JWST User Documentation

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 Grading

Pre-Meeting

Discussion Meeting

Post-Meeting

Before November 6, 2024

November 6, 2024 - January 10, 2025

January 10 - February 10, 2025

February 3 - 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 - 7, 2025
(ExtraGalactic Panels: Nearby Galaxies to Cosmic Noon; High-Redshift Galaxies and the Distant Universe; Super Massive Black Holes and Active Galaxies)

February 10 - February 11, 2025
(Executive Committee Galactic)

February 12 - February 13, 2025
(Executive Committee Extragalactic)

February 13 - 17, 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 the EC.
Check for and report additional conflicts of interest with your assigned proposals.
Read all of your assigned proposals.
Enter numerical scores as preliminary grades for all of your assigned proposals.
Takes 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 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.
Support the Panel Chair with Chair duties if you are a Vice Chair.
Discuss and observe discussions of Large Proposals by topical panels.

Then the EC meets for 2 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.
Review team expertise for top ranked proposals.

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.
Read, check for consistency, and sign-off on comments for proposals in your topical panel.
Write a brief panel report.

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: