STScI solicits proposals for JWST General Observer (GO), Survey, and Archival Research (AR) programs. 

This document establishes the goals, requirements, and policies for JWST GO, Survey, and AR programs in Cycle 6. The Table of Contents for the web version of this document is on the left side of this page (some users may not see this sidebar, but instead have a "Browse" button at the the top or bottom of the screen), and links there can take you to any page from any other page (click the arrow to expand the entire table of contents under "JWST Call for Proposals for Cycle 6"). The links at the top of each page under "On this page" correspond to sections within that given page. Downloadable PDF collections of these articles are provided as a courtesy, made available and updated when feasible.

Late breaking news

• August 27, 2026
  We have identified and fixed a bug in the LaTeX style file for the PDF attachment (jwstproposaltemplate_v6.sty) that resulted in multi-line figure captions being smaller than 12pt font.
  If you downloaded the style file before August 27, 2026, please re-download it from JWST Preparing the Proposal PDF Attachment.
  
  
• August 26, 2026
  The maximum allowed visit duration, or duration of an uninterruptible sequence of visits, for Cycle 6 proposals is 6 days (144 hours). For individual or sequenced visits longer than 100 hours, APT will generate a warning and prompt the user to provide an explanation. We recommend adding the explanation “The maximum allowed duration is 6 days for Cycle 6 proposals”. The PDF document must contain a scientific justification for the long visit or sequence. Reducing overheads is not a valid justification.
   
• August 24, 2026
  Proposals involving only investigators based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or involving only PRC-based and U.S. investigators are subject to the NASA restriction on bilateral activity with China (see Section 1340 of Public Law 112-10). Those proposals will be reviewed by the Telescope Allocation Committee and are eligible for telescope time. However, approved proposals shall be ineligible for funding. A revised General Grant Provisions (GGP) document will be available soon with further information. See Who may submit proposals for more information.
  
  
• August 10, 2026
  Information about NIRCam brightness limits for the imaging superstripe mode was added to the JDox article NIRCam Bright Source Limits (see the paragraph above Table 1.)
  
  
• July 28, 2026
  For LaTeX users using the natbib package for their bibliographies, we have added a workaround to suppress its default "References" heading. See JWST Preparing the Proposal PDF Attachment for more information.
  
  
• July 28, 2026
  Some download links for the Windows and Linux versions of APT 2026.3.2 were incorrectly pointing to an older version. If your version is "2026.3.2 Patch" please delete it and re-download from apt.stsci.edu.
  
  
• July 20, 2026
  If you downloaded the PDF version of the Call for Proposals before 11:00 am ET on July 20, 2026, please re-download the latest version. There was an issue resulting in several pages missing from the previous version of the PDF. 

Announcement

We are pleased to announce the Cycle 6 Call for Proposals for James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) General Observer (GO), Survey, and Archival Research (AR) programs. We anticipate allocating up to 7,700 hours in Cycle 6 divided proportionally among Very Small, Small, Medium, and Large/Treasury GO programs, depending on proposal pressure. We invite scientists to participate in this opportunity, which is open to all categories of organizations, both domestic and foreign, including educational institutions, profit and nonprofit organizations, NASA Centers, and other Government agencies.

Proposals are due on September 30, 2026 by 8:00 pm US Eastern Time. The APT submission portal will close promptly at the deadline.

The version of the Astronomer's Proposal Tool (APT) required for proposal submission is 2026.3.2 or higher. This version was delivered on July 9, 2026. We encourage prospective investigators to start preparing their proposals as soon as possible.

The Cycle 6 Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC) will meet in the first two weeks of February 2027, with selections announced in March 2027.

For details, please consult this full Call for Proposals, including JWST New Features and Updates. Questions may be submitted to the JWST Help Desk.

The telescope and its instruments were built under the auspices of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Management of JWST's scientific program is carried out by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI).

Proposing calendar and deadlines

Cycle 6 Call for Proposals released: July 20, 2026

Cycle 6 proposal deadline: September 30, 2026 by 8:00 pm US Eastern Time

Cycle 6 peer review meeting: February 1–11, 2027

Cycle 6 selection notifications to all proposers: Early to mid-March 2027

Cycle 6 budget submission deadline: End-April 2027

Cycle 6 observing dates: July 1, 2027–June 30, 2028

Important resources

• Read all sections of this Call for Proposals by following the Table of Contents (left sidebar of the web version, or if not visible, click the "Browse" button at the top or bottom of the page). 
  
• Register (or update) a STScI Single Sign-On (SSO) Account.
• Consult the suggested JWST proposal workflow.
• Familiarize yourself with the JWST key science policies.
• Know how your JWST proposal will be evaluated.
• Visit the JWST User Documentation Homepage.
• Find abstracts of previously accepted programs on the JWST Approved Programs page.
• Contact the STScI JWST Help Desk. We strongly encourage users to use this avenue to submit questions directly to the appropriate team of experts.

Who's responsible

The JWST Call for Proposals and related materials for Cycle 6 were edited by Rebecca Levy. The Associate Director for Science, Mercedes López-Morales, and the Science Policy Division (SPD) at STScI are responsible for the oversight of the JWST science program selection process. SPD members include Laura Watkins (Head of SPD), Amaya Moro-Martín (Head of JWST Science Policies Group), Molly Peeples (Cross-Mission Policy Scientist), Daniel D'Orazio, Amy Jones, Claus Leitherer, Rebecca Levy, Joshua Lothringer, Nikolay Nikolov, Lou Strolger, and Technical Manager Aleksandra Hamanowicz. Neill Reid (Multi-Mission Project Scientist) participates in an advisory capacity.

Next: JWST New Features and Updates