ALMA is exploring key upgrades to enhance its sensitivity, resolution, and imaging capabilities, focusing on transformative advancements that will unlock its full scientific potential. As part of an ongoing ESO ALMA development study aimed at advancing ALMA's capabilities, the community workshop "Unlocking ALMA's Potential with Focal Plane Arrays" will take place on September 2 - 4, 2025, at MPIfR, Bonn.This event will explore the scientific drivers and technological innovations behind focal plane arrays (FPAs) - a breakthrough that could significantly expand ALMA's field of view and mapping speed

In preparation for the ALMA Cycle 12 proposal deadline on 24th April 2025, the Italian node of the European ALMA Regional Centre (ARC) is organising a community meeting (in person and online) on Friday 4th April 2025. This meeting is to inform all potential users of new capabilities and the most important changes concerning the proposal preparation and the available tools.

Allegro offers support for ALMA users preparing proposals for Cycle 12. Users can request support via e-mail (alma@strw.leidenuniv.nl) at any time. Turn around time for answers will be especially fast during the Allegro proposal-preparation office hours, from 15:00-17:00 on April 8, 10, 15, 17, 22 and 24; outside these hours, we aim to answer your questions within 1 working day.

The next Call for Proposals for observing time with ALMA (Cycle 12) is anticipated to be issued on 20 March 2025, with a deadline on 25 April 2025. As a focal point during the proposal preparation period, the German ARC node cordially invites its community to gather for the German ALMA Community Day 2025 at the Argelander-Institut für Astronomie in Bonn on Friday, 4 April 2025.

In preparation for the upcoming ALMA proposal deadline (April 24), the Nordic ARC node is preparing a few events to which the community is invited. On April 1 and 10, we meet at Chalmers University, Gothenburg (Sweden), for two in-person proposal preparation events. And for April 8-9 we are preparing and ALMA proposal preparation workshop at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Lunch session LS6 on "The ALMA 2030 Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade: status update" will take place on the 26th of June, during the European Astronomical Society (EAS) 2025 annual meeting in Cork (Ireland). 

Key dates have been announced for early proposal planning for Cycle 12.

Following the announcement from ESO about the start of the search for its next astronomical ground-based programme for the 2040s (https://next.eso.org/), the community is getting organised to prepare the science case for a potential facility in the 2040s ('ALMA 2040'), building upon the successes of the current ALMA Observatory.