The Atacama Large Millimetre Array is one of the most ambitious telescope projects ever. It will provide an unprecedented combination of sensitivity, angular resolution, spectral resolution and imaging fidelity at millimetre wavelengths. Significant advances in a multitude of astronomical fields are expected; observations with unprecedented detail will be possible for forming stars and planets, protoplanetary disks, Milky-Way-like galaxies out to redshifts of 3 and the first galaxies that emerged from the cosmic "dark ages".

Full Science Operations will begin in 2013, but the initial science observations with ALMA will start very soon, in the second half of 2011, with a 16 antenna array. The Call for Early Science proposals has just been issued, and it is fundamental to prepare the astronomical community to take full advantage of this revolutionary astronomical facility from the earliest days.

After the successful “National Workshop on ALMA: Getting ready for Early Science” (Porto, 13 June 2010), in this 1-day meeting we will present the science that is expected to be feasible with ALMA during its first year of operations, the anticipated evolution of ALMA capabilities, what should (and what should not) be proposed as an ES project, and provide a walkthrough of the tools available for prospective ALMA users (the Observing Tool, the Simulator Tool and CASA). Also, we will inform the participants about the European ALMA Regional Center Nodes and the plans for national support over the critical phase of proposal preparation and submission of ES ALMA projects.