Applying for LSST DESC Membership
Membership
The LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration welcomes new applications for Membership. Please see the DESC Membership Policy to check your eligibility: you must have LSST data rights in order to be granted Membership in the DESC.
- Being a Member of the DESC comes with some responsibility; please see our Collaboration Policies and By-laws and make sure that you will be able to agree to abide by them. In particular, make sure you read our Code of Conduct, Governance Plan, and Publication Policy.
- We accept applications via web application form, at the link below. It will ask you to briefly explain your expertise and proposed involvement with the DESC. If your application was successfully submitted, you should very shortly receive an automated confirmation email indicating that it was submitted.
- The application will be considered by the DESC Membership Committee, which will strive to respond within a few days of receipt of the application. Inquiries about pending applications, or ones with an error in the submission process resulting in no confirmation email, can be sent to the DESC Membership Committee at
lsst-desc-mc-submit [at] slac.stanford.edu. - Successful applicants will be added to DESC mailing lists and will gain access to DESC communication tools.
- LSST DESC also provides a time-limited Provisional Membership, which is meant for individuals who are in the process of obtaining data rights.
Provisional Membership enables individuals who have a well-defined pathway to obtaining data rights to begin DESC Membership while data rights are being considered. Provisional Members have the same rights and responsibilities as Members, however Provisional Membership will expire if the data rights process is not completed or rights are declined. (Provisional Membership is valid only before proprietary LSST data is available.) You can read details about Provisional Membership in the DESC Membership Policy.
If you do not have data rights at your institution but you have a clearly defined path to obtain data rights in the near future, then you will be accepted as a Provisional Member.
Here are several common cases where a researcher should apply for Provisional Membership. These are not all-inclusive; if your situation differs from these, but you meet the basic criterion above, feel free to apply for Provisional Membership and explain your situation (or be in touch if you are unsure):
- For groups that have LSST data rights, there might be a lag between when new members join their group and when they are added to the list of Principal Investigators (PIs) and Junior Associates (JAs) on the list linked from International Data Right Holders list page. New members of those groups who begin to work on LSST may benefit from Provisional Membership in DESC to bridge the gap until the next date at which they have the opportunity to seek PI or JA status.
- Groups that are newly seeking data rights (or seeking to expand their number of PIs) may benefit from those writing their proposal being able to join DESC as Provisional Members, so they can understand its plans for software development and its follow-up telescope needs. Junior members of such groups are also welcome to apply for Provisional Membership.
To apply for Provisional Membership, follow the Membership application process but with two differences:
- In the dropdown menu from which applicants are asked to identify their “Current Institution”, applicants for Provisional Membership should select “Provisional Member”.
- In the part of the form that requests a description of the intended contribution to DESC, applicants for Provisional Membership should mention their scientific interests in DESC, and also explain how they meet the criterion for Provisional Membership (well-defined path to data rights - for example, as part of a specific institutional/national group seeking data rights).
The expectation is that Provisional Members will gain data rights on a well-defined timeline and transition to regular (non time-limited) Membership.
Questions about Provisional Membership should be directed to the DESC Spokesperson team (lsst-desc-spokesperson [at] slac.stanford.edu) and the Membership Committee (lsst-desc-mc-submit [at] slac.stanford.edu).
NOTE: You should get a confirmation email from lsst-desc-onboarding [at] slac.stanford.edu as soon as you submit the form. If you do not get one, please contact the Membership Committee at lsst-desc-mc-submit [at] slac.stanford.edu.
If you have previously been a member of the DESC and wish to rejoin, please use the following form instead of submitting a new member application.
Leaving the DESC
Please indicate that you wish to leave the DESC by filling in the following form.