JWST User Documentation

Proposals reviewed by the Discussion panels are subject to a two-stage review process: 1) preliminary grading; and 2) the review meeting.

Discussion panelists will read and grade all proposals that they are assigned, and write feedback comments for a subset of those. They also advise their Panel Chair and Vice Chair on a subset of the Large, Treasury and Legacy proposals assigned for review to the Executive Committee.

Prep Work & General Info

Preliminary Grading

Pre-Meeting

Discussion Meeting

Post-Meeting

Before November 06, 2024

November 06, 2024 - January 10, 2025

January 10 - February 3, 2025

February 3 - February 6, 2025
(Galactic Panels: Solar System; Exoplanet Atmospheres and Habitability; Exoplanetary System Formation and Dynamics; Stars and Stellar Populations; Gas, Dust and the ISM)

February 4 - February 7, 2025
(ExtraGalactic Panels: Nearby Galaxies to Cosmic Noon; High-Redshift Galaxies and the Distant Universe; Super Massive Black Holes and Active Galaxies)

February 8 - 11, 2025

Before getting started, familiarize yourself with the review process, JWST and its instruments, the types of proposals you will be reviewing, and who to ask for help!

During this phase, you will:

Be assigned as Primary Reviewer, Secondary Reviewer or Grader for a subset of the proposals assigned to your panel.
Check for and report additional conflicts of interest with any of your assigned proposals.
Read all of your assigned proposals.
Enter numerical scores as preliminary grades for all of your assigned proposals.
Take notes summarizing the strengths and weaknesses for your primary/secondary assignments.

STScI will use the grades received by each reviewer assigned to each proposal to rank the proposals and triage the panel so that only the top proposals are discussed in the panel meeting.

During this phase, you will:

Prepare for the panel meeting.
Review all proposals listed for discussion, especially those you did not read for preliminary grading.
Consider whether you wish to raise a triaged proposal for discussion.

We strongly encourage you to use the SPIRIT tool to enter notes summarizing the strengths and weaknesses for your primary/secondary assignments.

The panel meets for 4 days. During this phase, you will:

Discuss proposals in turn and enter numerical scores as grades after each discussion.
Assess the final ranking of proposals for science balance.
Review team expertise for top ranked proposals.
Discuss (but not grade) a subset of Large, Treasury and Legacy programs to provide feedback to your panel Chair and Vice Chair.

During this phase, you will:

Write proposal feedback comments for every primary assignment (including triaged proposals). Reviewers are forbidden from uploading proposal content or review materials to Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) tools since this violates the confidentiality of the review process.
Assist the primary reviewer with proposal feedback comments for every secondary assignment.

Please remember to remove review materials from your computer after the review.

Learn more about:

Useful topics from previous phases:

Learn more about:

Useful topics from previous phases:

Learn more about:

Useful topics from previous phases:

Learn more about:

Proposal Feedback Comments

Useful topics from previous phases: