Applications for time on Gemini are made through National Time Allocation Committees (NTACs) which are individually responsible for scientific and technical assessment and for making recommendations to the Gemini Observatory that time be awarded. Proposals will be solicited by Gemini every 6 months in early March and September; details of the submission and review process vary from partner to partner. Links to partner-specific information are contained in the following table:

	US Phase I info		Chilean Phase I info
	UK Phase I info		Argentinean Phase I info
	Canadian Phase I info		Brazilian Phase I info
	Australian Phase I info		University of Hawaii Phase I info

The Phase I proposal submission process is supported by staff in the National Gemini Offices (NGOs). Use of the Gemini Help Desk is strongly recommended as the method for contacting NGO staff to make queries, request information etc. Proposals from outside of the Gemini community must be submitted through one of the NTACs. Technical instrument-specific advice is given in the "Observation Preparation" section of each of the Gemini instrument web pages.

International collaborations ("joint proposals"), where time is being sought from several partner countries, must be submitted using the Gemini Phase I Tool (PIT) even if the proposal involves partners that offer other submission mechanisms. The PIT supports automatic submission to multiple partners at once. (See the joint proposal instructions for more details).

In normal operations, application may be made for classical or queue mode observations. Classical mode observations are scheduled on specific dates and are carried out by the investigators visiting the telescopes. Queue mode observations are executed by the Gemini staff. This mode offers the potential of better matching observations to the prevailing conditions (e.g. image quality, sky background, cloud cover) and execution of Target of Opportunity observations for classes of targets whose coordinates are not known at the time of proposal submission. Successful queue and classical applications are defined in detail using the Phase II Observing Tool.

The NTAC outputs, comprising the rankings, recommended time awards and the full proposals, are sent electronically to Gemini Observatory. Each proposal is sent as an XML document consisting of attribute/value pairs that encode the proposal information and, if required, associated files with figures etc. The Gemini Phase I Tool (PIT) automatically generates the XML file. Partners who have chosen to use their own web-based or other proposal systems must translate their internal formats into the correct XML structures.

The NTAC forwarded proposals are merged together, and with the output of the Gemini staff TAC, to produce a draft schedule and draft queue. For the merging to work effectively, the group of top-rated proposals that would fill that partners share of the time available should contain a reasonable balance in terms of the observing constraints requested. For example, not all proposals can request the best image quality conditions or dark time. In fact, more proposals than the minimum are transmitted to provide flexibility during merging. The NTAC evaluations page lists various considerations for maximising each partner's use of their allocated time.

The draft schedule and draft queue, along with notification of any target or scheduling conflicts identified during the merging process, are sent to the International Time Allocation Committee (ITAC). The ITAC consists of representatives from each NTAC and from Gemini Observatory. After resolution of any conflicts and consideration of duplicate and joint proposals, the recommended schedule, queue and the position of the queue bands are forwarded to the Gemini Director for final approval. The final schedule and queue will be published on the web. The following information is considered public and will be included: PI name, partner country, proposal title and abstract, instrument.

Queue programs assigned by the ITAC into queue Science Ranking Band 1 are eligible for rollover into the next semester, for no more than two consecutive semesters, in order to increase the likelihood of program completion. Rollover will apply to queue programs only, and not to Targets of Opportunity programs. The relevant ITAC representatives have the right to recommend withdrawal of execution (and rollover) status.

Scientific and technical feedback to the investigators about their proposal is generated by each NGO/NTAC. Notification of the award of time is generated by Gemini Observatory and sent to each investigator. NGOs then iterate with successful PI's to specify the Phase II observations. The formal handover of responsibility for supporting the investigators, from the NGO to Gemini Observatory, takes place upon transmission to Gemini of the final detailed Phase II program.