XMM-NEWTON RPS HELP PAGE
1. INTRODUCTION
XMM-Newton budget proposals must contain hard copies of at least three XMM-Newton-specific forms: the Cover Page, the General Form, and the Budget Form. (In addition, proposals with subgrants require Subgrant General Forms and Subgrant Budget Forms.) This document is meant to provide guidance in filling out those entries on the first three forms (those forms provided by the RPS software) that may not be self-explanatory. Additional information may be found through the XMM-Newton GOF homepage at the addresses given in the Solicitation Announcement.Electronic submission of the Cover Page, General Form, and Budget Form (along with the subgrant General and Budget Forms) is required. Individuals not having access to the Internet should contact Dr. Steve Snowden at least one month prior to the budget proposal due date at the address given in the Solicitation Announcement.
The XMM-Newton GOF provides the capability to submit the forms electronically and, at the same time, to generate hard copy output by the use of the Remote Proposal Submission (RPS) software. This software provides a "user friendly" means of entering, checking, electronically mailing, and printing of the proposal forms, and can be accessed via the WWW or by automated E-mail interaction.
Network glitches may (seldom) affect the integrity of RPS files. The proposal author is strongly urged to verify the contents of the electronic RPS files prior to submitting proposals by printing out the forms and reading them carefully.
1.1. WWW Sites/Pages
- The NASA XMM-Newton AO-5 Budget Solicitation Letter from Dr. Wilton T. Sanders
- The Budget Proposal ABC Guide
- The XMM-Newton GOF at NASA/GSFC
- The XMM-Newton Mission Description
- The Budget Proposal document
- The Budget Proposal Supplement
- The Budget Form Instructions
- The RPS system
- Documents and Forms (FTP and HTML)
- The NASA XMM-Newton AO-5 "Dear Colleague" Letter (from the science proposal AO) from Dr. Wilton T. Sanders
- The NASA Office of Space Science "Guidebook for Proposers"
2. COVER PAGE
Most items on this form are self-explanatory, but there are a few items which are commonly filled out incorrectly. Please refer to the following sections for instructions on the proper completion of the forms.2.1. Principal Investigator
This entry is for either the PI (or Co-I designated by the PI) if the PI is primarily affiliated with a US institution or Lead (US) Co-I if the scientific-proposal PI is not primarily affiliated with a US institution.Title is not meant to refer to your job description, Use Dr., Prof., Mr., Ms., or whatever is appropriate.
2.2. Proposal Number
This is the six-digit number provided in the ESA proposal accepted/rejected status e-mail notification.2.3. Original PI of Foreign PI Proposals
The name of the PI (affiliated with a foreign institution) under which the scientific proposal was submitted.2.4. 9-Digit Zip Code
The full 9-digit zip code is required (sorry, we don't make up these rules, but you might need it for determining the Congressional District of your institution anyway). You can find your 9-digit zip code at: http://www.usps.com/zip4/. When using RPS to enter the information, the zip code will be entered on the General Form page rather than on the Cover Page, but will also appear on the Cover Page.2.5. Congressional District
This is the Congressional District of your institution. You can find the congressional district at: http://www.house.gov/writerep/. Please use the format of the two-letter state abbreviation and the ordinal number for the district, for example, MD 5th. When using RPS to enter the information, the Congressional District of your institution will be entered on the General Form page rather than on the Cover Page, but will also appear on the Cover Page.2.6. Proposal Title
This should be the same title as used for the scientific proposal. There is a 120-character limit.2.7. Abstract
This should be the same abstract as used in the scientific proposal. The abstract must not exceed 800 characters, including spaces between words, with no embedded commands, i.e., flat ASCII only. Abstracts that exceed this length will be truncated automatically at 800 characters when entered into the data base. Abstracts and target lists will be made available on publicly accessible data bases.3. GENERAL FORM
3.1. PI (or Lead Co-I)
For General Forms for Co-Is at institutions separate from that of the PI/Lead Co-I, the name should be that of the Co-I requesting the funding.3.2. 9-Digit Zip Code
The full 9-digit zip code is required (sorry, we don't make up these rules, but you might need it for determining the Congressional District of your institution anyway). You can find your 9-digit zip code at: http://www.usps.com/zip4/.3.3. Congressional District
This is the Congressional District of your institution. You can find the congressional district at: http://www.house.gov/writerep/. Please use the format of your state abbreviation and ordinal number for the district, e.g., MD 5th.3.4. Co-Investigator(s)
The list should include (at least) all US Co-Is of the original scientific proposal (maximum 10).3.5. Signatures
Both PI (or Lead Co-I) and institutional authority signatures are required in the hard copy submission. For the hard copy submission, additional signed forms are required for Co-Is at different institutions where funding is being requested. Note that the institutional endorsement signature also serves as the institutional certification (see below). For Co-I forms, the institutional endorsement and "PI Signature" should be those of the Co-I's institution and Co-I.4. BUDGET FORM
Enter only those targets approved by the ESA scientific peer review.4.1. Labor
The level of the labor (Professor or Senior Researcher, Post-Doc or Junior Researcher, or Graduate Student), the estimated full-time labor equivalent (FTE, the fraction of a work year required for the analysis) and the yearly salary plus fringe benefits. For the hard-copy printout, RPS will not list the salary plus fringe benefits or the total labor cost4.2. Direct Costs
Estimated costs for equipment, material, and computer services, publication costs (itemize trips in the budget justification, in general, only one trip per team member to a professional society meeting will be supported), and other costs, with explanations. Itemize items over $500 in the budget justification. Computing requirements are discussed in the Budget Proposal Supplement. For the hard-copy printout, RPS will not include the total for the Other Direct Costs.4.3. Other Applicable Costs
Other applicable costs, with explanation.4.4. Graduate Student Tuition Remission
The dollar amount of tuition remission.4.4. Facilities and Administrative Costs
This includes the sum of all overheads for the charges above.5. SUBGRANT FORMS
For any requested subgrants, information for a Subgrant General Form and a Subgrant Budget must be entered. The Subgrant General Form is similar to the PI General Form except that it requests address information. The Subgrant General Form requests the same information as the PI Budget Form. This requires that the Budget PI obtain all of the entered information from the subgrant recipient. To ease this burden an ascii form listing the required information is available.
If you have any questions concerning XMM-Newton send e-mail to xmmhelp@lists.nasa.gov