EU ARC Announcements

ALMA users survey

We are currently running a user survey aimed to help us assess user support needs over the next decade and when the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU) will come online. We are very grateful to everyone that has already participated in the survey.

The survey is temporarily unavailable due to unexpected necessary technical maintenance on the platform. We will notify you as soon as it is back online so you can continue your participation. Once back online, the survey will remain open for at least two more weeks.

Cycle 13 updates for users

With the successful start of Cycle 13, ALMA users will be able to benefit from features recently implemented or updated in various ALMA tools and interfaces. These include the web-based OT, SnooPI, the ALMA Pipeline, and the ALMA Science Archive. Click "Read More" to read a brief overview with links to more detailed documentation.

ESO press release call

Are you an author on an upcoming publication based on ALMA data that could be relevant to the wider public? If so, pitch your result to press@eso.org! You can read more about the types of stories we are after at: https://www.eso.org/public/news/pitch-your-research/. You can also check previously published releases for inspiration at https://www.eso.org/public/news/.

Since the process of evaluating, preparing and reviewing ESO press releases can be lengthy, please send your paper to us as soon as it has been submitted to a journal (no later than 4-6 weeks prior to expected publication). While only a few pitches are successful, the reward is high: if your science does make it into an ESO press release, blog post or picture of the week, it will reach a broad community of people around the world.

ALMASPACE dev study kick off

The ALMASPACE (ALMA Science Platforms for Analysis and Calibration in Europe) development study officially kicked off in Gothernburg on 21 September 2026. Over the next two years, the study will investigate how the European ALMA Regional Centre (ARC) network can support its user community with the computing and storage resources needed to fully exploit the scientific potential of the ALMA Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU).

By bringing together the expertise, infrastructure and user-support experience of the entire European ARC network, ALMASPACE aims to turn the Science Platform concept into a concrete and scalable pathway for the next generation of ALMA science.

Successful close of cycle 12

ALMA successfully started Cycle 13 observations during the Chilean afternoon of September 30th. That also marked the successful close of Cycle 12 with another record! During Cycle 12, ALMA successfully acquired and delivered more than 4700 hours of science-quality data (QA0 PASS) with the 12-m Array and set a new record on all three arrays (12-m, 7-m, and Total Power Arrays). This was achieved despite Cycle 12 having the most observing time lost due to weather in the past decade. Following the successes of Cycle 10 and Cycle 11, this achievement further demonstrates the maturity and efficiency of ALMA operations.

GARD development study kick off

A new ALMA development study, titled 'Next-Generation ALMA Vacuum Windows Sub-Wavelength Surface Structuring,' was officially kick-off at Chalmers university on 22 September 2026. The study is led by the Group of Advanced Receiver Development (GARD), Chalmers University, Gothenburg, Sweden in collaboration with the NOVA sub-mm group, in Groningen, the Netherlands.

Phase 2 Scheduling Block Information in SnooPI starting in Cycle 13

New information for ALMA Principal Investigators (PIs) in Cycle 13: Starting with Cycle 13, Phase 2 information for approved programs will be shown to PIs through the Snooping Project Interface (SnooPI) after the Scheduling Blocks (SBs) have been created. SnooPI now provides field and spectral information for every science target in each SB (e.g., target coordinates and radial velocities, spectral window frequencies, and correlator setups). Additionally, spatial and spectral visualizers to facilitate displaying this information will also be available in SnooPI after 29 September, 2026. These capabilities are similar to what was previously provided through the Phase 2 Observing Tool (OT). More detailed information can be found in the SnooPI User Manual.

As a consequence, ALMA will no longer provide a Phase 2 version of the OT and PIs will need to check SB information through SnooPI.

ALMA publications statistics

ALMA has analysed the refereed ALMA publications in the period from 2012 to 2024. The study analyses publication statistics related to various aspects, e.g., science categories, geographical distribution, archival research, time to publication, publication fraction, and citations. Among other results, the analysis shows that about 70% of observed projects were used in at least one publication, and ALMA publications so far were written by more than 9400 unique authors. The median time to first publication since data delivery is 2.1 years, and about 40% of publications made use of archival data in 2024.

The publication evolution follows that of other high impact observatories as the Hubble Space Telescope and Very Large Telescope. In 2024, the impact factor for ALMA publications, defined as the total number of citations received in a given year stemming from publications of the previous two years, is larger than that of all other major astronomical facilities. Links to the full publication (Stoehr et al. 2026, PASP) can be found here.

Science Archive upgrades

The ALMA Science Archive has received substantial feature upgrades, some of which have been worked on for years.

The ALMA Science Archive Query Interface now allows users to search for lines that have been detected by ADMiT in the public ALMA data products. Users can not only search for molecules and transitions, but redshifts and source velocities or line intensities. Previews are also included for the detected lines. The Request Handler download interface has also received an upgrade - it now shows the hierarchy of the data structure in a modern, intelligently scrollable way where the displayed information can be easily expanded and collapsed. A new powerful search bar at the top allows users to filter the displayed rows by text-, unix-pattern or regular-expression search. The output can be sorted, and a quick-select menu allows users to perform the most-used selections.

5000 publications with ALMA

On June 27th, ALMA and its scientific community reached a major scientific milestone with the publication of the 5000th refereed paper based on ALMA data. This achievement comes just 14 years after the start of Early Science operations and reflects ALMA’s extraordinary scientific impact. All of these ALMA publications and data are accessible through the ALMA Science Archive at almascience.org/aq.

ALMA would like to thank and congratulate the many scientific teams and individuals who have made excellent use of ALMA observations in these publications to advance the understanding of our cosmic origins. The scientific impact of ALMA continues to grow. Publications based on ALMA data have accumulated more than 210,000 citations, establishing ALMA as one of the most productive and scientifically impactful astronomical facilities in the world.

DPR study released

Since 2021, ALMA has used a distributed peer review model instead of traditional panel-based review. In a recent study, John Carpenter and Andrea Corvillon analysed more than 20,000 proposals and over 160,000 individual reviews over 13 ALMA cycles (Cycles 0–12) to examine whether the statistical patterns of proposal evaluation changed. Overall, the study finds that the outcomes of distributed peer review are statistically consistent with those of traditional panel review. You can read a summary of the result on the ALMA website and the paper accepted for publication in PNAS.

Band 2 celebration

On 16 June 2026, ESO's ALMA Support Centre hosted the ALMA Band 2 Production Completion Event. 36 participants from the Band 2 consortium, contributing European institutes, industry partners, and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) travelled to ESO Garching to celebrate this important milestone for ALMA. Together with ESO staff, more than 70 people attended the associated workshop and celebration activities throughout the day.

ADP survey

Advanced data products (ADPs) are becoming increasingly important at modern radio observatories, helping transform complex observational datasets into more accessible, science-ready resources. Products such as enhanced images, spectral products, catalogs, or other higher-level derived datasets can reduce the effort required for scientific analysis and broaden access to archival data. To better understand how such products are currently used, and what additional capabilities may be most valuable to the community in the future, the Advanced Data Products Coordination Group (ADPCG), with members from various radio observatories and the broader community, is conducting a short survey on the usage and potential needs for advanced data products. We warmly encourage all members of the radio astronomy community to participate and share their perspective.

ADPCG Community Survey 2026 – Fill out form

cycle 13 proposal submission statistics

A detailed report of the Cycle 13 Proposal Submission Statistics is now available. The report provides a summary of items such as the number of submitted proposals and time requested, subscription rates, and comparisons with the number of hours requested in previous Cycles.

In Cycle 13, the number of proposals and requested time reached all-time highs. The European oversubscription rate also reached an all-time high of 10.2.

The report can be downloaded as a pdf document.

observatory project release - HDF south

The ALMA Observatory has released data acquired in one of the Observatory Projects, 2024.A.00047.S. The data can be accessed through this link. ALMA Science Archive links for all the Observatory Projects can also be accessed from this main page for the Observatory Projects.

SIS Band 9 kick-off

In preparation for the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU) programme, a team lead by Faouzi Boussaha from the Instrumental Research and Development group at LUX – Paris Observatory (France) has started a new ALMA development study to contribute to the development of the next generation of SIS (Superconductor–Insulator–Superconductor) detectors for ALMA's Band 9. The goal of the study is to double the instantaneous IF bandwidth and significantly increase the sensitivity, requiring a new generation of ultra-sensitive detector elements known as SIS junctions. Specifically, the study plans to use the Aluminium Oxide technology but will investigate new substrates such as silicon on insulator.

record cycle 13 proposals

The ALMA Cycle 13 Call for Proposals, which closed 23 April, received a record number of proposals and requested time. 1843 proposals were submitted, requesting a total of over 37,000 hours of 12m time. ALMA also received a record number of Large Proposals (48) and Joint Programmes (91), demonstrating the sustained growth in demand for ALMA observing time over the past 15 years.

INAF-OAS kick-off

On 13 April 2026, ESO held the kick-off meeting for the Feasibility Study for a new generation of European ALMA receivers covering the 125–211 GHz band (ESO-654032) at the INAF-OAS premises in Bologna, Italy. The meeting marked the formal start of a two-year study to explore the technical and scientific feasibility of a combined ALMA Band 4+5 receiver system covering the 125–211 GHz frequency range. This ALMA development study is relevant for the later stages of the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU) programme.

cycle 13 call for proposals

Cycle 13 Call for Proposals has been released. Cycle 13 introduces two new developments: Band 2 (67–116 GHz) will be offered for the 12m array, and the new web-based Observing Tool (OT) will replace the desktop version. This cycle will offer long baseline configurations (C9 and C10). Further details of the capabilities offered can be found in the Proposer's Guide.

We particularly encourage proposals using long baselines at lower frequencies (Bands 1-4), high-frequency observations (Bands 8-10) and stand-alone ACA.

As always, users are strongly encouraged to submit their proposals early, especially in view of the introduction of the new web-based OT. The Emergency Helpdesk will be open for the 3 days leading up to the proposal deadline.

cycle 13 node workshops

The European ALMA Regional Centre (ARC) network is organising virtual and in-person proposal preparation events related to the Cycle 13 Call for Proposals across Europe.

An overview of the activities and information about participating can be found here.