XMM-Newton AO-16 Budget Proposal Document

INFORMATION REGARDING BUDGET PROPOSAL SUBMISSION, EVALUATION, SELECTION, AND IMPLEMENTATION

1. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION

1.1. General Information

The current Announcement covers US XMM-Newton Guest Observer (GO) scientific proposals selected by the ESA peer review at the A and B levels for observation during AO-16 operations. The period of AO-16 observations is expected to cover a 12 month interval beginning around 2017 May.

In the proposal review carried out by ESA, the scientific and technical merits of the proposed investigations were judged and time appropriately allocated. The budget proposal process to be carried out by NASA will be responsible for allocating support for the investigations of the qualified accepted proposals. The amount of support for a given investigation will depend on a number of various considerations including, but not limited to, the complexity of the analysis, number of targets and the time allocated to the targets, the priority of the targets, the number of accepted proposals for which the PI is requesting support under this announcement, and other sources of funding relevant to this request.

A cost proposal is required for each qualifying investigation for which financial support from NASA is requested. Investigations will be funded for a period of one year commencing nominally at the start of the FY18 fiscal year (1 October 2017), with possible delays as long as six months depending on when the funds are provided to us. No-cost extensions will be considered only in extremely well justified cases. Note: the funds associated with this AO are intended for use in a single year - and in particular, second no-cost extensions are very unlikely to be granted. PIs are welcome to apply to future ADAP rounds for additional funding after the data are no longer proprietary.

Note: All communications with the NASA/GSFC XMM-Newton GOF regarding a specific XMM-Newton proposal must include the ESA-supplied identification number for that proposal (the six-digit proposal number currently including a leading zero).

1.2. Proposal Priority and Budget Submission/Funding

Successful science proposal targets are prioritized in three categories. Category A and B targets are guaranteed to be observed, while category C targets are used as schedule fillers if time allows or scheduling constraints require. Only XMM AO-16 proposals with US PIs and category A or B targets (only those PIs who have been explicitly notified of their eligibility) may request funding under this AO.

All explicitly notified PIs (i.e., those who have received the e-mail call for budget proposals and fair-share estimates) for AO-16 proposals must submit budgets in response to this budget AO by the deadline specified below for consideration. For those programs with both A and B targets the funding level will be determined by both the A and B targets.

1.3. Eligibility

Participation in this budget process is limited to Principal Investigators (PIs) whose primary affiliation is with a US institution and have science target(s) with an A or B ranking. PIs with joint US and foreign institution affiliations must declare the fraction of time to be spent at the US institution over the course of the budget year.

1.4. Who May Propose

Only one budget proposal will be allowed for each accepted scientific proposal meeting the above criteria. The PI (or Co-I designated by the PI) should submit the budget proposal.

Note: In circumstances where institutional rules do not allow a successful science PI to be the budget PI (e.g., for Post-Docs or graduate students at many institutions) the science PI may designate a Co-I to act as the budget PI. A signed letter to that effect explaining the reason must be submitted with the budget proposal. The name of the budget PI should appear as the PI on all forms.

1.5. Subgrants

The use of subgrants to fund co-investigators at secondary institutions is no longer allowed by NASA HQ instructions.

1.6. Useful WWW Sites/Pages

Generic version of the NASA XMM-Newton AO-16 Budget Solicitation Letter from Dr. Stefan Immler
The Budget Proposal ABC Guide
The XMM-Newton GOF at NASA/GSFC
The XMM-Newton Mission Description
The Budget Proposal Supplement (FAQ)
The Budget Form Instructions
The ARK RPS system
ARK RPS Help
Documents and Forms
The NASA XMM-Newton AO-16 "Dear Colleague" Letter (from the science proposal AO) from Dr. Stefan Immler
The NASA "Guidebook for Proposers"

2. PROPOSAL FORMAT AND CONTENT

2.1. Proposal Content

All proposals must be typewritten in English.

