JWST Archival Research (AR) Proposals

This page describes JWST Archival Research (AR) proposals and the requirements for submitting an AR proposal.

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Archival Research (AR) proposals request funding to analyze existing JWST observations or for activities which support the analysis of JWST data.

General information and requirements

Observations with no exclusive access period or that are no longer in their exclusive access period are freely available for analysis by scientists through retrieval from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). JWST Archival Research (AR) proposals can provide financial support to US investigators for the analysis of such data sets (as Regular or Legacy AR proposals). The data sets of interest must be public in the  MAST archive by the beginning of Cycle 6 (July 1, 2027).

Regular and Legacy AR proposals can have additional "flags" to highlight particular features of those programs. These additional flags are optional (not every AR program will need one). Proposals may include multiple flags (though some specific combinations are not allowed). These flags include:

Each flag has additional requirements that need to be met. 

Proposers should carefully consult the information and requirements for each flag in JWST Additional Flags for AR Proposals.

No Joint JWST-HST AR proposals are offered at this time.

AR proposals may be submitted by non-US PIs if there are US co-Is who request funding.

Investigators are allowed to submit an AR proposal to analyze data that was obtained in a previous GO Program on which they were themselves PI or Co-I, but only if the goals of the AR proposal differ significantly from those for which GO funding was awarded previously.

STScI encourages the submission of AR proposals that combine JWST data, as the main data set, with data from other space-missions or ground-based observatories, especially those data contained in the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). STScI is an active partner of the Virtual Observatory (VO), and MAST is implementing VO technology to make its data holdings available. In particular, the MAST Data Discovery Portal is available at http://mast.stsci.edu/explore. The Discovery Portal is a one-stop Web interface to access data from all of the MAST supported missions, including HST (in particular the Hubble Legacy Archive- HLA, and Hubble Source Catalog- HSC), TESS, Kepler, GALEX, FUSE, IUE, EUVE, and Swift-UVOT.

Components of an AR proposal

All AR proposals are required to include a "Scientific Justification" and "Analysis Plan" in the PDF attachment.

  • The "Scientific Justification" should present a balanced discussion of background information, the program's goals, its significance to astronomy in general, its importance to the specific sub-field of astronomy it addresses, and how the project improves upon or adds to the previous use of data.
  • The "Analysis Plan" should provide a detailed data analysis plan, describe the datasets that will be analyzed, and include a brief summary of the likely scale of the proposed program. The Analysis Plan is not a budget narrative. Successful AR programs will be invited to submit a budget narrative after the review is complete. It may be helpful to break down the work items in the Analysis Plan; however, it should not include information about the team's composition or career stage, as this is a violation of the DAPR policies.

Additional components of an AR proposal may include:

  • Laboratory astrophysics relevant to JWST observations;
  • Ground-based observations that complement JWST observations; and/or
  • A citizen science component in support of the program science goals. NASA document SPD-33 provides guidelines on citizen science projects.

Note: Funded support for associated ground-based observations, laboratory astrophysics, and citizen science must be compliant with the  STScI General Grant Provisions (GGP) and is limited to no more than 10% of the total budget. These components must be specified and justified in the original science proposal and may not be added subsequent to acceptance.


AR proposal categories

AR proposals can either be "Regular" or "Legacy." The main difference between a Regular and a Legacy AR proposal is that the former aims at performing a specific scientific investigation, while the latter will also create data products and/or tools for the benefit of the community. While Regular AR proposals will be judged primarily on the basis of scientific merit, Legacy AR proposal will additionally be judged on the importance and broad applicability of the products produced.

Regular

The general goal of a Regular AR proposal is to analyze a subset of data from JWST to address a specific scientific issue. In general, the scientific questions addressed should differ from those tackled by the original programs that obtained the data. A strong justification must be given to reanalyze data if the new project has the same science goals as the original proposal. JWST funding is allocated via a formula, the exact value that will be allocated to Regular AR programs in Cycle 6 is not yet known and will depend on the final accepted science program. Budget plans (requested at a later time for approved programs) should be commensurate with the level of work required to carry out the goals of the proposal.

Regular AR proposals:

Regular AR proposals with additional flags must also meet those additional requirements.

Legacy

A Legacy AR proposal is defined by the following characteristics:

  • The project should perform a homogeneous analysis of a well-defined subset of data from JWST in MAST.
  • The main goal should be to provide a homogeneous set of calibrated data, ancillary data products, and/or software to the scientific community.
  • The results of the project should enable a variety of new and important types of scientific investigations.

We encourage the development of open source community software tools for dissemination to the community.

It is a strict requirement for Legacy AR proposals that the proposed data products and/or software be created and distributed to the community in a timely manner. Data products should also be delivered to STScI in a format consistent with the MAST High-Level Science Products Contributions Guidelines for dissemination via MAST.

Legacy AR proposals are larger in scope and allocated funds than Regular AR proposals. Funding will be allocated via a formula. The amount of funding allocated to Legacy AR programs in Cycle 6 is not yet known and will depend on the final accepted science program. Commensurate with the expected scope, Legacy AR Proposals are allowed to be multi-year projects, although this is not a requirement. Multi-year projects will be funded on a yearly basis, with continued funding beyond the first year subject to a performance review.

Legacy AR proposals:

Legacy AR proposals with additional flags must also meet those additional requirements.

Additional APT requirements

Investigators submitting Legacy AR proposals must select the "Legacy" flag on the APT Proposal Information form.

Additional PDF attachment requirements

The "Scientific Justification" section of the proposal's PDF attachment should include a description of the scientific investigations that will be enabled by the final data products, their importance, and value to the astronomical community. The "Analysis Plan" section should describe the plans for data analysis, the data products and/or software that will be made available to STScI and the community, the method of dissemination, and a realistic timeline. It is a requirement that data products be delivered to STScI in suitable digital formats for further dissemination via the MAST Data Archive or related channels. Any required technical support from STScI and associated costs should be described in detail.


Next: JWST Additional Flags for AR Proposals



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