Statistics on refereed publications in 2013 that make use of data from ESO telescopes have been released by the ESO library. The statistics are calculated using the ESO Telescope Bibliography (telbib), a database of refereed publications that use ESO data. The annual summary of the publication statistics, with breakdown by telescopes and instruments and comparison with other observatories, is available as Basic ESO Publication Statistics.

The zCOSMOS-bright advanced data products are now available via the Science Data Products query form of the ESO Archive. The zCOSMOS large programme on the VLT used VIMOS for a redshift survey in the 1.7 square degree COSMOS field. The zCOSMOS-bright Data Release 2 made available 10643 spectra to i_AB < 22.5 mag.

The ALMA Observatory has issued a news update on the status of ALMA Cycle 1 observations. The planned configurations and the next steps for commissioning are also included. Read the report in PDF.

The Call for Proposals for observations at ESO telescopes during Period 94 (1 October 2014 - 31 March 2015) has been released.

Please consult the Call for Proposals document for the main news items and policies related to applying for time on ESO telescopes. All technical information about the offered instruments and facilities is contained on ESO webpages that are linked from the Call. The proposal deadline is 12:00 CET Thursday 27 March 2014.

A call for ideas for scientific projects with the ESO New Technology Telescope (NTT) at the La Silla Observatory has been issued.

This call opens new opportunities for large scientific projects at the NTT. In order to enable telescope access for innovative ideas, upgraded or new scientific instruments, up to 50% of the telescope time from 2016 to 2020 will be made available to selected projects in return for contributions to the NTT operation.

For the first phase of the definition of these projects, ESO is requesting ideas for scientific projects to be submitted no later than 31 March 2014. For details see the full text of the Call in PDF.

The User Support Department (USD) invites principal investigators and their Phase 2 delegates to participate in the most recent user feedback campaign. This newly revamped survey is designed to provide USD with the opinions of the science community on a number of services. As such it is an important way for the department to know where we are doing well, and where there is room for improvement.

Participating in the survey should take no more than 5-10 minutes, and it can be found here.

ALMA Cycle 1 science observations continued until 28 January 2014 and started again during the third week of February. Seven periods of observations of about 100 hours each have been executed, and about 35% of the estimated number of observation executions needed for Cycle 1 have been completed. All observed data are under analysis or have been delivered to scientists.

Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan, 8-11 December 2014

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has been producing a growing number of impressive and transformational science results as the most powerful mm/submm interferometer in the world. Held in central Tokyo, the aim of this workshop is to highlight the science results from ALMA obtained during the first three years of science operations. The science topics include all fields of astronomy: cosmology and galaxies in the distant Universe; nearby galaxies and the Galactic Centre; the interstellar medium and star formation in our own Galaxy; astrochemistry, circumstellar disks, exoplanets and the Solar System; stellar evolution and solar physics; and fundamental physics.

ESO Workshop, ESO Headquarters, Garching, Germany, 13-17 October 2014

The study of stellar populations is one of the most relevant diagnostics to constrain galaxy formation and evolution. Quantitative analyses of the stellar content of galaxies pave the way to 'convert' starlight into physical quantities like stellar masses, chemical abundances and star formation rates, and to trace the evolution and chemical enrichment history of galaxies.

The PIONIER science meeting will be held on 13–14 January 2014, followed by the VLTI community days (15–16 January), and is organized by IPAG, ESO and Eii. The spirit of the meeting is to provide a direct way for the community to exchange ideas with those at ESO who take care of the VLTI.