The budget proposal must include:

Standard Cover Page form
General Form
Budget Form
A one to two page justification of the budget (note that a more complete description of requested travel is now required, even if the travel destination is subject to change)
The 4-5 page scientific justification from the ESA observation AO
A funding status page listing current and pending support for the PI (a standard form is available in LaTeX, PS, and PDF formats), and
a short CV (two pages) is required.

The Cover Page, General Form, and Budget Form are generated in RPS and are downloadable in PDF format.

All proposals must be submitted both on paper and on a CD. Electronic submission is no longer permitted because of IT security concerns. Individuals not having access to the Internet should contact Dr. Kim Weaver at least one month prior to the budget proposal due date at the address given in the Solicitation Announcement. The CD must contain three PDF files:

the RPS-generated PDF file containing the Cover Page, General Form, and Budget Form

the budget justification, current and pending support form, CV, and China and ACORN certifications, combined into one file

the four or five page scientific justification from the ESA observation proposal

The CD should be submitted with the signed original and three (3) paper hardcopies of the entire proposal.

Detailed Descriptions/Instructions

Cover Page: The Cover Page is generated through the RPS system, the use of which is mandatory. The Proposal Number provided in the ESA proposal status e-mail must be included on all pages. The title and abstract should be the same as for the original scientific proposal. It should be limited to 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 databases. NOTE: No other cover page should be used for the first page of the proposal. DO NOT attach any institutional cover pages, or any other documentation beyond what is specified in the table below. Proposals which violate this rule are subject to rejection.
General Form: The General Form is generated through the RPS system, the use of which is mandatory. Both institutional endorsement and PI signatures are required for the hard-copy submission. The 9-digit zip code and Congressional District of the institution must be provided. For the Congressional District please use the format of the two-letter state abbreviation then the ordinal number of the district (e.g., MD 5th). Note that the institutional-endorsement signature on the General Form also doubles as the institutional certification for 1) Lobbying, 2) Debarment/Suspension, and 3) Civil Rights. For reference, the text for these certifications can be found below.
Budget Form: The Budget Form is generated through the RPS system, the use of which is mandatory.
The budget form contains:
- The title of the corresponding scientific proposal, the ESA-assigned proposal number, and the name of the PI.
- Item 1: The level of the labor separated into three coarse levels (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.
- Item 2: Estimated costs for equipment, material, computer services, publications, travel (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 $1000 in the budget justification. Computing requirements are discussed in the Budget Proposal Supplement.
- Item 3: Other applicable costs, with explanation.
- Item 4: Graduate student tuition remission.
- Item 5: Facilities and Administrative costs, including all overheads from the above items.
- Item 6: Overhead rate (percentage) on indirect costs.
Budget Justification and Summary: A brief, one to two page budget justification must be submitted providing the rationale for the various direct cost items and amounts requested. This justification should allow the budget review panel to assess the degree of the necessity of each budget item. The justification should include a detailed breakdown of the responsibility of the various investigators who are requesting funding. The budgets must explicitly list any funds requested for Co-Is, and justify their support. This includes both US PI and foreign PI proposals.
PIs with joint US and foreign affiliations must list the fraction of time spent in the US as well as the fraction of support provided by US institutions. The expected duration of the US appointment should also be listed. Note that GO funds cannot be used to pay for the commute between the foreign and US institution.
The Budget Justification must now also include a more complete description of each travel request, even if subject to change (e.g., 2018 Summer AAS meeting, Denver, CO, Airfare $XXX, Hotel $XXX, Registration $XXX, Board $XXX, Ground Transportation $XXX, Incidentals $XXX, where the XXX's are replaced with appropriate numbers). Describe the purpose of the proposed travel in relation to the grant and provide the basis of estimate. In general, only one trip per team member to a professional society meeting will be supported.
For equipment and other high-cost supplies, describe and explain the need for items costing more than $1,000. Give the basis for the estimated costs.
Scientific Justification: The four or five page scientific justification submitted in the science proposal process.
Current and Pending Support: A complete list of awarded and pending research funding support from NASA or other sources for the Principal Investigator. The information needed includes: Agency, Grant/Contract Number, Title, Amount, Starting and Ending Dates, and Level of Effort (percent). A Current and Pending Support form is available as an annotated LaTeX file, an editable PDF file, and a PS file.
Assurances: Signed ACORN (DOCX Form) and China (DOCX Form) assurances must be included in the submission.
Vitae: CV of the budget PI. The CVs shall be no more than two pages and shall include a publication list with the most recent and/or important publications.
Institutional Budgets: If your institution requires it, one copy of your institutional budget forms may be included with the hard copy submission. This is not to be attached to the three copies of the budget proposal.

