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Graphing how long it takes for us to make a selection

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Bar graph showing the number of ROSES programs for ROSES 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 binned by the number of days that elapsed between proposal due date and when the selection was made. In short, a measure of how long it took to make decisions on a program basis. Small programs and large ones are treated the same. What will follow is a breakdown of the data, with a range of days, and the corresponding numbers of ROSES program elements from each year that were announced within that many days after the proposal due date. 50-75 days: 2 ROSES 2004 announcements, 1 Roses 2005 announcement 0 2006 announcements, and 1 Roses 2007 announcement. 76-100 days: 3 ROSES 2004 announcements, 3 Roses 2005 announcements 0 2006 announcements, and 2 Roses 2007 announcements. 101-125 days: 2 ROSES 2004 announcements, 4 Roses 2005 announcements 5 2006 announcements, and 6 Roses 2007 announcements. 126-150 days: 4 ROSES 2004 announcements, 5 Roses 2005 announcements 6 2006 announcements, and 10 Roses 2007 announcements. 151-175 days: 6 ROSES 2004 announcements, 7 Roses 2005 announcements 0 2006 announcements, and 13 Roses 2007 announcements. 176-200 days: 2 ROSES 2004 announcements, 10 Roses 2005 announcements 13 2006 announcements, and 9 Roses 2007 announcements. 201-225 days: 6 ROSES 2004 announcements, 5 Roses 2005 announcements 7 2006 announcements, and 7 Roses 2007 announcements. 226-250 days: 5 ROSES 2004 announcements, 7 Roses 2005 announcements 10 2006 announcements, and 6 Roses 2007 announcements. 251-275 days: 6 ROSES 2004 announcements, 4 Roses 2005 announcements 1 2006 announcements, and 0 Roses 2007 announcements. 276-300 days: 3 ROSES 2004 announcements, 3 Roses 2005 announcements 3 2006 announcements, and 2 Roses 2007 announcements. Greater than 300 days: 8 ROSES 2004 announcements, 10 Roses 2005 announcements 9 2006 announcements, and 4 Roses 2007 announcements. The mean time between receipt of proposals and the announcements being made this year was significantly less than in prior years. For further detailed information contact SARA@nasa.gov.

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Now that we are done making selections from proposals submitted in response to ROSES 2007 we can show that on average we have made most decisions more rapidly than in prior years, and that the longest delays were significantly less than in the last few years. This is represented graphically on this page in two ways, in a bar graph which counts the number of program elements, and a waterfall plot which is weighted by number of proposals. This improvement is the direct result of hard work by our program officers.

A line plot with time increasing along the X axis and numbers of proposals increasing along the Y axis for ROSES 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 showing how long it took in days after the proposal due date, for selections to be made. Unlike the bar graph where small programs and large ones are treated the same, in this case we weight the programs by the numbers of proposals, with the curves starting at the upper left and cascading downwards towards the lower right, reaching the X axis when all the selections are done. Each year the shape of the curves are the same sigmoidal but whereas in past years the mid point was at ~200 days in 2007 the midpoint of the curve is at ~ 180 days. Moreover, in 2007 the curve hits the x axis (the longest delay) at ~350 day, whereas in 2004 and 2006 the curves reached the axis at ~ 450 days, and in 2005 it didn't reach the axis till over 700 days. For further detailed information contact SARA@nasa.gov.

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