This section is intended to be an overview of the budget proposal and funding policies process for STScI grants. Contact STScI Grants Administration with questions concerning funding policies, budget submissions, allowable costs, or grant activities.

Phone: (410) 338-4200
email: gms_mail@stsci.edu

Budget proposal deadline

Budget proposals are due:

May 20, 2021

by 8:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Only limited accommodation can be made for late proposals. Proposers who encounter difficulties in meeting this deadline should contact STScI Grants Administration for help at gms_mail@stsci.edu.

Budget proposals are submitted via STGMS (https://stgms.stsci.edu). Contact the Sponsored Research Office at your institution if you need an STGMS account.

STScI general grant provisions (GGP)

STScI grants will be awarded in accordance with the current GGP and the terms of this Call for Proposals are incorporated into and are considered to be part of the GGP 2018.

Eligibility for STScI grant funds

Important:  STScI grant funding is only available to U.S. investigators. Carefully review the GGP, Section 3, Eligibility for STScI Grant Funding, for specific eligibility requirements.  Contact STScI Grants Administration if you have any questions regarding requirements or to determine if a person is eligible to request STScI grant funding.

Certification, assurance, and representations

The submission of a budget, or the acceptance of an STScI grant award by a recipient institution, represents the Authorizing Official’s or Authorizing Official Representative’s certification of compliance with the appended regulatory certifications, assurances, and representations in the GGP.

STScI review of risk posed by applicants

STScI has an obligation and the authority to ensure that recipient institutions are eligible to receive federal awards and meet the requirements related to the award of federal funds. See GGP, Section 7 for criteria considered in STScI’s evaluation of risk posed by applicants.

Budget proposals

The budget is a detailed financial expression of the project or program and it shall be related to performance for program evaluation purposes whenever appropriate. GO/AR budget proposals are reviewed in detail and evaluated by the STScI Financial Review Committee (FRC) to assess funding that is appropriate to reduce and analyze JWST data in conjunction with the work in the approved science proposal.

The responsibility of a complete, accurate proposal rests with each investigator and their institution. It is important to include clear, detailed, and complete information in your budget, budget narrative, and management plan. Missing or incomplete information may result in a reduction of funding allocated to the program.

Reasonable, allowable, allocable

Costs to complete the science goals submitted in the approved proposal must be reasonable, allowable, and allocable (Ref. GGP 2018, Sections 9 and 10). Costs outside the original scope of work will not be considered during budget reviews. If proposers will seek funding support for ground-based observations in their associated JWST budget, those observations must be justified in the science proposal. 

Funding will not be provided to support proposal preparation activities.

Grant administrative PI

Each budget must have an Administrative PI who will have overall fiscal and reporting responsibility for the grant proposal and subsequent award. Grant awards are issued to the proposing institution at which the Administrative PI is employed and not to the PI personally (Ref. GGP 2018, Section 4).

Period of performance

It is anticipated that the period of time required to analyze JWST data will be one to two years depending on the type and complexity of the project. Key, long-term, and other major projects may range up to three years. 

Generally, grants are awarded with a 3-year period of performance to allow time to conduct and complete the research. The period of performance will be stated in the Grant Award Document.

Long-term (continuation) programs

Approved GO Long-term/Continuation programs will have observing time scheduled in more than one cycle.  Continuation programs do not require a new science proposal in response to the Call for each cycle. Budget proposals are, however, required for each subsequent cycle of the program.  Budgets submitted for the first cycle of a continuation proposal will include costs for the effort to reduce and analyze the data obtained in the first cycle only. If costs for subsequent cycles are included, those costs will be automatically reduced by the Financial Review Committee (FRC).  Budget narratives will include a description of the overall effort for the entire multi-year project.  A justification with specific, detailed information to support each line item cost in the budget submission for year one is required.

Funding for joint programs

STScI funding requests for joint programs (JWST-HST in Cycle 1)should support only the JWST portion of the project. Funding for the analysis of data from other observatories may be provided through their budget process.  See those websites for more information.   If a request is submitted to support the analysis of data from other than JWST, a detailed justification of why the work is crucial to understanding the JWST project is required.  The labor effort for each must be clearly described and differentiated.

Program management plans

Management Plans, including a timeline, are required with the budget proposal submission for all General Observer proposals. The FRC reviews the Management Plans to determine if the costs requested are commensurate with the level of effort required to complete the project. The FRC cannot accurately assess budget proposals for programs that do not meet the requirements. Detailed information is provided in the Budget Requirements document located on the STScI Grants Administration Webpage.

Priorities of the financial review committee

The FRC reviews budget proposals based on the tasks, level of effort, and other costs required to complete the project. Key questions to assist proposers with preparing budgets and narratives:

• Are the responsibilities, contributions, and level of effort for each team member (including unfunded U.S. and foreign investigators) clearly stated, justified, proportional (directly linked), and in conjunction with their role in the project and the approved science proposal? Note that only tasks that are specifically identified or absolutely necessary for the JWST science will be considered.
• Are the costs for all resources requested (e.g. ground-based observing) justified in the science proposal?
• Is the budget justification correct and consistent with the budget request? Are costs in the budget included in the budget narrative?  Conversely, are all costs described in the budget narrative included in the budget?
• Is the travel requested really required for the project? Provide the specific reason project personnel must travel to specific conferences. Avoid generic TBD conferences whenever possible. Are higher costs for travel (i.e. international travel or attendance of multiple team members) well justified?
• Are the computers (laptops, desktops) and computing costs requested justified required for the project and well justified in the budget narrative?
• Are the publication costs commensurate with the level of the project? Be sure to justify an unusually high number of pages or publications.
• Are unusual or particularly high costs well justified?
• Is the contribution of all foreign team members described in the budget narrative? Is it very clear that foreign team members are contributing their appropriate share of the costs (e.g., labor, travel, and publications)?

Budget review and approval process

Following the notification of approved science programs, the STScI Grants Administration Office will send instructions for budget preparation and submission to U.S. investigators.  Budget requests are reviewed by the STScI Financial Review Committee (FRC) and funding recommendations are presented to the STScI Director for approval.

Availability of funds

All grant awards are made contingent upon the availability of funds from NASA.

If funding requests and FRC recommendations exceed the amount provided by NASA for the JWST GO/AR Grants Program, additional reductions to recommended amounts may be required to remain within the funding guideline authorized by NASA.

STScI authority

Allowable costs for all budgets, awards, and expenditures will be determined in accordance with the current GGP, the Cycle 1 Call for Proposals, and the applicable institutional, NASA, and federal guidelines, policies, and regulations. STScI has the final authority to determine whether or not a cost is allowable for an STScI grant and reserves the right to recover grant funds that were unexpended or were spent out of compliance with the terms and conditions of a grant.

Next: JWST Cycle 1 Proposal Science Categories and Keywords