Swift Cycle 5 Guest Investigator Program Information
Swift's Guest Investigator Program, part of NASA Headquarters' Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) Announcement, provides opportunities for PIs to carry out basic research relevant to the Swift Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) mission. Cycles 1 and 2 were GRB-project funding-only rounds, for theory, ground-based follow-up and new Swift data analysis projects. Cycle 3 included a limited Target of Opportunity (TOO) program on non-GRB targets, triggered by astrophysical events. Cycle 4 expanded the observing program to include non-TOO observations of compelling, non-GRB targets. Cycle 5 retains all these elements, while adding new ones as outlined below.
Jump to:
- NEW for Swift Cycle 5 - changes from the Swift Cycle 4 program.
- Swift Cycle 5 Announcement - including NRA, amendments, and Proposers' Guidebook
- IMPORTANT! Properties of the Swift GI Program PLEASE READ
- Schedule and Checklist of Required Items for a Complete Swift Proposal Submission
- Supporting Materials for Submitting Swift Proposals, including Abstracts from previous Swift cycles (Accepted Proposals), a LaTex template for scientific justification, and software, response matrices, count rate simulators for Swift simulations.
- Cycle 4 Accepted Targets
- Getting Help - including a Cycle 5 FAQ!
- How to become a Cycle 5 Peer Reviewer
New for Cycle 5:
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Cycle 5 will be a 2-phase review: Phase 1 will consist of scientific review of all proposals,
but no detailed budget information; PIs that are successful in Phase 1 will be asked to
submit detailed budgets for review in Phase 2, provided the PI is eligble for funding (i.e., is
at a US institution).
Funding Ceiling: Each proposer who intends to request funding must plan an investigation that can be accomplished within a budget ceiling of $40K for the total cost to NASA (including overhead) of his/her proposed investigation. (See next item for one important exception.) This ceiling will be strictly enforced to ensure that the potential total cost to NASA of the selected proposals does not exceed available resources. A detailed cost evaluation will be deferred until Phase 2. However, there will be a place on the Phase 1 cover form to input the anticipated total budget for the proposal. Proposers should also include a paragraph or so in their scientific/technical discussion explaining at a high level what the funds are for and the scale of workforce anticipated for the project. Successful Phase 1 proposers will then be asked to submit more detailed budgets for evaluation in Phase 2. The amount requested in the Phase 2 cost proposal must not exceed the anticipated budget reported in Phase 1.
Special Consideration for correlative observations of high redshift GRBs: To encourage the development of rapid IR ground-based response to potentially high redshift GRBs, special consideration will be given to such projects. Proposals to bring new or enhanced ground-based IR capabilities online may require funding substantially above the average award (eg., in the $100K range of previous ROSES APRA awards).. Such budget requests will be considered provided they are strongly justified. In the case of these proposals alone, proposers are allowed to exceed the $40K budget ceiling.
No NSPIRES proposal submission! No special affiliation required for foreign PIs! For Cycle 5 Phase 1, all proposals, whether for funding-only or for observation, will be submitted to ARK/RPS. NOI notices will still go to NSPIRES, but no proposals. Because of this, there is no need for foreign institutions to affiliate with the Swift Science Center - all proposers can submit NOIs and proposals from their home institutions.
Fill-in Targets: A new "Fill-In" proposal category has been created. Fill-In targets must not be TOOs and must have no observational constraints. Their purpose is to provide a set of peer-reviewed targets to be used to fill in gaps in the pre-planned science timeline. With a total of one million seconds to be made available for "fill-in" targets, each proposer will be limited to no more than 50 targets. Accepted targets will be added to the Swift observing program at the discretion of the science operations team. They will be scheduled as needed, around the higher priority GRB follow-up observations, TOO, and non-TOO observations, to maximize the Swift science program. Funding will be contingent upon at least one target being observed for no less than 80% of the requested time, and PIs should have no expectation that the entire list of accepted "fill-in" targets will be observed.
Limited number of monitoring programs: No more than 20 monitoring programs (targets that require three of more pointings to the same object) will be accepted. Note that a proposal which contains requests to monitor 5 different targets constitutes 5 monitoring programs, not one. Requests for periodic monitoring cannot be accommodated in Swift's schedule, and will be rejected. Periodic monitoring is defined as, "monitoring that requires observation on specific regularly-spaced days for the expected science return. Proposals are allowed if the observation times can be changed by +/- 1 day and will still be scientifically useful if some observations are missed."
Observation length: Requested observing time is limited to between 1 ks (minimum) and 20 ks (maximum) per observation. The total time requested for the source may consist of several observations. Use the "Number of Observations" field on the ARK/RPS form to state how many observations, and put the total time (ie., adding up all observations) in the target form. See the Swift GI Program FAQ for further discussion.
