National Aeronautics and Space Administration                  	 July 12, 2019 
Washington, DC  20546-0001  

Dear Dr. XXXXX,  

As you are aware, ESA has completed the Stage 1 evaluation (scientific and technical merit) of proposals received in response to the
XMM-Newton AO-18 Call for Proposals, and has notified PIs of their proposal accepted/rejected status by e-mail.  A list of accepted
targets has been made available on the WWW at: 

https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/otac-results-ao?p_p_id=com_liferay_iframe_web_portlet_IFramePortlet_INSTANCE_3soYEq1T5Hyn&_com_liferay_iframe_web_portlet_IFramePortlet_INSTANCE_3soYEq1T5Hyn_iframe_aonum=18

NASA's Astrophysics Division has allocated funding for the support of accepted US XMM guest investigations in fiscal year 2020.
Support of US AO-18 investigations under the XMM GO Program continue to include both US PI Category A and B proposals.  

In this cycle, we also invite NuSTAR-XMM US PI Category A and B joint proposals from NuSTAR cycle 5 to submit budget proposals for
supplemental XMM funding.

In consideration of the above, I am pleased to invite you to submit a Stage 2 (cost) proposal for your investigation, proposal #####,
entitled "TTTTT".  In compliance with NASA procurement policy, funding is limited to PIs associated with US institutions (and who
expect to remain so during the grant period). Accordingly, if you are planning on leaving the US for a position abroad, and will
therefore be ineligible for a Guest Observer grant, please contact the US XMM-Newton Project Scientist, Dr. Kim Weaver, at
kimberly.a.weaver@nasa.gov.
 
For AO-18 we are changing to a NEW online proposal submission process. All proposal materials will be submitted electronically via the
NSPIRES website:

https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/

The deadline for submission is 4:30 PM EST on 13 September 2019. PIs are encouraged to begin the process of becoming familiar with
NSPIRES early as this is a significant change in how XMM budget proposals are submitted.

To guide the proposer in formulating a realistic funding request, factors such as the scope and complexity of the investigation should
be taken into account, including modifications to the original science proposal (e.g., deletion of targets, reduction in observing
time) that were recommended by the XMM review panel.  Additional factors to be considered include other proposals for which the PI is
requesting funding under this solicitation, and other sources of support relevant to this request. The review process will consider
the realism and reasonableness of the requested funding with respect to the required labor to pursue the investigation and other
customary cost items (e.g., travel, computer hardware, and publication expenses).  The final Stage 2 proposal selection, including the
awarded funding level, will be made by the NASA selecting official.  

Based upon the total available funding and the anticipated number of awards, the estimated average grant award will be ~$68K. Stage 2
PIs will be provided with a "fair-share" estimate to guide them in the preparing their funding request. You will receive an e-mail in
the next few days providing the fair-share estimate for your proposal.  

In preparing a budget, the proposer must follow the guidelines that are provided under "PROPOSALS AND TOOLS – BUDGET AO" at the NASA
XMM-Newton Guest Observer Facility web site located at:  

https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xmm/xmmhp_prop_tools-budget.html

Here you will also find links to a description of the XMM-Newton GO program, information regarding NSPIRES, budget proposal
submission, requirements, evaluation, selection, and implementation. 

We expect to complete the Stage 2 proposal review in October 2019, with PI notification of the approved funding level soon afterwards.
Revised budgets, if required (budgets where the approved amount is less than 80% of the requested amount), will nominally be due
within one month of notification. 

Please also note that in the current cycle of NASA's Astrophysics Data Analysis Program, support will be limited to analysis of
archival data only.  

For any questions concerning the cost proposal or process, please contact the NASA/GSFC XMM-Newton GOF at:   

xmmhelp@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov  

In addition, should the PI change institution, please notify the GOF by e-mail at the same address.  

Sincerely,  

Dr. Stefan Immler 
NASA XMM-Newton Program Scientist