2.2. Page Restrictions and Quantity

Reviewers will consider only those pages in each proposal section that do not exceed the page limits specified below. Please assemble the budget proposal hardcopy in the following order.

Budget Proposal Contents and Page Order

SECTION	PAGE LIMIT	COMMENTS
Cover Page	1	REQUIRED. Must be the standard form produced by RPS, no other cover is necessary or allowed.
General Form	1	REQUIRED. Must be the standard form produced by RPS, PI signature and institutional endorsement required.
Budget Form	1	REQUIRED. Must be the standard form produced by RPS.
Budget Justification	2	REQUIRED.
Scientific Justification	As Needed	REQUIRED. The 4 or 5 page Scientific Justification from the observation proposal. For ToO budget requests, a one page scientific justification should be submitted.
Current and Pending Funding	As Needed	REQUIRED. A standard form is available but its use is not required
Vitae	2	REQUIRED for the budget PI.
Assurance Form 1		REQUIRED. (ACORN and Taxes)
Assurance Form 2		REQUIRED. (China)
Institutional Pages	NONE ATTACHED	Do not attach any pages beyond what are listed above to the budget proposal. Violation of this requirement is grounds for rejection of the proposal.
Institutional Budget	One Copy	As an inclusion, separate (not attached) from the budget proposal, one copy of your institutional budget for this grant (not for the entire institution) may be submitted

2.3. Proposal Submission

To conserve paper, proposals should be printed double-sided. The signed original and three (3) hard copies of the budget proposal, signed original on top, and a CD with electronic versions (PDF) of the three files mentioned above are due at the following address by the date and time specified below. Many institutions like to include a more detailed budget. This is acceptable but it should be placed at the bottom of the pile.

XMM-Newton Guest Observer Program
Code 662
Building 34, Room S254
Goddard Space Flight Center
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Greenbelt, MD 20771-0001
301-286-9662

2.4. Type Restrictions

Type should not be smaller than 11 point, and spacing between lines should not be less than 11 points. Margins should be of a reasonable width.

2.5. Technical Information Resources

Technical and budget questions concerning the XMM-Newton mission and requests for assistance in proposal submission may be addressed to Dr. Kim Weaver, at:

Dr. Kim Weaver
XMM-Newton Guest Observer Facility
Code 662
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
USA
Tel: (301) 286-4256
E-mail: xmmhelp@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov

Programmatic information can be obtained from Dr. Stefan Immler at:

Dr. Stefan Immler
Science Mission Directorate
NASA Headquarters
Washington, DC 20546
Tel: (202) 358-0615
E-mail: stefan.m.immler@nasa.gov

3. PROPOSAL EVALUATION AND IMPLEMENTATION

3.1. Evaluation Criteria

As noted above, the amount of support for a given investigation will depend on a number of various considerations. These include:

The complexity of the analysis - this includes both the type of analysis and the XMM-Newton instruments to be used in the analysis.
The number of targets and the time allocated to each target.
The ranking of the proposal as indicated by the priority of the targets.
The US or foreign status (as indicated by the primary institutional affiliation of the PI) of the proposal.
The number of accepted proposals for which the PI or Co-I is requesting support under this announcement.
Other sources of funding relevant to this request.
The available funding for this program.

3.2. Proposal Evaluation

US XMM-Newton budget proposals will evaluated by a Peer Review panel selected by NASA and supported by the NASA/GSFC XMM-Newton GOF.

4. SCHEDULE

The current schedule for the review of the budget proposals is listed below. Note, however, that the dates of events are subject to change.

