Treasury Status GO Proposals

Treasury Proposals are those designed to create JWST datasets of lasting scientific value. A Treasury Program is defined by the following characteristics:

  • The program should focus on the potential to solve multiple scientific problems with a single, coherent dataset. It should enable a variety of compelling scientific investigations.
  • The program should produce data products that are processed or calibrated significantly beyond the capabilities of the JWST Calibration Pipeline to maximize the scientific impact of the program. Examples include tiled images, multi-band object catalogs, or coordinated observations on other facilities (for which some funding can be provided). Funding for the proposed data products will depend on their timely availability. They should be delivered to STScI in suitable digital formats for dissemination via MAST.
  • Data taken under a Treasury Program will usually have no exclusive access period, although brief exclusive access periods may be requested if that will enhance the public data value. Such requests are subject to TAC approval.

The following additional characteristics are particularly encouraged:

  • Development of new techniques for data reduction or analysis.
  • Creation and dissemination of tools (software, Web interfaces, models, etc.), beyond what is offered to the community by STScI, for the scientific community to work with the data products.

The emphasis will be on observations whose value is maximal if taken in the current cycle. However, Treasury Proposals may request observing time to be distributed in future cycles if scientifically required (similar to the situation for Small, Medium, and Large Long-Term GO Proposals). In Cycle 1 approximately 1000 hours of JWST time will be available for Large and Treasury Proposals. Treasury Programs will be selected by the TAC as part of the normal peer review process. Successful proposals will be reviewed by STScI to ensure observing efficiency. Investigators submitting Treasury Proposals must select the Treasury Program flag on the APT cover page and include additional technical details on the scheduling aspects of their program in the “Description of the Observations” section in APT. Note that a proposal can be both Large and Treasury. 

The "Scientific Justification" section of the proposal should include a description of the scientific investigations that will be enabled by the final data products and their importance. The "Technical Justification" section of the proposal should not only include a detailed rationale of the observations, but also plans for data analysis and a description of how the data products will be made available to STScI and the community, the method of dissemination, and a realistic time line.


Next: Long-Term Status GO Proposals




Latest updates


Originally published