Roman Rally Working meetings
Illustration of two rally cars: a purple Roman Space Telescope car labeled Wide Field Racing and a teal Euclid car, racing across a dusty lunar surface
Illustration by Robyn

Roman Science Collaboration

Roman Rally

A week-long hackathon on commissioning and first-look data from NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

2026 Roman Rally Host a Rally Room

At a glance

When
Dec 14-18, 2026
Where
Online, and in-person Rally Rooms. More locations to be announced once host sites are finalized.
Who
Anyone who wants to experiment on the new data.
Join
Participant sign-up form NOT YET OPEN. It opens once host sites are finalized. Details are on the 2026 Rally page.
Host
Host form, responses due Oct 30. What it means to host a Rally Room.

Upcoming

2026-12 Roman Rally

The opening Rally: a week-long hackathon on commissioning and first-look data from the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Dates
2026 Dec 14-18
City
Berkeley, Honolulu, and online
Venue
Rally Rooms; more locations once host sites are finalized
Host
UC Berkeley, U Hawaii, and further hosts once sites are finalized
Apply by
Opens once host sites are finalized

Event page

How the week works

  • Participants propose the projects. Groups form around those ideas, work, and report out. The plan can change by lunch.
  • Ideas, code, and rough results stay visible to the room and on Slack. Substantial help is repaid with co-authorship. Leave at home anything you cannot share.

The useful part is often the conversation you did not put on the schedule.

Why now

Roman launched on 30 August 2026, and commissioning is underway. Commissioning and first public data products will be released prior to Dec 11. From early December the data moves fast, and there is a lot to learn: format, quality, scale, calibrations, new image and catalog formats, and dos and don'ts on the Roman Research Nexus.

We strongly encourage Roman Rally participants to join the Roman Science Collaboration (RSC). The RSC exists to help make the most of Roman data. Membership is voluntary, and you do not have to join the RSC to do science with Roman data.

Share the invitation

Forward it, or post it where your community will see it. Two QR codes:

Invitation to the Roman Rally, December 14-18, 2026, online and at in-person Rally Rooms at participating institutions. A few days of hands-on work on early Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope commissioning and first-look data, organized by the Roman Science Collaboration. One QR code, Scan to join the Rally, links to https://roman-science-collaboration.github.io/roman-rally/ and a second, Seeking Rally Hosts, links to https://roman-science-collaboration.github.io/roman-rally/handbook/#what-it-means-to-host-a-rally-room.
Download the invitation (JPG)

Past events

None yet.