New Proposal Tool: Anyone proposing Swift observations should consult our new UVOT Bright Star Checker, to determine if any sources "too bright" for UVOT lie in the proposed fields of view. It is also available in the Planning Tools section of our Proposals and Tools page.
Estimates of TOO trigger probablity: In order to help both the reviewers and Swift's schedulers, the target forms for proposed Swift TOO observations now require a "trigger probability" for each source. (Probability that the proposed source will meet its trigger criteria during AO-5.) Detailed instructions are provided in the ARK/RPS proposal submission forms (click on "Trigger Probability" on the target form).
Swift Cycle 5 Announcement
| Document | Description |
|---|---|
| ROSES-2008 NRA | NSPIRES Web page with links to ROSES-2008 announcement and all amendments, plus links to NRA Proposers Guidebook, NASA Science Plan and more. |
| Amendment for Swift Cycle 5 | Amendment #19, with specifics of Swift Cycle 5 program (appendix D.6) |
IMPORTANT! Properties of the Swift GI Program
Investigations are to be carried out in the fifth year of Swift's public observations, i.e., April 2009 through March 2010.
What the Swift GI program is:
- US Swift PIs can receive funding to carry out gamma ray burst projects as well as limited non-GRB observations (TOO and non-TOO) with Swift.
- Swift proposers can carry out new GRB projects using Swift data.
- Swift proposers can carry out follow-up observations of gamma ray bursts at other wavelengths.
- Swift proposers can carry out theoretical investigations of gamma ray bursts.
- Swift proposers can carry out limited TOO observations.
- Swift proposers can carry out limited pointed non-TOO observations.
- Swift funding proposals must be led by a US PI, but can include foreign co-Is.
- Swift proposals requesting observations without funding may be led by a US or non-US PI.
- The Swift GI program is part of NASA Headquarters Research Opportunities in Space And Earth Science 2008 (ROSES-2008).
What the Swift GI program is NOT:
- Swift proposers do not get proprietary data rights. All Swift data will be immediately public.
- Since non-GRB targets must be scheduled around existing GRB observations, regular periodic monitoring can not be accommodated. See the Swift GI Program FAQ for further details.
| Time available for non-TOO targets: | 2 Msec |
| Time available for Fill-in targets: | 1 Msec |
| Time available for TOO targets: | 800 ksec |
| Total anticipated funding for all GRB investigations and non-GRB observations: | $1.8 M |
Schedule and Checklist of Required Items for a Complete Swift Proposal Submission
ROSES 2008 NRA Released: February 15, 2008 ROSES 2008 Swift Cycle 5 Amendment Released: July 18, 2008 Notices of Intent Due August 20, 2008 Phase 1 Proposals Due October 15, 2008
4:30PM EDT (8:30PM GMT)Phase 1 Proposal Peer Review January 8-11, 2009 Phase 2 Proposals Due February 2009 Swift Cycle 5 Begins April 2009
Checklist:
Proposers are urged to read carefully the Description of the Swift Guest Investigator Program in the NASA Research Announcement NNH08ZDA001N-SWIFT5. Below we distill the highlights.
- Register now
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Before submitting Notices of Intent or proposals, you must register with the
relevant systems (below). We suggest you do this well in advance, so you have plenty
of time to familiarize yourself with the system and file your submission.
For NOI submission:
Register with NASA's NSPIRES system. If you don't already have an NSPIRES account, use the "Registration Information" in the upper right section of the the NSPIRES Homepage. If you are a PI at a non-US institution, there is NO need to affiliate with the Swift Science Center as in previous years - you may file a Notice of Intent and give your home institution.For proposal submission:
ALL PIs must Register with ARK/RPS at GSFC. ARK/RPS will be the ONLY system used for proposal submission for Phase 1 of Swift Cycle 5, both for funding-only proposals as well as those for observation. Note: ARK is simply a new name for HEASARC's former "AKBAR" service; if you registered with AKBAR/RPS or ARK/RPS in a previous Swift Cycle, you do not need to register again.
- Notices of Intent - due August 20, 2008
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All proposers should use the NSPIRES system to file a Notice of Intent (NOI).
To submit a NOI:
- log onto NSPIRES
- select "Proposals"
- select "Create NOI"
- select the "NNH08ZDA001N", for the Swift Cycle 5 program
- Proposal Submission - due October 15, 2008, 4:30PM EDT (8:30PM GMT)
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Required Items for a Complete Swift Cycle 5 submission:
- Swift ARK/RPS cover page and general
forms, with title, abstract, PI and Co-I information, and contact information. Also, make sure you
have filled in these items:
- "Proposal Type" - select a proposal type from the provided menu.
