Tips for Writing ALMA
Proposals
Patricio Sanhueza (NAOJ)

March 26, 20201

As a user, I would expect:•Proposals are selected for their scientific merit andpotential contribution to science•Probably we all think our own proposals are great,
but there are too many great proposals…

•Competition is very high!

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My personal view of how to increase
your chances of obtaining ALMA time

I will provide 10 hints on how to improve your proposals,
based on my own personal experience as an ALMA user.

3My personal view of how to increase
your chances of obtaining ALMA time
1.- Start early (~2 months)- Thinking in the idea for a long time and discussing with collaborators about it(before writing the proposal) really helped me.
- This gives me time to be up to date with bibliography as well.

2.- Write the first draft as soon as you have a concrete idea (~1 month)- Thus, collaborators will read the proposal with time to give useful comments (aweek before the deadline most of comments will be superficial)- If you do Galactic astronomy, ask a friend that works on extragalacticastronomy to read the proposal, and vice versa. The proposal needs to be clear
for astronomers not familiar with the topic, but a least one TAC member will be
an expert that will point out the very small details that you may miss…
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My personal view of how to increase
your chances of obtaining ALMA time
1.- Start early (~2 months)- Thinking in the idea for a long time and discussing with collaborators about it(before writing the proposal) really helped me.
- This gives me time to be up to date with bibliography as well.

2.- Write the first draft as soon as you have a concrete idea (~1 month)- Thus, collaborators will read the proposal with time to give useful comments (aweek before the deadline most of comments will be superficial)- If you do Galactic astronomy, ask a friend that works on extragalactic
astronomy to read the proposal, and vice versa. The proposal needs to be clear
for astronomers not familiar with the topic, but at least one TAC member will be
an expert that will point out the very small details that you may miss…
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My personal view of how to increaseyour chances of obtaining ALMA time
3.- Clarity (English proficiency)- Very important problem if you are not an English native speaker. The
proposal needs to be a coherent story.
- Proposal with low quality English can give a bad impression… e.g., it
may looks like it was quickly written in the very last moment.
- If you cannot express yourself clearly, it may look you don't know about
the topic you are proposing.
- Reviewers have to read ~100 proposals! This means that 20 min per
proposal would results in a total of ~35 hrs, 5 hrs (no rest) per day during 7
days…if your proposal is unclear…. you will get a bad score (reviewersmay not like to read proposals twice to understand what you want to do).

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My personal view of how to increase
your chances of obtaining ALMA time
4.- Big picture science- We very often find an interesting source and want to keep studying it as much as
we can. However, it may not call the attention from anyone else.
- It is important to find a strong motivation and convince other people that the study
we have in mind is worth doing.

So, it is very important to put our project/idea in broader context to motivate otherscientists (and be awarded observing time)
5.- Introduction- Short introduction on the general topic and quickly go to the introduction
necessary to understand the scientific questions (scientific motivation). Delineate
here which have been the problems that keep the research questions unsolved.
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My personal view of how to increase
your chances of obtaining ALMA time
5.- Direct Abstract- Hopefully short: what is the problem and how to solve it (not a long abstract thatcan sound as an introduction). The abstract will give the first (hopefully good)
impression to the referees.
5.- Introduction- Short introduction on the general topic and quickly go to the introduction
necessary to understand the scientific questions (scientific motivation). Delineate
here which have been the problems that keep the research questions unsolved.
- Make the scientific motivation clear by numbering 2-3 question that MUST BE
addressed later in the proposal. e.g.:a) Is the magnetic field dynamically important compared to turbulence and gravity?
Later in the proposal: The magnetic field strength will be estimated by using… andthe different energies will be compared by doing…
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My personal view of how to increase
your chances of obtaining ALMA time
5.- Direct Abstract- Hopefully short: what is the problem and how to solve it (not a long abstract thatcan sound as an introduction). The abstract will give the first (hopefully good)
impression to the referees.

6.- Introduction- Short introduction on the general topic and quickly go to the introduction
necessary to understand the scientific questions (scientific motivation). Delineate
here which have been the problems that keep the research questions unsolvedand motivate how ALMA can overcome these problems.
- Make the scientific motivation clear by numbering 2-3 question that MUST BE
addressed later in the proposal. e.g.:a) Is the magnetic field dynamically important compared to turbulence and gravity?
Later in the proposal: The magnetic field strength will be estimated by using… andthe different energies will be compared by doing…
9My personal view of how to increase
your chances of obtaining ALMA time
What I think is a good (focused) question:a) Is the magnetic field dynamically important compared to turbulence and gravity?
- Later in the proposal: The magnetic field strength will be estimated by using…
and the different energies will be compared by doing…

What I think would be a bad (vague) question:b.) What are the initial conditions of high-mass star formation?

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My personal view of how to increase
your chances of obtaining ALMA time
7.- Source selection strategy- One target? why one is enough? why 20? Survey? Clearly state the number oftargets. Justify why the selected sources and why the number of sources.
7.- Immediate objectives- What exactly will be done to answer the questions mentioned in the introduction- Demonstrate that the team is strong to carry out the project- What can be done in the case of negative results
8.- Proposed observations, strategy, and feasibility- Feasibility: running models and CASA simulations- Justify mosaic- Justify angular resolution- Justify ACA (7m and TP)- Justify maximum recoverable scale- Justify the sensitivity- Justify frequency setup (continuum and lines)- Why ALMA?

11My personal view of how to increase
your chances of obtaining ALMA time
7.- Source selection strategy- One target? why one is enough? why 20? Survey? Clearly state the number oftargets. Justify why the selected sources and why the number of sources.

8.- Immediate objectives- What exactly will be done to answer the questions mentioned in the introduction- Demonstrate that the team is strong to carry out the project- What can be done in the case of negative results
8.- Proposed observations, strategy, and feasibility- Feasibility: running models and CASA simulations- Justify mosaic- Justify angular resolution- Justify ACA (7m and TP)- Justify maximum recoverable scale- Justify the sensitivity
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My personal view of how to increase
your chances of obtaining ALMA time
7.- Source selection strategy- One target? why one is enough? why 20? Survey? Clearly state the number oftargets. Justify why the selected sources and why the number of sources.

8.- Immediate objectives- What exactly will be done to answer the questions mentioned in the introduction- Demonstrate that the team is strong to carry out the project- What can be done in the case of negative results

9.- Proposed observations, strategy, and feasibility- Feasibility: running models and CASA simulations- Justify mosaic- Justify angular resolution- Justify ACA (7m and TP)- Justify maximum recoverable scale- Justify the sensitivity- Justify frequency setup (continuum and lines)- Why ALMA?

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My personal view of how to increase
your chances of obtaining ALMA time
10.- Proposal style- Make the proposal as short as you can (including everything you need, ofcourse)- Use bold or underline text for key information and heading to organize ideas,e.g.:

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My personal view of how to increase
your chances of obtaining ALMA time
10.- Proposal style- Make the proposal as short as you can (including everything you need, ofcourse)- Use bold or underline text for key information and heading to organize ideas,e.g.:

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Good luck!

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