Within the framework of AIDA (Astronomical Infrastructure for Data Access), the European Virtual Observatory (EURO-VO) project is seeking proposals from teams carrying out archival research or projects that could benefit from the Virtual Observatory concept. The Virtual Observatory tools and applications allow seamless access to most of the world's large data archives such as ESO, ESA or HST. They also allow users to access a huge variety of reduced multiwavelength data and catalogues and to perform high-level analysis of images, spectra and large tabular datasets. Successful applicants will receive support from EURO-VO astronomers in using the VO facilities and software to complete their projects.

As of 1st April 2008, PIs can access their own raw proprietary data at any time through the ESO archive.

As part of the ESO Deep Public Survey (DPS), optical imaging observations were carried out in U, B, V, R, I bands, using the Wide Field Imager (WFI) instrument mounted at the 2.2m telescope at La Silla, Chile. This survey consisted of three square degrees in three well-separated regions (Deep1, Deep2 and Deep3) split into 4 adjacent WFI pointings (named a, b, c, d). The Garching-Bonn Deep Survey (GaBoDS) combines the data from this survey with data from most other ESO programmes that coincide with the original DPS regions, up until December 2006.

ESO/MVM (or "alambic") is an end-to-end, high-throughput image reduction system, originally developed by Benoit Vandame at the Nice Observatory for a project based on Multi-resolution Vision Model (MVM), then as part of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) project, and finally it was taken over by the Virtual Observatory Systems department for the processing of targeted archival data, with the aim of enhancing the legacy value of the ESO archive. ESO/MVM allows seamless processing of optical and near-IR data (e.g. WFI, VIMOS, FORS2, ISAAC, SOFI, HAWKI). It was developed over 10 years, it incudes 171,000 lines of code and was the engine at the core of the EIS data processing and other ESO public surveys, such as GOODS/ISAAC. The software package released here replaces a previous and now obsolete public version of MVM (v1.0.1). The latest stable version (v1.3.5) includes significant algorithmic improvements, bug fixes, new configuration files extending its application to more ESO instruments. The software is maintained only on a best-effort basis.

As part of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS), multi-object spectroscopy of faint galaxies in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S) has been carried out, using the VIMOS instrument mounted at the Melipal Unit Telescope of the VLT at ESO's Cerro Paranal Observatory, Chile.

The Science Demonstration (SD) of MAD is carried out largely following the philosophy applied to the Science Verification of the VLT instruments (see the VLT Science Verification Policy and Procedures document as reference). MAD SD runs took place in November 2007 and January 2008.

As part of the Monitor project (Aigrain et al. 2007, MNRAS, 375, 29), a time-domain survey of NGC 2547 was carried out in I-band using the ESO Wide Field Imager mounted on the 2.2m telescope at La Silla, Chile. The survey covers two fields, or ~0.6 sq. deg, observed as adjacent WFI pointings, with a small overlap (~10%). The majority of the survey consists of the I-band time-domain component, observed with a cadence of ~7 minutes. Exposures in V and R bands were also obtained during photometric conditions and good seeing, to produce colour-magnitude diagrams.

This data release includes broad band and narrow band imaging of a one-square degree region around the 30 Doradus complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud. These data products are based on observations carried out by Joao Alves, Benoit Vandame and Yuri Bialetski with the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at the 2.2m telescope on La Silla (Programme ID 076.C-0888).

As part of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS), multi-object, optical to NIR spectroscopy in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S) has been carried out, using the FORS2 instrument mounted at the Kueyen Unit Telescope of the VLT at ESO's Cerro Paranal Observatory, Chile.

The science verification (SV) for HAWK-I is being carried following the VLT Science Verification Policy and Procedures .