JWST Additional Flags for AR Proposals
This page describes the additional (optional) flags that may apply to AR proposals; these flags include Calibration, Cloud Computing Studies, Data Science Software, and Theory. Each flag has specific requirements that must be met.
On this page
There are additional (optional) "flags" that may apply to Regular and Legacy AR proposals:
- Calibration proposals provide calibrations for non-standard instrumentation modes.
- Combined GO+AR are available when substantial effort (>10%) will be devoted analyzing JWST archival data and where new observations are still required to address a scientific goal. These are described in JWST Additional Flags for GO Proposals.
- Cloud Computing Studies enable new analyses or reprocessing of large amounts of JWST data using AWS cloud computing resources.
- Data Science Software proposals will develop software products that will be made available to the community for the purposes of analyzing JWST data.
- Theory proposals provide support for theoretical work that is relevant to the JWST mission.
Each has additional requirements that must be satisfied.
Calibration
JWST is a complex observatory, with many possible instrument configurations. Calibrations and calibration software are maintained by STScI for the most important and most used configurations. However, STScI does not have the resources to calibrate fully all potential capabilities of all instruments. Additionally, the astronomical community has expressed interest in receiving support to perform calibrations for certain uncalibrated or poorly calibrated modes, or to develop specialized software for certain JWST calibrations. In recognition of this, STScI is encouraging users to submit Calibration Proposals, which aim to fill gaps in the calibration of JWST and its instruments.
Calibration AR proposals are appropriate in cases where the necessary data have already been taken, or for programs that do not require specific data but aim to develop specialized software for certain JWST calibration and data reduction tasks. Calibration proposals should not be linked to a specific science program, but should provide a calibration or calibration software that can be used by the community for existing or future programs.
Because of the technical nature of these proposals, and to avoid duplicating on-going calibration efforts at STScI, users planning to submit Calibration AR proposals must contact all appropriate instrument teams at STScI via the JWST Help Desk to discuss their program at least two (2) weeks prior to the submission deadline. This 2 week deadline also applies to any resubmissions from previous cycles. This discussion with the instrument team should be noted in the "Team Expertise" section of APT and should include the Help Desk ticket number. Failure to contact the instrument team in advance, or failure to do it via the Help Desk, will result in automatic disqualification of the proposal. The Help Desk ticket should contain sufficient information for the instrument team's pre-submission assessment. A positive response to the Help Desk ticket from the instrument team is not an assurance that the Calibration AR proposal will be approved. If the instrument team does not support the proposal being submitted as a Calibration AP proposal, the proposal may instead be submitted (and evaluated) as a normal AR proposal.
Successful proposers will be required to deliver documentation, data products, and/or software to STScI to be made available to the community to support future observing programs or archival research. Funding is available to support Calibration AR proposals in the same manner as for normal science programs, with the following exception: Scientists affiliated with STScI are not eligible for any funding to support their role (as PI, Co-PI, or Co-I) in a Calibration proposal.
Investigators interested in submitting a Calibration AR proposal are encouraged to study the JWST User Documentation to determine the level at which STScI provides calibration and characterization.
Additional APT requirements
Investigators submitting Calibration AR proposals must select the "Calibration" flag on the APT Proposal Information form.
Additional PDF attachment requirements
Proposers should summarize the relevance and overall scientific utility of the calibration techniques and products described in their proposal. The "Scientific Justification" should describe what science will be enabled by the successful completion of the program, and how the currently supported core capabilities, their calibrations, and the existing data processing are insufficient to meet the requirements of this type of science. The "Analysis Plan" should discuss what documentation, and data products and/or software will be made available to STScI to support future observing programs. Proposers should explain how their programs complement ongoing calibration efforts by the STScI instrument groups. They must contact the relevant instrument groups to ensure that efforts are not duplicated, and if they are, justify why the duplications are necessary.
How these proposals are reviewed
Calibration AR proposals are subject to the same review process as for normal Regular or Legacy AR proposals.
Calibration AR proposals will be reviewed internally at STScI after the TAC Review Meeting to assess of the feasibility of the proposal, how the proposal complements/extends the existing calibration program, and the type of science impacted by the proposed calibrations.
Cloud Computing Studies
All non-exclusive access data for JWST instruments (MIRI, NIRCam, NIRSpec, NIRISS) will be made available as part of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) public dataset program (aws.amazon.com/public-datasets/). Providing these data in close proximity to AWS facilitates new types of compute-intensive analyses that may have not previously been possible due to individual researcher or research group compute resources. Proposals to make use of this dataset are eligible to be AR Cloud Computing Studies proposals, and proposers should be prepared to include a line item in their budget for AWS costs (limit $10,000).
Example use cases for leveraging these data could include: Large scale (re)analyses of data to measure photometric properties or proper motions, computationally-intensive tasks such as training machine learning classifiers, and live community-facing services.
Further reading:
- Link to JWST data on AWS: https://registry.opendata.aws/jwst/
- AWS machine learning services: aws.amazon.com/machine-learning/
- AWS spot computing: aws.amazon.com/ec2/spot/spot-and-science/
- Educational & research use cases: aws.amazon.com/government-education/research-and-technical-computing/
AR Cloud Computing Studies proposals can be Regular or Legacy AR proposals; the corresponding page limits, review process, and award levels are applicable.
