST:UK Science Centre (LUSC) programme, supplemented by some additional effort being donated to Rubin commissioning. The content of the UK in-kind package has been approved by the Rubin Management Board, but the UK Data Rights Agreement, which will formalise the arrangements for UK data rights, has not yet been signed by STFC and the US Department of Energy. It is hoped that this will be signed before long, but we must take action now, as many current UK data rights holders have terms that end on 30/09/23.
This 2023H2 selection round will, therefore, implement an interim arrangement, awarding data rights up to 30/09/24 only, rather than for the three-year terms that has been typical in most previous rounds. This will allow UK researchers to continue to engage with LSST Science Collaborations, access Rubin Data Previews, etc, until the detailed arrangements for future UK data access are finalised, with the signing of the UK Data Rights Agreement. The community will be apprised of the details of those arrangements through the monthly LSST:UK Newsletters and further emails to the lusc-announce mailing list.