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XMM-NEWTON AO-18 BUDGET SUPPLEMENT - FAQ

This document supplements the information contained in the XMM-Newton AO-18 Budget Proposal document, in the form of questions and answers. Information on the XMM-Newton project can be found in the XMM-Newton Mission Description, in the XMM-Newton Users' Handbook (GSFC or SOC links), and in the WWW pages of the XMM-Newton GOF.

  • 1) WHERE SHOULD THE BUDGETS BE SUBMITTED AND WHEN ARE THEY DUE?

  • 2) IS AN INSTITUTIONAL ENDORSEMENT (SIGNATURE) REQUIRED?

  • 3) WHAT IS A REASONABLE FUNDING REQUEST?

  • 4) HOW CAN THE PAYING OF DOUBLE OVERHEAD BE AVOIDED ON GRANTS FOR CO-Is AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS?

  • 5) HOW DO I INCLUDE SUBGRANTS FOR Co-Is AT DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS?

  • 6) CAN U.S. Co-Is ON FOREIGN-LED (FOREIGN PI) PROPOSALS SUBMIT BUDGETS?

  • 7) CAN BUDGETS BE SUBMITTED FOR DDT (Director's Discretionary Time) OBSERVATIONS (OR OTHER JOINT OBSERVATIONS)?

  • 8) CAN BUDGETS BE SUBMITTED FOR JOINT PROPOSALS ALLOCATED BY OTHER MISSIONS?

  • 9) CAN BUDGETS BE SUBMITTED FOR ARCHIVE PROPOSALS?

  • 10) CAN ONE BUDGET BE SUBMITTED TO COVER SEVERAL DIFFERENT PROPOSALS?

  • 11) WHAT DOES THE IDEAL BUDGET SUBMISSION CONTAIN?

  • 12) WHAT DOES A GOOD BUDGET JUSTIFICATION NARRATIVE CONTAIN?

  • 13) WHAT COMPUTER HARDWARE DO I REQUIRE?

  • 14) WHEN WILL THE RESULTS BE ANNOUNCED?

  • 15) ARE THERE ITEMS I CAN NOT ASK FOR?

  • 16) WHAT ARE THE INSTITUTIONAL CERTIFICATIONS?

  • 17) ARE CVs REQUIRED?

  • 18) USEFUL WWW SITES/PAGES

    • 1) WHERE SHOULD THE BUDGETS BE SUBMITTED AND WHEN ARE THEY DUE?
      • Budgets and other proposal documents are now submitted via the NSPIRES website.
      • The deadline is 4:30 PM EDT, Friday, 13 September 2019.
      • Additional information and instructions for creating budgets and the mandatory budget justification can be found in the Budget Proposal document.
    • 2) IS AN INSTITUTIONAL ENDORSEMENT (SIGNATURE) REQUIRED?
      • Institutional acceptance is handled via the NSPIRES process.
    • 3) WHAT IS A REASONABLE FUNDING REQUEST?
      • The AO-18 fair-share estimates will be provided within a week after the release of this AO. If you have questions contact the XMM GOF at: xmmhelp@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov.

        The fair-share estimate does not include any scaling for the complexity of the proposed analysis. For complex projects, for example the full spectral-spatial analysis of a large scale extended source, the proposer can ask for more than the fair-share estimate, but the additional request must be well justified.

        Note: the funding associated with this program is intended to be one-year money - while a first no-cost extension may be granted, additional no-cost extensions are extremely unlikely to be granted.

    • 4) HOW CAN THE PAYING OF DOUBLE OVERHEADS BE AVOIDED ON FUNDS FOR CO-Is AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS?
      • Unless it is possible through your own institution, you can't. See the next entry.
    • 5) HOW DO I INCLUDE SUBGRANTS FOR Co-Is AT DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS?
      • You don't. Under NASA rules subgrants (the submission of a budget which has some funds sent directly to a second institution) are not allowed. Funds for Co-Is at separate institutions must be routed through the primary institution.
    • 6) CAN U.S. Co-Is ON FOREIGN-LED (FOREIGN PI) PROPOSALS SUBMIT BUDGETS?
      • No.
    • 7) CAN BUDGETS BE SUBMITTED FOR DDT (Director's Discretionary Time, Target of Opportunity) OBSERVATIONS?
      • No.
    • 8) CAN BUDGETS BE SUBMITTED FOR JOINT PROPOSALS ALLOCATED BY OTHER MISSIONS?
      • Yes. Budget proposals for category A and B ranked joint NuSTAR-XMM time awarded for NuSTAR cycle 5 are permitted. Eligible PIs will be directly contacted.
    • 9) CAN BUDGETS BE SUBMITTED FOR ARCHIVE PROPOSALS?
      • No. Budget proposals for the use of XMM-Newton data from the public archive must be submitted to the ADAP.
    • 10) CAN ONE BUDGET BE SUBMITTED TO COVER SEVERAL DIFFERENT PROPOSALS?
      • No. Only one budget per proposal, and one proposal per budget are allowed.
    • 11) WHAT DOES THE IDEAL BUDGET SUBMISSION CONTAIN?
      • It contains:
        1. Submission in NSPIRES. With the following questions answered: (1) Proposal number (provided in the ESA proposal-results e-mail) (2) Title of science proposal (3) Science PI (4) Budget PI
        2. The budget justification listing itemized budget information. The one to two page budget justification provides the rationale for the various cost items and amounts requested. Also to be included in the justification is a breakdown of the responsibility of the various investigators who are requesting funding.
        3. The four-page Scientific Justification from the observation proposal.
        4. Information about other sources of support (e.g., other active NASA grants). Forms are provided below.
        5. The PI's CV and Current and Pending Support.
        6. ACORN Assurance Form.
        7. China Assurance Form.

