Appendix D
GSFC ROSAT "AO5" Announcement
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING PROPOSAL EVALUATION
The information contained in Appendix D applies only to this announcement.
PROPOSAL EVALUATION, SELECTION, AND IMPLEMENTATION
Evaluation Criteria
The criteria given in this paragraph apply only to the evaluation of proposals submitted in response to this announcement. The criteria below are shown in descending order of importance.
- The overall scientific merit of the investigation.
- The relevance of the proposed research to NASA's Astrophysics program.
- The suitability of using the ROSAT observatory and data products for
the proposed investigation, the degree to which the investigation uses
ROSAT's unique capabilities, the feasibility of accomplishing the
objectives of the investigation within the time proposed, and the
feasibility of the analysis techniques.
- The competence and relevant experience of the principal investigator and any collaborators as an indication of their ability to carry the investigation to a successful conclusion within the requested resources, including the timely publication of refereed scientific journal papers.
Proposal Evaluation and Selection
ROSAT observation proposals will be evaluated in a two stage process: a scientific and technical review by NASA and a review by the ROSAT International Users Committee (IUC) to eliminate unwarranted duplication.All proposals submitted in response to this announcement will be reviewed for scientific merit, for technical feasibility, and for duplication with observations proposed to the DARA and SERC. Proposals will first be reviewed for technical feasibility by the ROSAT Science Data Center. This consists both of an evaluation for technical feasibility within spacecraft constraints and feasibility within observational constraints.
Following the technical review, a scientific peer review panel will evaluate the feasible proposals in accordance with the criteria given above. Proposed observations will be placed into one of four categories. Highest priority observations that use a total of approximately two-sevenths of the U.S. observing time will be placed in category A. Medium priority observations that use a total of approximately two-sevenths of the U.S. observing time will be placed in category B. The remaining recommended observations, using up the three-sevenths remaining of the U.S. observing time, will be placed in category C. Observations that do not justify further consideration for ROSAT will be placed in category D. A given proposal containing multiple observations may have any combination of priorities assigned to the observations. NASA, DARA, and SERC will all use this prioritization plan in preparing their national programs from the submitted proposals. The three agencies each plan to identify acceptable proposed observations equal to 180 percent of each agency's allocated observing time. This plan of prioritization and oversubscription is both to ease conflict resolution at the IUC and to maximize observation efficiency.
The list of acceptable U.S. targets will be submitted to the IUC together with target lists from DARA and SERC for resolution of conflicting observations and for prioritization for observation scheduling. Conflicts between observations will first be resolved on the basis of the priority assigned by the national review panels. If conflicts cannot be resolved on the basis of national priority or scientific merit, the IUC will use factors other than scientific merit to resolve the conflict.
Implementation
Based on the category assignments by the national committees and the resolution between conflicting observations, the IUC will assign one of three observational priorities to each proposed observation. These priorities will be given to DARA to formulate the ROSAT Long-term Mission Time Line (LMTL) for the fourth round of pointed observations. Priority One is for time constrained observations (less than 5 percent of the observing time), Priority Two is for all other category A and B observations, and Priority Three is for all category C observations. All selected targets with Priorities One and Two are guaranteed observation time. That is, if it is not possible to accommodate an approved Priority One or Two observation in a given observing period, it will be scheduled for the next observational period. DARA and GSOC will accommodate as many Priority Three observations in the LMTL as possible, but a Priority Three proposal has no guarantee of receiving observation time even if the target appears in the LMTL and the proposer should be prepared to repropose. This process will result in a reduction of observing time commitments to 100 percent of the national allocations.
SCHEDULE
The schedule for the review and selection of proposals for the next episode of U.S. observing time on the ROSAT observatory is as follows:
DATE ACTION January 1, 1994 Release announcement When convenient Requests for Supplementary Information March 31, 1994 Proposals due July 1994 Target date to announce selections September 1994 Commence AO5 HRI observations September 1995 End of AO5 period
THE ASTROPHYSICS GRANT SUPPLEMENTS FOR EDUCATION PROGRAM
We invite successful ROSAT proposers to apply to the the Astrophysics Grant Supplements for Education (AGSE) program. This program provides a modest supplement ($6,000 in FY 1993) to existing NASA Astrophysics projects to enhance the participation of research astronomers in precollegiate or public outreach activities. All current principal investigators of the NASA Astrophysics Division are eligible to apply for an AGSE award. The next announcement is expected in spring 1994. For more information, contact Dr.Cherilynn A. Morrow, Astrophysics Division, Code SZ, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546; cmorrow@gm.ossa.hq.nasa.gov.
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