Review Phase | Important Dates and Deadlines | During this phase, you will... | Links to relevant resources |
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| Prep Work & General Info | , 2026, 8pm ET:
JWST proposal submission deadline Note: Deadline was extended to October 1, 2026, 5pm ET.
Monday, November 9, 2026, 12pm–2pm ET:
Discussion Panelist Orientation | - with the review process, JWST and its instruments, the types of proposals you will be reviewing, and who to ask for help!
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| Preliminary Grading | Wednesday, November 11, 2026:
SPD to release proposals and assignments Wednesday, November 18, 2026:
Deadline to check for and report additional conflicts of interest Friday, January 8, 2027:
Deadline for preliminary grades for EC proposals | - Be assigned as a Grader for a subset of the proposals assigned to the EC.
- Check for and report additional conflicts of interest with any of your assigned proposals ASAP.
- Read all of your assigned proposals.
- Enter numerical scores as preliminary grades for all of your assigned proposals.
- Use “Remarks” section in SPIRIT to write down your comments on the proposal. This information will be used by the Primary and Secondary Reviewers at the time of writing the feedback comments, and is particularly useful in the case the proposal is triaged and not discussed during the meeting.
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. Additionally, you will: - Be designated as Primary Reviewer or Secondary Reviewer to a fraction of your grading assignments.
These designations are only relevant later, but it is helpful to take notes summarizing the strengths and weaknesses for your primary/secondary designations during this phase as you will be 1) leading the discussion of these proposals during the meeting, if they survive triage; 2) writing feedback comments on these proposals, regardless of triage status. | Useful topics from previous phases: |
| Pre-Meeting | Friday, January 15, 2027:
SPD to release lists of which proposals will be discussed by the panels
Tuesday, January 19, 2027, 12pm–1:30pm ET:
Executive Committee Orientation
Thursday, January 21, 2027, 12pm–1pm ET:
Discussion Panelist Q&A
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- 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.
- Preparation for Discussion Panel Meeting:
- Set a schedule for your Discussion panel and communicate this to the panel ahead of the meeting.
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| Panel Meeting | Monday–Thursday, February 1–4, 2027, 10am–4pm ET:
Panel Meetings for Galactic Panels
(i.e., Solar System Astronomy, Exoplanet Atmospheres and Habitability, Exoplanetary Systems and Dynamics, Stars and Stellar Populations, Interstellar Gas and Dust) Tuesday–Friday, February 2–5, 2027, 10am–4pm ET:
Panel Meetings for Extragalactic Panels
(i.e., Galaxy Evolution and the Nearby Universe, Galaxy Frontiers and the Distant Universe, Super Massive Black Holes and Active Galaxies)
You will only need to attend during the four (4) days of your Panel Meeting. | - Facilitate the panel discussions, if you are a Panel Chair.
- Support the Panel Chair with Chair duties if you are a Vice Chair.
- Create a ranked list of the proposals discussed.
- Assess the final ranking of proposals for science balance.
- Review team expertise for top ranked proposals once the ranking is finalized.
- Discuss and gather feedback from discussion panel on a subset of EC Proposals.
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| EC Meeting | Monday–Tuesday, February 8–9, 2027, 9am–5pm ET:
Executive Committee Meeting for Galactic Panels
Wednesday–Thursday, February 10–11, 2027, 9am–5pm ET:
Executive Committee Meeting for Extragalactic Panels
You will only need to attend during the two (2) days of your EC Meeting. | - Discuss EC proposals in turn and enter numerical scores as grades after each discussion.
- Use “Remarks” section in SPIRIT to write down your comments on the proposal, while the discussion is still fresh in your mind. This information will be used by the Primary and Secondary Reviewers at the time of writing the feedback comments.
- Create a ranked list of the proposals discussed.
- Assess the final ranking of EC proposals for science balance.
- Review team expertise for top ranked proposals once the ranking is finalized.
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| Post-Meeting | Wednesday, February 10, 2027:
Deadline for proposal comments for Discussion panelists Wednesday, February 17, 2027:
Deadline for Chairs to sign-off feedback comments for Discussion proposals Friday, February 12, 2027:
Deadline for feedback comments for Galactic EC proposals Tuesday, February 16, 2027:
Deadline for feedback comments for Extragalactic EC proposals Friday, February 19, 2027:
Deadline for Galactic TAC Chair to sign-off feedback comments for Galactic EC proposals Tuesday, February 25, 2027:
Deadline for Extragalactic TAC Chair to sign-off feedback comments for Extragalactic EC proposals | For Discussion proposals: - Make sure your panelists finish writing proposal feedback comments on all the proposals assigned to them as Primary.
- Read, check for consistency, and sign-off on all proposal feedback comments.
For EC proposals: - Write your proposal feedback comments for every primary assignment (including triaged proposals).
- Assist the primary reviewer with proposal feedback comments for every secondary assignment.
- Write a brief panel report.
Please remember to remove review materials from your computer after the review. | Useful topics from previous phases: |
| Notifications | Early to mid-March 2027:
STScI releases Cycle 6 Science Program.
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