        See the Budget Proposal document for page limitations.

    • 12) WHAT DOES A GOOD BUDGET JUSTIFICATION NARRATIVE CONTAIN?
      • the budget justification to be uploaded explains the following proposed costs applicable to your proposal.
      • Equipment: List items over $1000 separately in the budget justification and explain the need for items costing more than $3,000. Describe basis for estimated cost. General purpose equipment is not allowable as a direct cost unless specifically approved by the NASA Grant Officer. Any equipment purchase requested to be made as a direct charge under this award must include the equipment description, how it will be used in the conduct of the basic research proposed and why it cannot be purchased with indirect funds.
      • Travel: Describe the purpose of the proposed travel in relation to the grant and provide the basis of estimate, including information on destination and number of travelers.
      • Publication Charges: Provide expected number of pages.
      • Supplies: Provide general categories of needed supplies, the method of acquisition, and the estimated cost.
      • Other: Enter any direct costs not covered above. Include an itemized list explaining the need for each item and the basis for the estimate.
    • 13) WHAT COMPUTER HARDWARE DO I REQUIRE?
      • All GO data is pipeline-processed by the XMM-Newton SSC (Survey Science Center) using the Science Analysis Software (SAS). This aims to deliver data products to the GO in a form where interactive SAS (public binary executable releases of the SAS tools, currently 18.0.0) or FTOOL data analysis can be performed. In addition, it should be possible to carry out scientific analysis of XMM-Newton data using the Chandra CIAO package. Installing some external packages for use with SAS are required (most are now distributed with the supported operating systems). Use of SAS tasks is desirable for incorporating improved calibrations into their data as the mission advances, recalculating response matrices and properly incorporating data subspace information (which is used for propagating exposure information to generated data products). No special computing requirements are required to run FTOOLS and XMM-Newton Data Products are compliant with OGIP FITS Standards.

        SAS Version 18.0.0 is the latest public release. This version is available for Red Hat, Ubuntu, Mac OS X and VMware/VirtualBox (see the SOC Download page).

    • 14) WHEN WILL THE RESULTS BE ANNOUNCED?
      • We plan to notify PIs of the results of the budget review in late fall 2019.
    • 15) ARE THERE ITEMS I CANNOT ASK FOR?
      • There are a number of items where funding through a grant is not allowed, so don't ask for them. They include, but are not limited to:
        1. Home or home office internet connection fees
        2. Professional dues (i.e., no AAS dues can be charged to a grant)
        3. Travel expenses for foreign Co-Is (e.g., you cannot use grant funds to bring a foreign Co-I to the US for the collaboration)
        4. If you have a split appointment between a US and foreign institutions, grant funds can not be used for your commute between institutions.
        5. If you are unsure whether an item is allowed, contact the GOF at: xmmhelp@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov
        6. As a guideline, roughly 10% of a grant may be used to support ground-based observations directly related to the scientific investigation funded by the budget proposal.
    • 16) WHAT ARE THE INSTITUTIONAL CERTIFICATIONS?
      • For the grant process, NASA requires certain certifications from institutions to be on record. Currently these are the 1) Lobbying, 2) Debarment/Suspension, and 3) Civil Rights certifications. The forms no longer need to be separately submitted. In addition, there are two additional certifications which must be submitted with the budget proposal: 4) Certification that the institution does not work with the ACORN organization (DOCX Form). 5) certification that the funds will not be used to support a collaboration with a Chinese institution (DOCX Form). Now, the institutional-endorsement signature on the General Form doubles as the institutional certification. Copies of the certification texts can be found at: Certifications.
    • 17) ARE CVs REQUIRED?
      • Yes. The CV must include a publication list with at least the most recent and/or important publications.
    • 18) Useful WWW SITES/PAGES

    If you have any questions concerning XMM-Newton and/or the budget process send e-mail to xmmhelp@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov

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