OPTICON-Alliance implements Calls for Proposals to access many telescopes

These Calls are open to All, are refereed, and provide free access to users

The next Call will be open in January 2027, to a growing number of telescopes.

Please also consider the BHTOM network of telescopes for time-domain observations. 

OPTICON call for proposals 2026 (Closed, report under Previous Calls link)

THE FACILITIES OFFERED OBSERVING TIME IN 2026 ARE SHOWN BELOW:  alphabetical order

TBL and Aristarchos facilities will be available for future calls, but are currently in the process of being upgraded. 

The Baldone Schmidt telescope

• Observatory Location: Latvia
• Observatory Webpage link: https://www.baldonesobservatorija.lu.lv

Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO)

• Observatory Location: Armenia
• Observatory Webpage link: https://www.bao.am/telescopes/2.6m/

Joan Oró Telescope (TJO)

• Observatory Location: Montsec Observatory (OdM-IEEC), Catalonia
• Observatory Webpage link: https://montsec.ieec.cat/en/astronomy/tjo/

Kottamia Astronomical Observatory (KAO)

• Observatory Location: Egypt
• Observatory Webpage link: https://www.nriag.sci.eg/overview-at-kottamia-astronomical-observatory/

Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO)

• Observatory Location: Various
• Observatory Webpage link: https://lco.global

Liverpool Telescope (LT)

• Observatory Location: Canary islands, La Palma, Spain
• Observatory Webpage link: https://telescope.livjm.ac.uk

Moletai Astronomical Observatory

• Observatory Location: Vilnius University, Lithuania
• Observatory Webpage link: https://mao.tfai.vu.lt/sci/en/news/

Rapid Eye Mount telescope (REM)

• Observatory Location: La Silla, Chile
• Observatory Webpage link: https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/rem/ & http://www.rem.inaf.it

Skalnaté Pleso Observatory

• Observatory Location: Vysoké Tatry, Slovakia
• Observatory Webpage link: n/a

Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG)

• Observatory Location: Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma, Spain
• Observatory Webpage link: https://www.tng.iac.es

University of Zielona Gora Observatory (UZO)

• Observatory Location: Deep Sky Chile, Ovalle, Chile
• Observatory Webpage link: https://www.uz-observatory.com/

For specific practical information about individual telescopes or instruments, applicants are asked to contact the relevant local observatory team directly.

For general queries regarding this call, please contact:

Fraser Gillan: andrew.gillan@ncbj.gov.pl

Gerry Gilmore: gilmore@ia.forth.gr  

Gudrun Tausch-Pebody: gp383@cam.ac.uk

Call Results

Number of proposals received: 26

Successful applications: 65%

20.9 hours Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network

Multi-band Photometry of a Long Period Eclipsing Binary: NN Del

Poland

10 nights Kottamia Astronomical Observatory

Uranian/Neptunian Icy Satellites via Polarimetry

Republic of Korea

30 hours Baldone Schmidt Telescope, 10 hours Joan Oró Telescope, 35 hours Kottamia Astronomical Observatory, 6 hours Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, 8.5 hours Liverpool Telescope, 30 hours University of Zielona Góra Observatory

Testing Gaia Selected Supermassive Black Hole Binary Candidates through Multiband Monitoring

Poland

16.5 hours Telescopio Nazionale Galileo

Constraining the mass of a circumbinary planet via apsidal precession

UK

10 hours Telescopio Nazionale Galileo

TOI-1634 and the density valley: resolving a key mass ambiguity

UK

10 hours Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network

Catching the Final Hours: Physical Characterization of Near-Earth Asteroids and Earth Impactors during Extreme Close Approaches

China

25.66 hours Telescopio Nazionale Galileo

Detecting companions to hot Jupiters to probe their origins

Germany

9.2 hours Liverpool Telescope, 5.6 hours Telescopio Nazionale Galileo

Understanding the crucial early emission in TDEs with fast-response discovery and high-cadence follow-up in the Rubin-LSST era

Italy

5 hours Kottamia Astronomical Observatory, 5 hours Skalnaté Pleso Observatory

Spectroscopic observation – Chemically peculiar stars in binary systems

Poland

26 hours Telescopio Nazionale Galileo

Measuring Architectures across the Savanna to Understand Dynamical Inception (MASUDI)

Italy

25 hours Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network

Supernova Extinction: Disentangling ISM and CSM Contributions

Portugal

12 hours Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, 3 hours University of Zielona Góra Observatory

Probing Shapes and Rings in Mid-Sized TNOs with LCO through stellar occultations

Spain

40 hours Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, 20 hours Rapid Eye Mount Telescope, 10 hours Liverpool Telescope

Pursuing the first lights of core-collapse supernovae

China

60 hours Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, 10 hours Liverpool Telescope

Energetics and mass-loss histories of interacting supernovae in the Multi-messenger era

Italy

18 hours Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network

Exploiting the robotic capabilities of LCO to support SOXS observations of GRBs/FXTs

Italy

12.64 hours Telescopio Nazionale Galileo

Uncovering the true nature of PSR J0435+3233, a new millisecond pulsar with an abnormally high spin-down rate

Italy

5 hours Telescopio Nazionale Galileo

VOYAGERS Survey HARPS-N Giant Exoplanet Candidate Follow-up Proposal

Italy