JWST Filling Out the APT Proposal Form
This article provides a walk through of the various parts of the Astronomer's Proposal Tool (APT), and the software through which JWST proposals are developed and submitted.
On this page
As described in JWST Guidelines and Checklist for Proposal Preparation, a proposal consists of a completed APT proposal form and an attached PDF file. This article describes the items that must be filled out in the APT proposal form; this information is also available from the context-sensitive help in APT. Not every item described here needs to be filled out for every proposal. For example, some items are only relevant for observing proposals, while others are only relevant for archival proposals. APT will automatically let you know which items need to be filled out, depending on which proposal type you choose. JWST Preparation of the PDF Attachment describes the items that must be addressed in the attached PDF file. If there is a discrepancy between the APT form and what is written in the Technical Justification of the PDF attachment, the APT form takes precedence . In other words, proposals are reviewed based on the information in the APT form.
All Special Requirements need to be specified in the APT file. If they are not, they might not be met, even if they are described in the proposal. The same is true for the fields in the APT cover sheet highlighted with red arrows in the APT screenshot below under Explandable Menus.
Introductory material
Title
The title of your proposal should be informative, and must not exceed two printed lines. Please use mixed case instead of all upper case.
Abstract
Write a concise abstract describing the proposed investigation, including the main science goals and the justification for requesting observations or funding from JWST. The abstract must be written in standard ASCII and should be no longer than 1700 characters (including spaces). This limit is enforced by APT.
Category
Select one of the following categories:
• GO—General Observer Proposal
• Survey—Survey Proposal
• AR—Archival Research Proposal
Proposals for Director’s Discretionary Time submitted outside of the normal review cycles should select:
• DD—Director’s Discretionary Time Proposal
Legacy
Mark this keyword if you are submitting an AR Legacy Proposal. This keyword appears in the APT form only for AR Proposals.
Theory
Mark this keyword if you are submitting an AR Theory Proposal. This keyword appears in the APT form only for AR Proposals.
Cloud Computing
Mark this keyword if you are submitting an AR Cloud Computing Studies Proposal. This keyword appears in the APT form only for AR Proposals.
Data Science Software
Mark this keyword if you are planning to request funding for the development of software products that will be made available to the community for the purposes of analyzing JWST data. This keyword appears in the APT form only for AR Proposals.
Calibration
Mark this keyword if you are submitting a Calibration Proposal. This keyword can be set for both GO and AR Proposals.
Treasury
Mark this keyword if you are submitting a GO Treasury Proposal. This keyword appears in the APT form only for GO Proposals.
GO-Archival
Mark this keyword if your proposal combines a request for new data with significant archival research. This keyword appears in the APT form only for GO Proposals. Once checked, the set of keywords for AR proposals will appear.
Multi-Observatory
Mark this keyword if you are submitting a JWST Joint Proposal. This keyword appears in the APT form only for GO Proposals.
Coordinated Telescopes
Proposals with Coordinated Observations should provide the requested information regarding the Partner Observatory in the "Multi-Observatory Information" section.
APT has a new "Multi-Observatory" flag on the same line as the proposal Category. When JWST is primary, you are prompted to request time on one or more coordinated telescopes. And when JWST is secondary, you are prompted to identify the primary observatory and provide the primary proposal ID. Generally, this keyword appears in the APT form only for GO Proposals (except for Joint JWST-HST Programs that allow both GO and DD Proposals).
ALMA Hours
If you are asking for both JWST and ALMA observing time then list the requested number of ALMA hours. You should also provide detailed information on the ALMA observations in the "Coordinated Observations" section of the proposal. If you are not requesting any new ALMA observations, then enter "0" here.
Chandra ksec
If you are asking for both JWST and Chandra observing time then list the requested number of Chandra kiloseconds. You should then also provide detailed information on the Chandra observations in the "Coordinated Observations" section of the proposal. If you are not requesting any new Chandra observations (or if you have Chandra time that has already been awarded), then enter "0" here.
HST Orbits
If you are asking for both JWST and HST observing time then list the requested number of HST orbits. You should then also provide detailed information on the HST observations in the "Coordinated Observations" section of the proposal. If you are not requesting any new HST observations (or if you have HST time that has already been awarded), then enter "0" here.
NASA Keck Nights
If you are asking for both JWST and NASA Keck observing time, then list the requested number of NASA Keck nights. You should also provide detailed information on the NASA Keck observations in the "Coordinated Observations" section of the proposal. If you are not requesting any new NASA Keck observations, then enter "0" here.
NOIRLab Nights
If you are asking for both JWST and NOIRLab observing time then list the requested number of nights on NOIRLab telescopes. You should then also provide detailed information on the NOIRLab observations in the "Coordinated Observations" section of the proposal. If you are not requesting any new NOIRLab observations (or if you have NOIRLab time that has already been awarded), then enter "0" here.