Review panels will consist of observational and theoretical astronomers with a broad range of scientific expertise. They will not necessarily have specialists in all areas of astrophysics, particularly cloud computing, so the proposals must be written for general audiences of scientists.
Additional APT requirements
Investigators submitting AR Cloud Computing Studies proposals must select the "Cloud Computing" flag on the APT Proposal Information form.
Additional PDF attachment requirements
The "Scientific Justification" section of the proposal should include a description of the scientific investigations that will be enabled by the successful completion of the program and their relevance to JWST. The "Analysis Plan" section of the proposal should discuss the types of JWST data that will be used in this study, and references to specific data sets in MAST should be given where possible. This section should also describe how the results of the investigation will be made available to the astronomical community, and on what time-scale the results are expected.
Data Science Software
Proposers have an opportunity under the JWST AR program to obtain financial support for the development of software products that will be made available to the community for the purposes of analyzing JWST data. Descriptions of the data products created by the JWST calibration pipeline and related software tools are available at JWST Calibration Status, JWST Science Calibration Pipeline, and JWST Post-Pipeline Data Analysis. Examples of additional products include, but are not restricted to:
- scripts to mitigate artifacts from specific detectors,
- tools to identify and extract fluxes/magnitudes from multiple sources within a field,
- utility software for working with JWST data products, or
- codes to produce background-subtracted spectra or software to interact with JWST archive services.
The primary criterion for an AR Data Science Software Proposal is that the results should broadly enhance the value of JWST observational products for anyone in the astronomical community. The results of the data science software development should be made available to the community in a timely fashion through an appropriate distribution platform. Open source software using a standard license (https://opensource.org/licenses) is encouraged. The software should have thorough internal documentation at a level consistent with software best practices, and, if computationally intensive, should be compatible with a cloud computing service.
The "Analysis Plan" is a not a budget narrative. To be compliant with DAPR, it must not discuss team composition or expertise. However, the work detailed in the "Analysis Plan" of the proposal should be commensurate with the level of funding to be requested in the budget submission, should the program be approved.
Review panels will consist of observational and theoretical astronomers with a broad range of scientific expertise. They will not necessarily have specialists in all areas of astrophysics, particularly software development, so the proposals must be written for general audiences of scientists.
Additional APT requirements
Investigators submitting an AR Data Science Software proposal must select the "Data Science Software" flag on the APT Proposal Information form.
Additional PDF attachment requirements
The "Scientific Justification" section of the proposal should describe how the software packages that will be developed are relevant to and necessary for the reduction or interpretation of JWST data. The "Analysis Plan" section of the proposal should discuss the types of JWST data that will benefit from the proposed investigation, and references to specific data sets in MAST should be given where possible. This section should also describe how the results of the investigation will be made available to the astronomical community, and on what time-scale the results are expected.
Theory
Proposers may request financial support for theoretical research that is relevant to the JWST mission and that will have a lasting benefit for current or future observational programs with JWST.
An AR Theory proposal should address a topic that is of direct relevance to JWST observational programs, and this relevance should be explained in the proposal. Funding of mission-specific research under the JWST Theory Program will be favored over research that is appropriate for a general theory program, such as the NASA Science Mission Directorate Astrophysics Theory Program. The primary criterion for an AR Theory proposal is that the results should enhance the value of JWST observational programs through their broad interpretation (in the context of new models or theories) or by refining the knowledge needed to interpret specific observational results (a calculation of atomic cross sections may fall under the latter category). The results of the theoretical investigation should be made available to the community in a timely fashion.
AR Theory proposals can be Regular or Legacy AR proposals; the corresponding page limits, review process, and award levels are applicable. AR Theory programs are funded like Regular AR or Legacy AR programs.
An AR Theory proposal may be submitted by a non-U.S. PI if there are one or more U.S. Co-Is who request funding.
Review panels will consist of observational and theoretical astronomers with a broad range of scientific expertise. They will not necessarily have specialists in all areas of astrophysics, particularly theory, so the proposals must be written for general audiences of scientists.
Additional APT requirements
Investigators submitting AR Theory proposals must select the "Theory" flag on the APT Proposal Information form.
Additional PDF attachment requirements
The "Scientific Justification" section of the proposal should include a description of the scientific investigations that will be enabled by the successful completion of the program and their relevance to JWST.
The "Analysis Plan" section of the proposal should discuss the types of JWST data that will benefit from the proposed investigation, and references to specific data sets in MAST should be given where possible. This section should also describe how the results of the theoretical investigation will be made available to the astronomical community, and on what time-scale the results are expected. The "Analysis Plan" is a not a budget narrative. To be compliant with DAPR, it must not discuss team composition or expertise. However, the work detailed in the "Analysis Plan" of the proposal should be commensurate with the level of funding to be requested in the budget submission, should the program be approved.
Theoretical research should be the primary or sole emphasis of an AR Theory proposal. Analysis of archival data may be included, but should not be the main aim of the project. GO or AR proposals which include a minor component of theoretical research will be funded under the appropriate GO or AR program.
Next: JWST Special Initiatives