Discretionary programme (DP)

    This webpage provides prospective proposers with all information required to prepare and submit proposals to the CHEOPS Discretionary Programme (DP). The DP runs throughout the year and may have up to 25% of the total science observing time of the Guest Observer (GO) Programme, with the remaining at least 75% dedicated to the annual Announcements of Opportunity (AOs).

     

    Deadlines:

    DP proposals have to be submitted at the latest 3-4 weeks before the date of the first possible observation. We highly recommend already alerting us via email to cheops-support at cosmos.esa.int before you start preparing your DP proposal, as this will allow our team to prepare for the incoming submission.

     

    Eligibility

    An eligibile DP proposal for early-career scientists (i.e., before or within 2 years from PhD award) must meet the following criteria:

    1. Contain a single target of high scientific interest
    2. Contain a target/event that is observable by the date by the end of the running AO observing cycle and that is not on the Reserved Target List

    An eligibile DP proposal for mid- and late-career scientists (i.e., more than 2 years after PhD award) must meet the following criteria:

    1. Contain a single target of high scientific interest
    2. Demonstrate that the target was either (a) discovered, or (b) declared to be of high scientific interest since the closure of the previous AO
    3. Contain a target/event that is observable by the date by the end of the running AO observing cycle and that is not on the Reserved Target List

     

    Important Notes

    Prospective observers must take note of the following points:

    1. Read the Policies and Procedures document carefully before starting any proposal preparation, as it is the definitive document for the AO. It contains details of CHEOPS' science programme, available time for the community, observing strategy and constraints, and required contents of observing proposals. It also lists information about the tools and documents available to support observers in their proposal preparation and submission. Also thoroughly consult the Observers Manual and all relevant documentation on this website.
    2. All proposal material and file names must be fully anonymous. This is highlighted in the Policies and Procedures document, and repeated here explicitly to leave no doubts. Failure to comply with this rule will lead to automatic rejection on formal grounds.
    3. Consult the Target Checker and Mission Archive. The CHEOPS Science Team kindly made a list of all targets (reserved and unreserved ones) as well as their programme information publicly available via these tools. The tool also gives detailed instructions on how to proceed for individual targets.
    4. Register to the CHEOPS GO Programme immediately, if you do not already have a user account. Waiting with this step until the deadline might cause you to miss the opportunity.
    5. Submit your proposal via the Proposal Handling Tool for Phase I (PHT1). Proposal submission and access to some tools requires the use of a Cosmos ID together with membership of the CHEOPS GO Programme user group (see above).

    Please also note that:

    • Updates related to this AO Call and its material will be published at the bottom of this webpage.
    • The CHEOPS team will do everything they can to observe and complete awarded programmes if possible. However, it is important to appreciate that an award of observing time does not guarantee that the observations can be conducted, even if a programme is considered to be high priority science. Due to the nature of the science that CHEOPS addresses, time pressure can be high, unforeseen events can occur, and some observations might not be feasible to schedule.
    • CHEOPS is a small mission, with a correspondingly small team to support the GO Programme. Never leave proposal preparation to the very last moment, as it may take a couple of days to answer your questions.

     

    Key Documentation

     

    Tools and material

     

    Additional references   

     

    Updates

    No updates yet. Happy proposing!

     

    Questions about CHEOPS or the GO Programme? Please email cheops-support at cosmos.esa.int and we will be happy to help!
    Last updated 15 Sep 2023