The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) is now NOIRLab. Proposers may see references to both NOIRLab and NOAO as this change propagates.
NRAO Hours
If you are asking for both JWST and NRAO (VLBA, VLA or GBT) observing time then list the requested number of NRAO hours. You should then also provide detailed information on the NRAO observations in the "Coordinated Observations" section of the proposal. If you are not requesting any new NRAO observations (or if you have NRAO time that has already been awarded), then enter "0" here.
XMM-Newton ksec
If you are asking for both JWST and XMM-Newton observing time then list the requested number of XMM-Newton kiloseconds. You should then also provide detailed information on the XMM-Newton observations in the "Coordinated Observations" section of the proposal. If you are not requesting any new XMM-Newton observations (or if you have XMM-Newton time that has already been awarded), then enter "0" here.
Pure Parallel Proposal
Mark this keyword if you are submitting a Pure Parallel Proposal.
Cycle
For a Cycle 4 Proposal, enter "4" (this is the default).
Expandable Menus
Make sure to mark the APT coversheet appropriately using the menus that expand out on the Proposal Information page, such as "Explain unschedulable observations", "Supply Meteoroid Zone Justification", "Request custom time allocation", "Future Cycles", and providing all the requested information. If these fields are not marked and filled out in the APT coversheet those requests might not be met, even if they are described in the proposal. There are new fields on the Proposal Information form to record the number of ToO activations of each type. For GO and DD proposals that plan to coordinate observations at multiple observatories, there is a new flag on the same line as the proposal Category. When JWST is primary, you are prompted to request time on one or more coordinating telescopes. And when JWST is secondary, you are prompted to identify the primary observatory and provide the primary proposal ID.
Requested Resources
Science Time and Charged Time
This keyword appears in the APT form only for GO Proposals. APT calculates the Science Time and the Charged Time based on the observations specified in APT. The Science Time is the amount of time that the instruments spend on sky, observing targets, while the Charged Time also includes all of the instrument and observatory overheads needed to support the science observations. The Proposal Size is determined and filled by APT based on the Charged Time (or Requested Time). Future Cycles Proposals should provide a year-by-year breakdown of the time requested using the "Future Cycles" pull-down menu where "Next Cycle" corresponds to Cycle 5 and "Third Cycle" corresponds to Cycle 6. If this field is not marked and filled out, the Future Cycles request might not be met, even if it is described in the proposal. The APT file should only contain the observations corresponding to the current cycle. APT files for time awarded in Future Cycles will be requested at a later time.
Request Custom Time Allocation
If the time calculated by APT does not reflect the allocation needed you can request a custom time allocation following the instructions in the JWST Observing Overheads and Time Accounting Overview.
Exclusive Access Period
Enter the requested exclusive access period (formerly known as a proprietary period), of either 0, 3, 6, or 12 (months), that will apply to all observations in the program. The default exclusive access period is 0 for Large and Treasury GO Programs, and 12 for Medium, Small and Very Small GO Programs and Survey Programs. Discussions are currently on-going regarding a possible reduced, non-zero value. At this time, no decisions have been taken. See JWST Data Rights and Duplications for more information. The benefits of or need for a non-default exclusive access period must be discussed in the "Special Requirements" section of the proposal.
Scientific Category
Specify one Scientific Category from the list below. Note that the Scientific Categories have changed with respect to previous Cycles to better match JWST science topic distributions. Please adhere to our definitions of these categories. If you find that your proposal fits into several categories, then select the one that you consider most appropriate. If you are submitting a Calibration AR Proposal, then choose the Scientific Category for which your proposed calibration will be most important. STScI reserves the right to re-assign proposals to other categories to ensure the highest chance of the proposal being reviewed by experts with the proper expertise. Proposals in these Scientific Categories will be reviewed by panels of the same names.
