several important studies that anticipate the harvest of Planck results: 1) polarization of the emission of diffuse interstellar dust, 2) anomalous dust emissivity and 3) a catalogue of about a hundred (13 arcmin size) bright point sources. These results were obtained from a 12-hour Archeops balloon flight in the Arctic sky in 2002, using HFI technology (Benoît et al. 2003a, b; Tristram et al. 2005) The Planck satellite will allow the ultimate measurements of CMB anisotropies with a sensitivity about ten times better than the WMAP achievement and an angular resolution 3 times better. An accurate <strong>de</strong>termination to within one percent will be obtained for the ten or so cosmological parameters <strong>de</strong>scribing our Universe (Hubble constant, curvature, cold, neutrino, and baryonic matter content, dark energy and its equation of state,...). We are involved in the ground-based and in-flight calibration of HFI as well as in some data processing pipeline, in collaboration with other <strong>Grenoble</strong> laboratories (Santos-Renault team at LPSC, Benoît-Camus team at CRTBT). In the coming years, we intend to make an optimal use of the Archeops then Planck submillimetre maps for in-<strong>de</strong>pth scientific results. In the mean time, we take part in the <strong>de</strong>velopments of new CCD-like bolometer cameras, in particular for the IRAM 30m telescope (the program DCMB, led by A. Benoît, is fun<strong>de</strong>d by INSU, PNC, PN Astroparticules and CNES). These cameras could provi<strong>de</strong> a useful complementary tool to the space experiments (Herschel, Planck) and Alma which will all arrive between 2007 and 2012. 4.6 The needs of Astromol : accretion and recruitment Our plans are admittedly scientifically very ambitious. Our scientific record endorses our ambitions, and pushes us towards far reachable goals. However, to fully exploit the capacities and knowledges we have <strong>de</strong>veloped so far, and to keep having a leading role in our research lines, we evi<strong>de</strong>ntly need to become bigger in terms of permanent and not-permanent staff, and not by a number of one. We aim to enlarge our group by accreting senior researchers and, possibly Post-Docs (which, as known, are extremely rare in France). However, there is an evi<strong>de</strong>nt need to increase the number of permanent stuff members by hiring young researchers. In the past we have been forming several of them, and good candidates are in<strong>de</strong>ed available. To be more specific, the following major areas require urgently young permanent researchers in the next four years (of this quadriennal): • At the short horizon 2006-2010, we have the big challenge of being able to scientifically fully exploit the opportunity we have been creating for ourselves and France of the Herschel HIFI Key Program “Spectral Line Surveys of Star Formation Regions”. Note that this is the largest Herschel HIFI Key Program in terms of hours lea<strong>de</strong>d by a French researcher and with the largest amount of French HIFI Guaranteed Time. We feel therefore mandatory for us to make it a scientific success. While we have been <strong>de</strong>veloping all the important tools to exploit at best this occasion (involvement in “The Molecular Universe” European Network -§4.4-, spectral surveys with ground based millimeter and sub-millimiter telescopes -§4.3-...), there is clearly an urgent need of accretion in terms of permanent staff. Specifically, we need to hire two young researchers with experience in molecular line emission, line i<strong>de</strong>ntification and mo<strong>de</strong>ling of protostellar environments, the first as soon as possible (2006/2007), to participate to the preparation of the programs (doing observations, mo<strong>de</strong>ling and interpretation of the data), and the second one once Herschel has launched (2008/2009) to reinforce Astromol in the exploitation of the Herschel HIFI data. • The physics and chemistry of the proto-planetary disks is a hot field of research where LAOG has a prominent position in the international community. Astromol entered this field of research only recently, but with successes which authorize ambitious plans (§3.5). In addition, the proto-planetary disks is also a theme of research of the FOST team, and the interplay between the two teams has been already very fruitful. This and the complementarity of the different observational tecniques (from X-rays to IR to radio observations) makes LAOG a privileged and unique site in France for <strong>de</strong>veloping this line of research, notably the chemistry in proto-planetary disks. However, in or<strong>de</strong>r to capitalize and expand the Astromol activity on the proto-planetary disk field of research, Astromol needs additional manpower, and particularly on the mo<strong>de</strong>ling of the chemistry.Consi<strong>de</strong>ring the timescale of the evolution of our research, we envisage that a young researcher will be in <strong>de</strong>mand by 2007/2008. • In the context of the ALMA exploitation, IRAM collaboration and the LAOG-IRAM European Center of Expertise for Interferometry in Astronomy (CEXIA: see Executive Summary) Astromol is strongly solicited to take a major role, as it is the natural interlocutor with IRAM and its research heavily does and will use millimeter (and submillimeter) interferometric facilities. Again, Astromol has in<strong>de</strong>ed the capacities 72
for doing that, but we are limited by the limited manpower we dispose. In or<strong>de</strong>r to appropriately answer to the <strong>de</strong>mand, the hiring of a young researcher expert in interferometry is required by 2008/2009. 73
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