The proposal selection process is organized by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). More information on everything listed here can be found on subsequent pages. This page is intended to give a high-level summary of the overall process.

JWST Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC)

The task of the JWST TAC is to recommend a Science Program to the STScI Director in response to the Call for Proposals. The STScI Director is the Selecting Official for JWST. Based on the TAC recommendations, the Director makes the final allocation of observing time and funding.

Proposals are selected through competitive and dual-anonymous peer review. A broad range of scientists from the international astronomical and planetary science communities evaluates and ranks all submitted proposals using a well-defined set of criteria and paying special attention to any potential conflicts of interest.

Review panelists are chosen by the Science Policy Division (SPD) at STScI based on their scientific expertise in the areas under review by the topical panels. All panels in a given Science Category are assigned an SPD Panel Manager. Proposals are assigned by SPD to individual reviewers based on the reviewers' expertise, partly on the keywords given in the proposal, and partly on analysis of the proposal text by STScI-developed tools, while avoiding conflicts of interest. 

Depending on their size and type, proposals are reviewed either by the Executive Committees (with face-to-face in-person meetings), by the Discussion panels (with face-to-face online meetings), or by the External panels (which provide asynchronous reviews), described below. All panelists read their assigned proposals, and then grade on an absolute scale against the primary criteria. Panelists also write Proposal Feedback Comments for a subset (Discussion) or all (External) of their assigned proposals.

There are two TAC Chairs overseeing the entire review process. 

The Executive Committees

There are two Executive Committees (ECs), one for the Galactic panels (Solar System; Exoplanet Atmospheres and Habitability; Exoplanetary System Formation and Dynamics; Stars and Stellar Populations; Gas, Dust, and the ISM), and one for the Extragalactic panels (Nearby Galaxies to Cosmic Noon; High-Redshift Galaxies and the Distant Universe; Super Massive Black Holes and Active Galaxies). Each EC is comprised of one TAC Chair and the Chairs and Vice Chairs from all of the corresponding Discussion panels.

The primary responsibility of the ECs is to review Large (> 130 hours) GO proposals, Treasury GO programs, Legacy AR programs, and Pure Parallel programs. The ECs are provided additional input on proposals from the Discussion panels, via the corresponding panel Chair and Vice Chair. The Executive Committee also adjudicates any cross-panel scientific issues, as needed. 

More information about the EC can be found in the Guide for Executive Committee.

The Discussion Panels

The Discussion panels are managed by a panel Chair and a Vice Chair. Neither the panel Chair nor Vice Chair reviews Discussion proposals. The Chair oversees and manages their panel's discussions and meeting. The Vice Chair helps the panel Chair with their duties and helps alleviate proposal conflicts for the panel Chair. Some Science Categories have more than one Discussion panel due to the number of submitted proposals; these are referred to as "mirror panels."

Discussion panels assess and grade Small (> 20 and ≤ 50 hours) and Medium (> 50 and ≤ 130 hours) GO proposals and all Target of Opportunity and Survey proposals, regardless of size.  The time allocated to each panel is proportional to the time requested by the proposals assigned to that panel; there are separate allocations for Small and Medium proposals. Discussion panels do not adjudicate Large (>130 hours) GO proposals, Treasury GO proposals, Legacy AR proposals, or Pure Parallel programs, but they advise their Chair and Vice Chair on the scientific merit of the subset of those proposals assigned to their panel.

More information about the Discussion panels can be found in the Guide for Discussion Panelists.

Panel Support Scientists

To assist in the review process, each Discussion panel is assigned a Panel Support Scientist (PSS). The role of the PSS is to ensure the process runs smoothly, to act as liaison between the panel and STScI, and to ensure the discussion remains focused on the scientific strengths and weaknesses of the proposals. More information can be found in the Guide for Panel Support Scientists.

The External Panels

The External panels asynchronously review the Very Small (≤ 20 hours) GO proposals and Regular AR proposals. There is one External panel per Science category.

The proposals likely to be recommended to the Director for acceptance are provided to the panel Chairs of the face-to-face Discussion panels of that same Scientific Category prior to the meeting to allow them to identify potential duplications with the proposals reviewed by their panels. Duplications are adjudicated by the panel Chairs, with feedback from the Discussion panels, when required.

More information can be found in the Guide for External Panelists.

Accessing proposals, grading, and writing proposal feedback comments

The bulk of the proposal review work happens via the SPIRIT proposal review tool. There you will see which proposals you have been assigned and how to access the proposals under review in your panel. You can choose to read them online or download them for offline reading. You will also use SPIRIT to record your grades (both preliminary/External grades and final meeting grades), and to finalize your proposal feedback comments. There are places to leave private notes, and to share remarks with other panelists as well. You'll also find important contacts for your panel, including the Chair, Vice Chair, SPD manager, and PSS.

Next: Discussion Panelists