Looking Forward After proposal submission

The Phase 1 proposals will be reviewed scientifically by the ISO Observing Time Allocation Committee (OTAC). Following the analysis of the "Letters of Intent", the structure of this committee is being modified, with the Stellar/Circumstellar and Extragalactic Panels each being split into two separate panels. The other panels cover Solar System, Interstellar Matter and Cosmology. ESA will provide each panel a technical assessment of the feasibility of the proposals in their area. The recommendations of OTAC are expected by about the end of November and proposers will be notified by ESA of the results shortly thereafter.

Successful Phase 1 proposers will then be required to travel to ESTEC (IPAC, for US proposers) in order to enter full details of their observations into the data bases of the Science Operations Centre (SOC). It is expected that the Proposal Data Entry centre at ESTEC will be operational from about December 1994 to mid-1995. During their visit, observers will receive support from technical and scientific staff of the SOC not only in the use of the various facilities for entry and verification of their observations but also in checking that the planned observations are feasible and optimised. Given the "service" nature of observing with ISO and that observations will be executed automatically, it is essential that this interaction is used to brief SOC staff fully on an observer's programme.