This section describes relevant changes for observations to take place during Period 96.

General

• During Period 96, the ESO time slots are expected to be scheduled in September and October-November.
  
• The exact distribution of the observing time between the APEX partners can be found on the APEX web pages. Time-critical observations should only be requested during the ESO runs.
• Large Programmes with APEX using Poor PWV conditions: In order to make the best use of the time where the PWV is high (PWV>2 mm) ESO invites Large Programmes for those conditions. Poor PWV large programmes must be clearly identied as such in Box 5 and 8 of the large programme proposal form. Ideally a "Poor PWV LP Programme" therefore consists of a large sample of targets covering a wide RA range. The proposal must demonstrate that the scientic goals can be reached with only a signicant subset of the observations completed. Poor PWV-LPs may cover up to 4 consecutive semesters.

Instruments

• The new 350 μm camera ARTEMIS is offered conditional to its successful commissioning in June 2015. ARTEMIS will cover a field of view of 4'x2'. Parallel observations at 450 μm may be available, but cannot be guaranteed. Sensitivity estimations for 450 μm will not be available before the deadline, and the science case should not depend on this band. If the commissioning is delayed, ESO may execute ARTEMIS programmes with SABOCA instead. A new observing time calculator is available
  
• SABOCA  is not offered in Period 96 as the same capabilities are offered by ARTEMIS.
• SHFI:
  • APEX-1: Large proposals for PWV>2mm conditions are encouraged.
  • APEX-T2:  this 1.3 THz receiver has been de-commissioned
    
• FLASH:
  
  • This PI instruments is offered to the ESO community on a collaborative basis with MPIfR. Large programmes or time critical observations with PI instruments will not be accepted. Users who would like to use FLASH must contact the instrument PI, Dr. Rolf Guesten (rguesten[AT]mpifr-bonn.mpg.de), at least two weeks prior to submitting their proposal. Members of the PI team should be included as CoIs on the proposal. The operation of these PI instruments requires the presence of the instrument team so all ESO FLASH and observations will be scheduled on fixed dates; the exact dates have not been determined yet.
  • Observations will be done by the PI team during a maximum of 3 days. Preference will be given to proposals using the dual-beam, wide-bandwidth capabilities of FLASH due to limited ESO observing time.
• CHAMP+: this MPIfR PI instrument is not offered in P96 because of a planned technical intervention. It may be offered again in P97.
• SUPERCAM: this PI instrument is no longer offered. There are currently no plans to offer it again.
• SEPIA: this PI instrument is offered in P96.