Articles in this section comprise the traditional call for proposals. These articles include information on observing and science policies, and details on the proposal submission process (including checklists). Other sections, that are selectable from the left sidebar menu, provide information on the observatory and instrumentation, observation planning, and data calibration and analysis. Downloadable PDF collections are provided as a courtesy, made available and updated when feasible. The online documentation is the authority, and will be updated with the latest information.

Current JWST proposal opportunities and guides

• JWST Cycle 3 General Observer (GO) and Archival Research Program 

Past opportunities

• Director's Discretionary Early Release Science (DD ERS) Program
• Guaranteed Time Observation (GTO) Program
• JWST Cycle 1 General Observer (GO) and Archival Research (AR) Program 
• JWST Cycle 2 General Observer (GO) and Archival Research (AR) Program

Announcement

Release Notice: August 15, 2023

We are pleased to announce the Cycle 3 Call for Proposals for James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations and funding for archival research programs.

Participation in this program is open to all categories of organizations, both domestic and foreign, including educational institutions, profit and nonprofit organizations, NASA Centers, and other Government agencies.

We anticipate up to 5,000 hours offered for GO programs this cycle. See the JWST Call for Proposals for Cycle 3 for further details.

This solicitation for proposals will be open through October 25, 2023 by 8:00pm US Eastern Daylight Time. The Astronomer's Proposal Tool (APT) is required for proposal submission. Results of the selection will be announced in late May 2023.

Questions can be addressed to the STScI JWST Help Desk (http://jwsthelp.stsci.edu) where you can submit questions directly to the appropriate team of experts.

The Cycle 3 Call for Proposals

The Call for Proposals (CfP) invites the astronomical community to propose for observing time on JWST in a given cycle (nominally one year in duration). It summarizes the policies and procedures for proposing in that cycle of JWST observing, including requests for research funding on archival JWST data. See the JWST Call for Proposals for Cycle 3 for more information.

The James Webb Space Telescope offers proposal opportunities for General Observers (GO) and Archival Proposals (AR) and Guaranteed-Time Observers (GTO) during Cycle 3. Cycle 3 science observations will commence July 1, 2024. 

We invite scientists to participate in the second cycle of investigations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). JWST is an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). JWST is operated and managed by AURA's Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). 

Important dates

The Time Allocation Committee meeting date is scheduled for late January and early February, 2024. Notification of the outcome of the selection process will be sent to all proposers in late February/early March, 2024.

Science Justification Templates

Templates for JWST Cycle 3 Proposal PDF attachments:

Note: The templates have intentionally different margins, to accommodate about the same amount of text per page.

Proposers are encouraged to follow the JWST Proposal Checklist in planning and submitting their proposals. Proposers should also be familiar with the policies on data rights, duplications, dual-anonymous review, and other important topics covered in JWST General Science Policies.

JWST general science policies

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) science programs are required to follow STScI and NASA policy regarding requested time allocations, duplicate observations, data rights, and funding. 

Download PDF

JWST Call for Proposals for Cycle 3 (please note that the PDFs might not display in Safari but work fine in Chrome and Firefox).