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VERITAS Financial OverviewWystan Benbow
VERITAS Experimental Operations: Review; Dec. 10, 2009
Wystan Benbow, “VERITAS Financial Overview”, Ops. Review, FLWO Base-camp
VERITAS Experimental Operations
• Managed by the VERITAS Project Office at FLWO
• Funding PI & Science Director: Wystan Benbow
• Project Manager: Steve Criswell
• Project Office is responsible for the construction, day-to-day operations, maintenance & most repairs of VERITAS
• Responsibilities require at least: 1 observatory manager, 1 administrator, 1 IT specialist (post-doc) and 4 technicians + collaborator contributions
• Funding of Project Office supported by SAO, DOE & NSF
• 3-year funding-renewal proposal (FY10-FY12) submitted in Fall 2009
• Each agency with 1/3 share & oversight via Joint Oversight Group
• Project Office reports to JOG on a quarterly basis
Wystan Benbow, “VERITAS Financial Overview”, Ops. Review, FLWO Base-camp
VERITAS Funding History
• Construction funded by SI, DOE & NSF: ~$18M: excluding R&D funds
• Some SI & NSF construction funds remain => VERITAS building @ FLWO
• VERITAS fully operational in September 2007
• Commissioning began in 2006 - Scientific data taken during construction
• Operations funding began in FY 2006 (3 year award: FY07-FY09)
• 9 months beginning in Jan 2007; 12-month awards from FY08 onwards
• FY09 award: $1.390 M ($463K each agency / yr);
• Annual operations budget is ~8% of construction cost
• Some SAO funding is via “in-kind” distribution (e.g. electricity);
• SAO contribution “under-accounted”; Many contributions not charged to VERITAS
• Operations funding does not support Criswell or Benbow (PI)
• VERITAS science supported in by NSF / DOE base grants (incl. SAO)
Wystan Benbow, “VERITAS Financial Overview”, Ops. Review, FLWO Base-camp
Operations Funding Renewal
• 3-year renewal proposal (FY10-12) submitted 9/2010; Total: $4,336,915
• FY 2010: $1.413 M (+1.7% from FY09)
• FY 2011: $1.447 M (+2.4% from FY10)
• FY 2012: $1.477 M (+2.1% from FY11)
• Operations funding primarily supports 7 personnel (57%)
• Sub-awards: 15% (for off-site experts to maintain high-level systems)
• Materials & equipment (8%); Utilities (11%)
• Remainder (9%) for services (e.g. vendor repairs), shipping and travel
• Note that operations funding does not support observers, maintenance of some high-level systems, teams for complex tasks (e.g. aligning mirrors), data-quality monitoring, etc.
Wystan Benbow, “VERITAS Financial Overview”, Ops. Review, FLWO Base-camp
A Potential Problem?
Wystan Benbow, “VERITAS Financial Overview”, Ops. Review, FLWO Base-camp
Conclusions
• VERITAS is worldʼs most-sensitive VHE observatory & is at scientific “sweet spot”
• Operations methodology & expenses are based on 3-years of experience
• Personnel roles are well-defined & things run very smoothly
• Annual expenses are only ~8% of construction cost (excluding R&D)
• Expenses (~60%) are largely personnel; Experienced and dedicated staff
• NB: Itʼs not easy getting good staff (driving distance, salary, etc.)
• Minimally staffed; we rely heavily on collaborator contributions ($ via base grants)
• No year-round on-site scientific presence except SAO: SAO base-grant uncertain
• Delays in receiving funding are problematic; SAO “doesnʼt” loan money for promises
• We received $ for FY09 in Summer 2009; This must improve