- "Anticipated Total Budget" - Amount of funding you plan to request from NASA if your proposal is accepted. May not exceed $40K, except in special cases of correlative (IR) observations of high redshift GRBs. Note that any detailed budget you submit for Phase 2 must be less than or equal to the Anticipated Total Budget entered here.
- "NASA FTE Commitment" - the number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) NASA civil servants that would be supported by this proposal, if approved. May be a fraction or zero. Collected for NASA records - does not effect acceptance of the proposal.
- A PDF file containing the text of your proposal, uploaded via the
Swift ARK/RPS Web site.
Guidelines and instructions are described in the
2008 NASA NRA Proposers Guidebook,
and amended in section 2.2 of the
ROSES Amendment for Swift Cycle 5.
The proposal PDF file submitted via ARK/RPS should only include:
- Scientific Justification (4 page limit, including figures, tables, and references).
Important: proposals requesting funding should include a paragraph describing at a high level how the funds would be spent and the scale of workforce needed to carry out the project.
Note that there is no requirement for a PI Vita.
- Scientific Justification (4 page limit, including figures, tables, and references).
- Electronic submission of one or more Swift ARK/RPS target forms, containing RA & Dec of target, time requested, observing modes, constraints, and trigger criteria if applicable. Please see the Swift GI Program FAQ for details on what types of observations are permitted in Cycle 5. Note that a separate target form must be filled out for every proposed target.
All proposals:
Pointed observation proposals (both TOO and non-TOO) must also include:
Proposals must be received by October 15, 2008, 4:30PM EDT (8:30PM GMT). If you have difficulties submitting your proposal or have technical questions about the Swift mission, see our Getting Help section.
- Swift ARK/RPS cover page and general
forms, with title, abstract, PI and Co-I information, and contact information. Also, make sure you
have filled in these items:
Supporting Materials for Submitting Swift Proposals
-
The Swift Technical Handbook contains information about the Swift mission, instruments, performance,and
technical feasibility.
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The 2008 NASA NRA Proposers Guidebook contains instructions and explanations of the process for submitting a proposal via NSPIRES.
- Abstracts of Accepted Swift Proposals---
Proposers are encouraged to read the abstracts of proposals accepted in previous Swift
cycles, to become familiar with the types of projects that received funding and to
avoid duplication of effort.
- Abstracts of Swift Cycle 1 Accepted Proposals
- Swift Cycle 2 NSPIRES page with link to PDF file containing 2005 Selection List.
- Swift Cycle 3 NSPIRES page with link to PDF file containing 2006 Selection List.
- Swift Cycle 4 NSPIRES page with link to PDF file containing 2007 Selection List.
- Abstracts of Swift Cycle 1 Accepted Proposals
- Swift Proposal LATEX Template - While not mandatory, we highly encourage the use of this LATEX template for
the scientific justification (ie., text) part of the proposal.
- swift_scijust_template.tex - template file
- swift_style_files.tar - tar file of three standard style files needed to compile the template (most LATEX installations will already have these)
- Software, response matrices, count rate simulators
for Swift simulations:
- Response matrices for simulations are available from the Swift Response Matrices Web page.
- The Web-based proposal aids WebPIMMS, Viewing, and WebSpec and other tools are available on the Swift Proposals and Tools page.
- New UVOT Bright Source Checker allows you to see if any sources "too bright" for safe UVOT viewing lie in your proposed field of view. Also available from the Planning Tools section of our Proposals and Tools page.
Getting Help
If you have questions or problems with submitting NOIs or with the NSPIRES system, please consult the NSPIRES Help Page, or submit your technical support question to nspires-help@nasaprs.com.
If you have problems with anything in ARK/RPS, please see the ARK/RPS Quick Help page or the Specific Help for Swift RPS page; questions about ARK/RPS should be sent to the RPS Help Desk, which is linked at the bottom of the Quick Help page.
If you have questions about the Swift GI program, see our Cycle 5 GI Program FAQ. If you don't find the answer there, or have questions about the Swift instruments, mission, or simulation tools, contact the Swift Help Desk via our Feedback form.
How to become a Cycle 5 Peer Reviewer
The Swift Cycle 5 Peer Review will take place in Long Beach, California, from January 8-11, 2009, immediately following the Winter 2009 AAS meeting. Reviewers must have a PhD at the time of the Peer Review. If you feel you are qualified to be considered as a reviewer, please send mail to the HEASARC Peer Review mailbox and mention that you are interested in being a reviewer for Swift Cycle 5!
If you have a question about Swift, please contact us via the Feedback form.