Executive Committee (Chairs and At-Larges)

The EC process is very similar to the Discussion Panelist process, with a few additions, and a few extra deadlines. 

Prep Work & General Info

Preliminary GradingPre-MeetingDiscussion MeetingPost-Meeting
Before February 15, 2023February 15 - March 28, 2023April 12-16, 2023April 17-20 & April 24-27, 2023April 21-29, 2023
Before getting started, familiarise 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 the EC.
  • Read all of your assigned proposals.
  • Enter numerical scores as preliminary grades for all of your assigned proposals.

Each proposal will receive 8 grades. STScI will use the grades to rank and triage the panel so that only the top proposals are discussed in the panel meeting.

During this phase, you will:

  • Prepare for the EC meeting.
  • Review all EC proposals listed for discussion (especially those you did not read for preliminary grading).
  • Consider whether you wish to raise a triaged EC 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.

Panel Chairs will also:

  • Set a schedule for your topical panel and communicate this to the panel ahead of the meeting.

First, the topical panels meet for 4 days. During the meeting, you will:

  • Facilitate the panel discussions, if you are a Panel Chair.
  • Observe the panels, if you are an At-Large Member.
  • Discuss and observe discussions of Large Proposals by topical panels.

Then the EC meets for 4 days. You will:

  • Discuss EC proposals in turn and enter numerical scores as grades after each discussion.
  • Assess the final ranking of EC proposals for science balance.

During this phase, you will:

  • Write comments for every primary assignment (including triaged proposals).
  • Assist the primary reviewer with comments for every secondary assignment.
  • Read, check for consistency, and sign-off on comments for proposals in your topical panel (Chairs and Vice Chairs).

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

Learn more about:

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:

Useful topics from previous phases:

Important Dates and Deadlines:

  • Friday January 27: JWST proposal deadline

Important Dates and Deadlines:

  • Wednesday February 15, 12pm-2pm EDT: Discussion Panelists Orientation (EC members should also attend this)
  • Wednesday February 15: SPG to release proposals and assignments
  • Wednesday March 29: Deadline for preliminary grades

Important Dates and Deadlines:

  • Monday April 3: SPG to release lists of which proposals will be discussed by the panels

Important Dates and Deadlines:

  • Monday April 17, 10am-4pm EDT: Panel Meeting Day 1
  • Tuesday April 18, 10am-4pm EDT: Panel Meeting Day 2
  • Wednesday April 19, 10am-4pm EDT: Panel Meeting Day 3
  • Thursday April 20, 10am-4pm EDT: Panel Meeting Day 4
  • Monday April 24, 10am-4pm EDT: EC Meeting Day 1
  • Tuesday April 25, 10am-4pm EDT: EC Meeting Day 2
  • Wednesday April 26, 10am-4pm EDT: EC Meeting Day 3
  • Thursday April 27, 10am-4pm EDT: EC Meeting Day 4

Important Dates and Deadlines:

  • Tuesday April 23: Deadline for Discussion proposal comments
  • Friday April 30: Deadline for EC sign-off of Virtual comments
  • Wednesday May 10: STScI releases Cycle 2 Science Program.



Latest updates


Originally published