Observing Time Applications

Here is the current Call for Proposals announcement.

Here are the Dual-Anonymous Peer Review proposal submission instructions.

Review the IRTF Facility and Visitor Instruments Available.

The IRTF will accept only online submission of observing proposals. All submitted proposals must use the proposal attachment form below.


Submitting the Observing Time Application Form to the IRTF

You must submit your proposals via the online application form, and the proposal attachment pdf file should be submitted at that time. Proposals that do not include the attachment pdf file will be considered incomplete.

Beginning with the 2016B semester, raw data files taken with IRTF facility instruments will be made publicly available via an online archive following a proprietary period of 18 months that begins on the date of observation. Further information can be viewed on the IRTF Data Archive Policy page.

If a proposal is awarded observing time through the TAC-review process, the abstract will be preserved as part of the public archive. The abstract should contain brief summaries of both the scientific and technical justifications described in the proposal. It should be written in a way that provides future users of the data a cursory overview of the initial thought and planning that led to the observations. To accommodate this extended abstract, the maximum length has been increased to 300 words.

Please note that the deadline is 5:00PM HST on the due date. Proposals submitted after the deadline will be marked as "late" when passed on to the TAC.

Each proposal attachment file must be given the name PIname.pdf, where PIname is the last name and initials of the PI. For example, Frank D. Lima would be LimaFD.pdf or LimaF.pdf. Multiple proposals from the same PI should have sequential numbers added to the name; e.g., PIname_1.pdf, PIname_2.pdf, etc. The attachment file may be downloaded here:

MS Word attachment file LaTex attachment file LaTex style file

After downloading the attachment file, you can then edit the file and submit it as a pdf file through the proposal form. The Latex style file is optional, and it provides an alternative way to include figures.

Please note that 'Tab' should be used to navigate between the form items as the form is filled in. Hitting 'Enter' will attempt to submit the form (but will not cause any harm).


Some frequently asked questions and other useful information are listed here.


If you encounter problems, please contact us at (808) 956-6795.