Data Rights#

Under the Rubin LSST In‑Kind Contribution Program, participating international programs (outside the US and Chile) earn a specified number of Principal Investigator (PI) and Junior Associate (JA) data‑rights slots. These slots grant their holders access to LSST data during the two‑year proprietary period, in return for in‑kind contributions that expand the resources available to the US astronomy and High Energy Physics (HEP) communities.

  • For more details on LSST data rights and the definitions of PIs and JAs, please see the Rubin Data Policy (RDO‑13).

  • See the Programs page for the current list of in‑kind programs and their contributions.

  • Refer to the Data Rights Holders page for the current list of LSST Data Rights Holders (DRHs) and their PI/JA status.

Allocating and Managing Data Rights#

The allocation of PI and JA slots is the responsibility of each program’s Program Manager and Program Lead, provided the allocations comply with the Rubin Data Rights Policy. Programs may differ in how they allocate their data-rights slots. A list of in-kind programs, including their Program Leads and Program Managers, is available on the In-kind Programs page (see the Programs tab in the embedded sheet). Email addresses are not listed; if you need additional contact information, please email rubin-inkind@noirlab.edu.

RDO‑13 specifies that Junior Associates who move from a data‑rights‑holding institution may retain their data rights for a two‑year Grace Period. Although the Grace Period text in RDO‑13 refers explicitly to US and Chilean early‑career researchers, international in‑kind programs are expected to apply the same two‑year period. This requirement is included in the data‑rights agreements for those programs.

The following Grace Period rules apply to all data‑rights‑holding programs:

  • Change of institution — If a PI or JA moves to an institution outside their in‑kind program, they will no longer be listed as a program data‑rights holder but will retain individual data rights for two years from the date of the move (their “Grace Period”).

  • Eligible institutions — Grace Periods apply only when the researcher relocates to an institution eligible to host Rubin data‑rights holders.

  • JA promotion — If a JA is promoted to a permanent position at an institution within their in‑kind program, they retain data rights under a two‑year Grace Period before transitioning to PI status.

  • Extensions — Requests to extend a Grace Period may be submitted to the Data Policy Committee, as described in RDO‑13.

Participants in the In-Kind Program are expected to abide by the Rubin Observatory Codes of Conduct.