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