Galactic Panels
| Scientific Category | Science Keywords |
|---|---|
| Solar System | Asteroids Astronomical models Astronomical simulations Atmospheric composition Atmospheric variability Binary Systems / Multiple Systems Biomarkers Centaurs Chemical composition Comets Inner planets Irregular satellites Main belt asteroids Minor planets Natural satellites Near-Earth objects Occultation Orbits Outer planets Planetary atmospheres Planetary rings Planetary surfaces Small solar system bodies Space weather Surface composition Surface ices Surface processes Surface variability Trans-Neptunian objects Transits Trojan asteroids Zodiacal cloud |
| Exoplanet Atmospheres and Habitability | Astronomical models |
| Exoplanetary System Formation and Dynamics | Astronomical models |
| Stars and Stellar Populations | Astrometry Astronomical models Astronomical simulations Binary Stars / Trinary Stars Black holes Brown dwarfs Chemical abundances Circumstellar matter Cosmological parameters Cosmology Dwarf galaxies Early-type stars Evolved stars Galactic center Gamma-ray bursts Globular cluster stars Gravitational microlensing Gravitational wave sources Hertzsprung Russell diagram Hubble constant Initial mass function Interacting binary stars Intermediate-type stars Large scale structure of the universe Late-type stars Local Group Low mass stars Low metallicity stars Magellanic Clouds Main sequence stars Massive stars Neutron stars Population I stars Population II stars Population III stars Pre-main sequence stars Pulsars Protostars Red giant tip Resolved stellar populations Star clusters Stellar abundances Stellar atmospheres Stellar distance Stellar evolution Stellar kinematics Stellar mergers Stellar phenomena Stellar population synthesis Stellar structures Supernovae Transient sources Variable stars White dwarf stars |
| Gas, Dust and the ISM | Astrochemistry Astronomical models Astronomical simulations Chemical abundances Circumstellar disks Circumstellar matter Dwarf galaxies Early-type stars Elliptical galaxies Evolved stars Galactic center Galaxy bulges Galaxy evolution Galaxy halos Galaxy spheroids H II regions High contrast techniques High-mass star formation Interstellar atomic gas Interstellar dust Interstellar ices Interstellar medium Irregular galaxies Local Group Low-mass star formation Low metallicity stars Magellanic Clouds Molecular clouds Molecular gas Open star clusters Planetary nebulae Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Protostars Radiative transfer Star clusters Star formation Star formation histories Stellar accretion disks Stellar jets Young stellar objects |
Extragalactic Panels
| Scientific Category | Science Keywords |
|---|---|
| Nearby Galaxies to Cosmic Noon | Astronomical models |
| High-redshift Galaxies and the Distant Universe | Astronomical models Astronomical simulations Balmer break Chemical abundances Circumgalactic medium Cosmic dawn Cosmic infrared background Cosmological parameters Cosmology Damped Lyman-alpha systems Dark matter distribution Dwarf galaxies Elliptical galaxies Emission line galaxies Extragalactic legacy and deep fields Galaxy clusters Galaxy dark matter halos Galaxy disks Galaxy environments Galaxy groups Galaxy kinematics Galaxy mergers Galaxy structure Gamma-ray bursts Gravitational lensing Gunn-Peterson effect High-redshift galaxies Hubble constant Infrared photometry Interacting galaxies Intergalactic dust clouds Intergalactic medium Interstellar dust Intracluster medium Irregular galaxies Large-scale structure of the universe Luminous infrared galaxies Lyman-alpha forest Lyman-break galaxies Metal line absorbers Overdensities Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Population III stars Post-starburst galaxies Protoclusters Protogalaxies Quenched galaxies Reionization Scaling relations Spectral energy distribution Star formation Starburst galaxies Stellar distance Stellar populations Supernovae Warm-hot intergalactic medium |
| Super Massive Blackholes and Active Galaxies | AGN host galaxies Astronomical models Astronomical simulations Blazars Broad-absorption line quasar Circumgalactic medium Cooling flows Damped Lyman-alpha systems Emission line galaxies Galaxy jets Galaxy winds Gunn-Peterson effect High contrast techniques High-luminosity active galactic nuclei Intergalactic medium LINER galaxies Low-luminosity active galactic nuclei Lyman-alpha forest Markarian galaxies M-Sigma relation Overdensities Protoclusters Quasars Quenched galaxies Radio cores Reionization Reverberation mapping Seyfert galaxies Sellar accretion disks Stellar feedback Supermassive black holes Warm-hot intergalactic medium X-Ray active galactic nuclei |
Alternate Category
If your science goals straddle two separate science categories, users have the option to add an alternate category which will allow keywords from both categories up to a limit of 10 total keywords, thus providing more flexibility in where the proposal will be assigned for review.
Keywords
From the list of Science Keywords (see Appendix - Science Keywords), please select those that best describe the science goals of the proposal. Note that the Science Keywords have changed with respect to previous Cycles to better match JWST science topic distributions. Your choice here is important. Based on the keywords that you specify, your proposal will be assigned to specific reviewers during the proposal review. Please give as many keywords as possible, but not more than five. You must give at least two.
Proposal PDF Attachment
List the location on your computer of the PDF file to be attached to your submission. This file should contain the items described in JWST Preparation of the PDF Attachment.
Proposal Information
Proposal Observing Description
Describe in 1 to 2 paragraphs the observations requested in this proposal, indicating targets, instruments, modes, and any special requirements. This section should provide an overview of the proposed observations for reference by the program coordinators and instrument scientists, who will be reviewing and implementing the observations. This observing description will be publicly available for accepted proposals, unlike the Technical Justification section of the PDF attachment, which always remains confidential. The Observing Description in APT will not be visible for TAC reviewers. Proposers should not use that free text field as a replacement for page limit space.
Team Expertise and Background
Selecting the arrow to the left of the items in the Tree Editor of APT will show subordinate sections that can be selected to enter additional information. For Proposal Information, this includes Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator information (see below), and the Team Expertise and Background selection. The Team Expertise and Background selection provides a free-format text box to enter the relevant information. The suggested length is one page. See JWST Anonymous Proposal Reviews for details on what information to provide here. Please note: the box supports ASCII text. Special text markup and LaTeX characters will not show correctly.
Proposers are discouraged from using Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) technology in constructing proposals. If they do use such tools, they must describe how they were used as part of the proposal submission. This statement should be included in the Team Expertise section.
Principal Investigator
Enter the first and/or last name of the PI. Please use standard ASCII. Entering the first few letters (at least two) and pressing enter or tab will bring up a window containing a list of matches from our proposer database. Clicking on your entry will supply APT with the address information. For U.S. PIs, the institutional affiliation is defined as the institution that will receive funding if the proposal is approved.
If you are not in the database, click on "Add a New Investigator". If you are in the database, but the address information is incorrect, click on "Update This Address." Both clicks will take you to the MyST web page so you can be added to, or update information in, the database. Once you have entered your information into MyST, you must redo the database search and supply APT with the updated information.
APT will not compromise the anonymous status of the proposal. It will keep investigator and institutional information, as well as the separate Team Expertise and Background section, from the TAC and Panels until they are requested by an authorized person to be utilized as described in JWST Anonymous Proposal Reviews.
Co-Principal Investigators and Co-Investigators
Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs) and Co-investigators (Co-Is) can be added in APT as necessary. Once a program is approved, Co-PIs and Co-Is can only be added with prior approval from STScI. By default, APT will provide one blank Co-I template. Please add other Co-PIs and Co-Is or delete as necessary. There is a limit of 999 Co-PIs and Co-Is on any proposal. For each Co-PI and Co-I, enter the name and select the correct person from the list of database matches. As for PIs, requests to "Add a New Investigator" or "Update This Address" will take you to the MyST web page. For U.S. Co-Is the institutional affiliation is defined as the institution that will receive funding if the proposal is approved.
If a proposal has a non-U.S. PI and one or more U.S. CoIs, then you must select the US Admin CoI box (in the PI form), then select one of the U.S. CoIs. This indicates which U.S. CoI will be the Administrative PI for overseeing the grant funding for U.S. investigators (see JWST Proposal Submission Policies). Proposals with a US PI are optionally allowed to designate a Co-I to be the US Admin PI. (e.g., if the PI is a graduate student or a postdoctoral researcher not allowed to hold a grant by their institution).
Contact
If one of the CoIs (or another individual) is to serve as the contact for a proposal, then the Contact keyword box should be checked. The Contact is the person the Principal Investigator has designated to receive all (non-budgetary) questions/information on the proposal and to be the official voice for the team. More than one CoI may be designated as the Contact. Once designated, only the coIs identified as Contact may make Change Requests in an approved proposal so that conflicting requests are not made.
For Large and Treasury Programs, we will contact the proposer within 1-2 weeks of the submission deadline if we need to verify our understanding of the appropriate scheduling constraints. If a Co-Investigator is to serve as the contact for this verification, then the Contact box should be set accordingly. Any person may be designated as the Contact.
Targets
JWST observing proposals must specify all of the proposed targets (except for Archival and Survey proposals) in the Astronomer's Proposal Tool. See the APT targets page for more details.
Observations
(This item appears in the APT form only for GO and Survey Proposals)
An APT observation is the basic proposal design element, consisting of one (or sometimes more) astronomical target(s) and one JWST observing mode using a corresponding APT observation template. See the APT Observations page for more details.
Special Requirements
Special requirements in APT are defined parameters used to constrain observation scheduling for scientific reasons, or to indicate other situations requiring specific actions. This includes specifying requirements for Aperture Position Angles (orientations). See the APT Special Requirements page for more details. All Special Requirements must have a scientific justification, discussed explicitly in the PDF portion of the proposal. Special requirements may only be added under exceptional circumstances after a proposal is accepted for execution.
Verifying Special Requirements
Certain special requirements can force observations into the portion of a target's visibility that is within the Micrometeoroid Avoidance Zone (MAZ). In this case, APT will flag the observations. If the observations are flagged, then proposers should re-evaluate their special requirements to determine whether the observations can be made outside the MAZ. If the observations can only be obtained using the special requirements, then proposers must provide a justification in APT, using the "Supply Meteoroid Zone Justification" pull down menu in the Proposal Information page. See the APT Micrometeoroid Avoidance article for more information.
Next: JWST Preparation of the PDF Attachment