DATE	EVENT
2017 June 27	Release of this Announcement
2017 August 11, 4:30 PM EDT	Budget Proposals Due
2017 September/October	Notification of Results
As soon as possible	Revised Budgets Due

Provision of funds to individual GOs will in general occur near the time which the first associated observation is scheduled to be performed, but no earlier than the start of FY18. The funding start is also dependent on the provision of the funds by NASA HQ to the GOF with possible delays of up to six months past the start of FY18.

INSTITUTIONAL CERTIFICATIONS

In accordance with U.S. Code, there are currently two certifications and one formal assurance required from every institution, except from U.S. Federal institutions, submitting a proposal. Please see the NASA Office of Space Science "Guidebook for Proposers" Section E. The certifications are:

* Debarment, Suspension, and Other Responsibility Matters;

* Lobbying for Contracts, Grants, Loans and Cooperative Agreements (required only for proposals seeking a cumulative total in excess of $100,000)

Thee assurance is:

* Assurance of Compliance with NASA Regulations Pursuant to Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted Programs.

In order to reduce paper work required by the submitting institutions, language is now included on the printout of the proposal Cover Page that confirms that these requirements are met by the proposing institution once that printed item is signed by the Authorizing Institutional Representative and submitted with the proposal. Therefore, these Certifications and Assurances are included in this Guidebook only for reference and information; they should not be submitted with the proposal.

Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, and

Other Responsibility Matters

This certification is required by the regulations implementing Executive Order 12549, Debarment and Suspension, 14 CFR Part 1265, Participant?s responsibilities. The regulations were published as Part VII of the May 26, 1988 Federal Register (pages 19160-19211).

(1) The prospective primary participant certifies to the best of its knowledge and belief, that it and its principals:

Are not presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from covered transactions by any Federal department or agency;

Have not within a three-year period preceding this proposal been convicted of or had a civil judgment rendered against them for commission of fraud or a criminal offense in connection with obtaining, attempting to obtain, or performing a public (Federal, State, or local) transaction or contract under a public transaction; violation of Federal or State antitrust statues or commission of embezzlement theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements, or receiving stolen property;

Are not presently indicted for or otherwise criminally or civilly charged by a governmental entity (Federal, State or local) with commission of any of the offenses enumerated in paragraph (1)(b) of this certification; and

Have not within three-year period preceding this application/proposal had one or more public transactions (Federal, State, or local) terminated for cause or default.

(2) Where the prospective primary participant is unable to certify to any of the statements in this certification, such prospective participant shall attach an explanation to this proposal.

Certification Regarding Lobbying

No Federal appropriated funds have been paid or will be paid, by or on behalf of the undersigned, to any person for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with the awarding of any Federal contract, the making of any Federal grant, the making of any Federal loan, the entering into of any cooperative agreement, and the extension, continuation, renewal, amendment, or modification of any Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement.

If any funds other than Federal appropriated funds have been paid or will be paid to any person for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with this Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement, the undersigned shall complete and submit Standard Form-LLL, "Disclosure Form to Report Lobbying," in accordance with its instructions.

The undersigned shall require that the language of this certification be included in the award documents for all subawards at all tiers (including subcontracts, subgrants, and contracts under grants, loans, and cooperative agreements) and that all subrecipients shall certify and disclose accordingly.

This certification is a material representation of fact upon which reliance was placed when this transaction was made or entered into. Submission of this certification is a prerequisite for making or entering into this transaction imposed by section 1352, title 31, U.S. Code. Any person who fails to file the required certification shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $10,000, and not more than $100,000 for each such failure.

Assurance of Compliance with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Regulations Pursuant to Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted Programs

The Organization, corporation, firm, or other organization on whose behalf this assurance is made, hereinafter called "Applicant,"

HEREBY acknowledges and agrees that it must comply (and require any subgrantees, contractors, successors, transferees, and assignees to comply) with applicable provisions of national laws and policies prohibiting discrimination, including but not limited to:

1. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, which prohibits recipients of federal financial assistance from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), as implemented by NASA Title VI regulations, 14 C.F.R. Part 1250.

