Toward a Conceptual Design for MAVIS

MAVIS, the Multi-conjugate Adaptive-optics Visible Imager-Spectrograph is an instrument being built for the Very Large Telescope Adaptive Optics Facility. The exquisite angular resolution provided by the AO module -in combination with the AOFwill be exploited by a 4kx4k imager and a monolithic IFU covering the optical region. MAVIS is currently in phase A (conceptual design), and the consortium just passed the phase A mid-term review. In this paper, we introduce the project, detail trade-off studies and provide a snapshot of the numerical simulations and current design choices. MAVIS is shaping up to be a truely amazing facility, providing 3× the HST angular resolution with better sensitivity on point sources. MAVIS will be a workhorse facility instrument for the VLT into the 2030s, complementing very effectively facilities like the ELTs, and facing little competition in the current astronomical instrumentation landscape.