Credit: Alex Pérez.

Status Update on the ALMA 2030 Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade at EAS 2025

26 June 2025
Cork, Ireland
Website

ALMA users attending the European Astronomical Society (EAS) 2025 annual meeting in Cork, Ireland, may be interested in attending lunch session LS6 entitled "The ALMA 2030 Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade: status update". The Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade has the goal of increasing the instantaneous spectral bandwidth of ALMA's receivers by a factor of 2 to 4 while also upgrading the full signal chain of ALMA to provide overall improvements in ALMA's capabilities for continuum and spectral scan observations. This special lunch session at the EAS is an opportunity to get updated information on the status and future plans for the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade.

Call for Proposals for ALMA Development Studies

Deadline: 27 August 2025 11:00 CEST
Website

ESO has announced a new Call for Proposals for developmental studies related to ALMA upgrades, with a particular emphasis on the development of new receiver components that will increase the current IF bandwidth by a factor of 4 as well as software initiatives related to the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade. Institutions interested in participating in this should register on the In-Tend portal at this link and indicate their interest in the ALMA Development Studies 2025 using reference FCFP-129429-AMA.

Any institutions interested in this Call for Proposals should register their interest as soon as possible so as to ensure that they receive all of the relevant documentation and circulars from ESO. The deadline for submitting a proposal itself is 27 August 2025 at 11:00 CEST.

Job Opening for Astronomer / Project Scientist at ESO Garching

Deadline: 11 July 2025
Website

ESO is advertising an Astronomer / Project Scientist position working with ALMA at the ESO Headquarters in Garching. The position will be heavily involved with the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade as well as other ALMA upgrades and developmental work. A complete list of the main duties and responsibilities as well as necessary qualifications are listed within the advertisement.

Applications should include a motivational letter, a CV containing a publication list, a research statement, and the names and contact details for three references. The deadline for applying is 11 July 2025.

UK ALMA Regional Centre Support Information and Contact Details

The UK ALMA Regional Centre Node is available to provide support to people working with or interested in working with ALMA. This may include help with preparatory data analysis, including the use of archival data, proposal and observing preparation, data calibration and imaging, and subsequent data analyses. We can also provide computing facilities for ALMA data processing and training for individuals or groups of people.

If you have any ALMA science results that they want to share with the UK ALMA community, please contact us, and we will endeavour to include those results in our next newsletter and on our website.

For any ALMA-related queries or support requests, please contact the UK ARC Node via the following:

ALMA Helpdesk: help.almascience.org
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.alma.ac.uk