As clarified by Executive Order 13166, Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency, and resulting agency guidance, national origin discrimination includes discrimination on the basis of limited English proficiency (LEP). To ensure compliance with Title VI, the Applicant must take reasonable steps to ensure that LEP persons have meaningful access to its programs in accordance with NASA Title VI LEP Guidance to Grant Recipients (68 Fed. Reg. 70039). Meaningful access may entail providing language assistance services, including oral and written translation, where necessary. The Applicant is encouraged to consider the need for language services for LEP persons served or encountered both in developing budgets and in conducting programs and activities. Assistance and information regarding LEP obligations may be found at http://www.lep.gov.

2. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) as implemented by NASA Title IX regulations, 14 C.F.R. Part 1253. If the Applicant is an educational institution:

a. The Applicant is required to designate at least one employee to serve as its Title IX coordinator (14 C.F.R. § 1253.135(a)).

b. The Applicant is required to notify all of its program beneficiaries of the name, office, address, and telephone number of the employee(s) designated to serve as the Title IX coordinators. (14 C.F.R. §1253.135(a)).

c. The Applicant is required to publish internal grievance procedures to promptly and equitably resolve complaints alleging illegal discrimination in its programs or activities (14 C.F.R. §1253.135(b).

d. The Applicant is required to take specific steps to regularly and consistently notify program beneficiaries that The Applicant does not discriminate in the operation of its programs and activities. (14 C.F.R. §1253.140).

3. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, which prohibits The Applicant from discriminating on the basis of disability (29 U.S.C. 794) as implemented by NASA Section 504 regulations, 14 C.F.R. Part 1251.

a. The Applicant is required to designate at least one employee to serve as its Section 504 coordinator (14 C.F.R. §1251.106(a)).

b. The Applicant is required to notify all its program beneficiaries of the name, office, address, and telephone number of the employee(s) designated to serve as the Section 504 coordinator (14 C.F.R. §1251.106(a)).

d. The Applicant is required to take specific steps to regularly and consistently notify program beneficiaries that the Applicant does not discriminate in the operation of its programs and activities. (14 C.F.R. §1251.107).

4. The Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, which prohibits the Applicant from discriminating on the basis of age (42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.) as implemented by NASA Age Discrimination Act regulations, 14 C.F.R. Part 1252.

The Applicant also acknowledges and agrees that it must cooperate with any compliance review or complaint investigation conducted by NASA and comply (and require any subgrantees, contractors, successors, transferees, and assignees to comply) with applicable provisions governing NASA access to records, accounts, documents, information, facilities, and staff. The Applicant must keep such records and submit to the responsible NASA official or designee timely, complete, and accurate compliance reports at such times, and in such form and containing such information, as the responsible NASA official or his designee may determine to be necessary to ascertain whether the Applicant has complied or is complying with relevant obligations and must immediately take any measure determined necessary to effectuate this agreement. The Applicant must comply with all other reporting, data collection, and evaluation requirements, as prescribed by law or detailed in program guidance.

THIS ASSURANCE is given in consideration of and for the purpose of obtaining any and all federal grants, loans, contracts, property, discounts or other federal financial assistance extended after the date hereof to the Applicant by NASA, including installation payments after such date on account of applications for federal financial assistance which were approved before such date. The Applicant recognizes and agrees that such federal financial assistance will be extended in reliance on the representations and agreements made in this assurance, and that the United States shall have the right to seek judicial enforcement of this assurance. This assurance is binding on the Applicant, its successors, transferees, and assignees, and the person or persons whose signatures appear below are authorized to sign on behalf of the Applicant.”

Under penalty of perjury, the undersigned officials certify that they have read and understand their obligations as herein described, that the information submitted in conjunction with this document is accurate and complete, and that the recipient is in compliance with the nondiscrimination requirements set out above.

If you have any questions concerning XMM-Newton send e-mail to xmmhelp@lists.nasa.gov