Updated ALMA Policy for Director's Discretionary Time (DDT) Proposals

As announced in Cycle 12 Proposer’s Guide and the ALMA User’s Policies, ALMA has updated its policy for Director’s Discretionary Time (DDT) proposals. This policy took effect for proposals submitted starting 1 October 2025.

The key change is:

• Proprietary Period Policy: By default, data from approved DDT projects will have no proprietary period and will be released publicly when delivered to the Principal Investigator. In exceptional cases, a proprietary period of up to 6 months may be requested by a Helpdesk ticket within 24 hours of proposal submission.

The DDT proposal page also provides updated guidance on required proposal contents, including a clear explanation of why the project qualifies for DDT and why it could not have been proposed during the main Call. Users considering a DDT proposal are encouraged to review the updated DDT proposal page before submission.