The Guest Investigations for Fermi's Cycle-2 Science Program have been selected based on peer-review recommendations. The peer review was held in mid-May 2009. Over 40 reviewers, including about 10% foreign participants, evaluated 206 proposals. Eight of these were requests were for continuation of Cycle-1 multi-year awards. This comprises about a 25% increase relative to Cycle 1. A total of 80 cycle-2 programs were selected. This number includes 3 "Large Projects", which are multi-year awards with a larger budget cap than the regular one-year proposals. The titles and abstracts of the selected programs are available here. The Cycle-2 Program begins in mid-August 2009 and lasts for one year.
No specific pointed observations - ToO or scheduled - were approved. However, one proposal to develop triggering criteria for a future pointed observation of the active sun was selected.
The Joint-Time Allocation agreements between Fermi and NRAO and NOAO led to the selection of 14 joint programs involving 641 hours of radio and 24 hours of optical observing time (final approval and scheduling of NRAO and NOAO will be made by those organizations).
Proposal selection statistics by science category and by proposal type are illustrated in the accompanying charts. No a priori quotas are imposed on science topics or proposal types. While extragalactic science, predominantly AGN studies, remains the most popular study area, the proportion of pulsar programs increased significantly, which we attribute to the impressive suite of early results.
The Fermi Cycle-2 proposal deadline has passed. Phase 2 instructions can be found here. A total of 207 proposals were received in response to the Cycle-2 NRA. The proposals are currently being processed internally at the Fermi SSC, and will be assigned to anonymous peer-review committees for evaluation. The Cycle-2 peer review will take place on May 18-20, 2009. The results of that review will be announced several weeks thereafter. Feel free to contact the Fermi Help Desk if you have any questions.
Fermi's Guest Investigator Program, part of NASA Headquarters' Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) Announcement, supports basic research relevant to the Fermi mission. Cycle 2 investigators will propose primarily for funding. Investigators may also apply for radio or optical observing time through the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) or the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) or for high-end computing resources. Finally, investigators may propose pointed Fermi observations, although such observations will require compelling justification. In this cycle investigators may propose data analysis studies of all Fermi science data, theory studies, correlated multiwavelength observations and the development of new data analysis techniques relevant to the Fermi mission. Note that LAT event data will be released at the beginning of the cycle; summary LAT data (e.g., fluxes and lightcurves of transients and ~20 scientifically interesting sources) will continue to be released. The GI program will also award radio and optical observing time through the Fermi-NRAO and the Fermi-NOAO joint proposal programs.
Appendix D.8 of ROSES-08, the Fermi Guest Investigator ProgramCycle 2, is the definitive definition of the GI program.
Investigations are to begin in the second year of Fermi's science observations, i.e., starting August 14, 2009.
In Cycle 2 there will be two proposal classes: (1) Regular proposals with research plans that can be completed in one year and (2) Large proposals whose research plans are more expansive and may take up to three years to complete. Grants for regular proposals will be up to $100K with an average range of 50-80K, while large grants will be up to $200K per year with an average range of 100-200K per year. Large projects will be reviewed before each of the two cycles following the cycle of the initial award to determine if appropriate progress is being made toward the proposed objectives.
It is anticipated that approximately $8 M will be available through this solicitation for the support of approximately 75 Guest Investigations of one-year duration each and up to ~8 Large projects.
Proposers are urged to read carefully the Description of the Fermi Guest Investigator Program for Cycle 2 (i.e., Appendix D.8 of ROSES-07). Below we distill the highlights.
Fermi's Cycle 2 proposal process will have two Phases. In Phase 1 you will submit a cover page and a scientific justification; the cover page (generated by a webform) will include a maximum budget cap and the scientific justification should include a brief management section that describes the resources required (e.g., FTE). The page limit for this section is 4 pages for a Regular proposal, and 6 pages for a Large proposal. An additional page describing proposed NRAO or NOAO observations must be added if you are applying under the 'joint proposal opportunity.' A peer review panel will review your Phase 1 proposal, and you will submit a Phase 2 budget proposal only if your Phase 1 proposal has been tentatively accepted.
PIs of Large projects approved in previous cycles must submit a progress report annually on the Phase 1 proposal due date (rather than on the anniversary of the award date). A Large project may be funded for a total of 3 years.
Proposal submission is fully electronic. No paper copies are required. For Fermi's Cycle 2, the Phase 1 (science/technical/management) proposals must be submitted via ARK/RPS. Phase 2 budget proposals will be submitted through NSPIRES. Both systems require simple registration before usesee below for details.
Announcement (as part of ROSES 2008) | February 15, 2008 |
Major Amendment of ROSES 2008 Announcement | February 15, 2008 |
Release of online proposal aids and documentation | December 6, 2009 |
Notices of Intent | January 23, 2009 |
Proposals Due | March 6, 2009 |
Proposal Peer Review | May 18-20, 2009 |
Fermi Cycle 2 Begins | August 14, 2009 |
Before submitting proposals, you must register with the relevant systems (below).
Submit the Notice of Intent (NOI) through the FSSC NOI website. You will provide the following information:
There is no advance notice needed for the ARK/RPS system. You may submit a Phase 1 proposal even if you did not submit a NOI, but a NOI will help us plan the peer review of your proposal.
Required Items for a Complete Fermi Cycle 2 Phase 1 proposal submission:
Proposals to analyze released LAT data on a particular source, perform correlated multiwavelength observations of a source, model a source or repoint the Fermi observatory, also require electronic submission of an ARK/RPS target form containing the source name and position (RA and Dec) of the target.
Proposals must be received by 4:30 PM EDT March 6, 2007. If you have difficulties submitting your proposal or have technical questions about the Fermi mission, see our Getting Help section.
You will submit a phase 2 (budget) proposal only if your phase 1 proposal has been (tentatively) accepted. You will receive instructions in that happy event.
If you have problems with the first Phase proposal and target forms in the ARK/RPS system, please see the ARK/RPS Quick Help 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 or problems with the NSPIRES system, please consult the NSPIRES Help Page, or submit your technical support question to nspires-help@nasaprs.com.
If you have questions about the Fermi instruments, mission, simulation tools, or overall proposal program, please contact the Fermi Science Support Center Help Desk.
The Fermi Cycle 2 Peer Review will tentatively take place May 18-20, 2009, in the vicinity of Washington, DC. Reviewers must have a PhD at the time of the Peer Review.
If you would like to be considered as a reviewer, please send an e-mail to the HEASARC Peer Review mailbox.