Swift Cycle 6 Guest Investigator Program Information
Swift's Guest Investigator (GI) Program, part of NASA Headquarters' Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) Announcement, provides opportunities for Principal Investigators (PIs) to carry out basic research relevant to the Swift Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) mission. Cycles 1 and 2 were GRB-project funding-only cycles, 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 added opportunities for correlative observations of high redshift GRBs, monitoring and Fill-in targets, and was conducted as a 2-phase review. Cycle 6 retains all these elements, while adding new ones as outlined below.
NOIs are due August 26,
2009,
11:59PM, midnight, EDT (August 27, 4:00AM GMT).
Proposals are due September
30, 2009, 4:30PM EDT (8:30PM GMT).
Jump to:
- New for Swift Cycle 6 - changes from the Swift Cycle 5 program.
- What has not changed for Swift Cycle 6
- Swift Cycle 6 Announcement - including NRA, amendments, and Proposers' Guidebook
- 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) for reference and software, response matrices, count rate simulators for Swift simulations.
- Cycle 5 Accepted Targets
- Getting Help
- How to become a Cycle 6 Peer Reviewer
New for Cycle 6:
-
Notices of Intent (NOIs): NOIs are submitted through ARK/RPS and are no longer
being submitted through the NRESS NSPIRES system. Note that NOIs are
optional and are not required in order to submit a Phase-1
science/technical proposal. However, we encourage you to submit a NOI
if you intend to submit a proposal as NOIs help NASA plan the Phase-1
peer review.
- The window duration must exceed 3 hours.
- No more than 300 time-constrained observations will be accepted for Cycle 6.
Monitoring Programs: Monitoring programs are defined as programs requiring two or more observations (or "visits", where each "visit" is a scheduled observation of a particular target) to the same object. No more than 800 total short (<4 ks) visits and 100 long (>4ks) visits will be permitted in Cycle 6 (total for all proposal categories).
Time-Constrained Observations: Time-constrained observations are defined as observations that have to be performed within a certain time window. These can be ToOs or non-ToOs, either monitoring or non-monitoring observations, but not Fill-in observations. These include phase-constrained proposals, coordinated observing campaigns with ground- or space-based facilities, etc. Time-constrained observations are subject to the following limits:
For coordinated and constrained observations, it is the proposer's responsibility to inform the Swift Science Operations Team (by sending a ToO request) of the observing time window at least one week before observations commence.
Budget 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. There are two exceptions: 1) The budget ceiling for Fill-in proposals has been lowered to $20k. 2) Proposals for correlative GRB observations that intend to bring new or enhanced ground-based IR capabilities online for potentially high redshift GRB may require funding substantially above the average award (e.g., in the $100k range of previous ROSES APRA awards).
Page Limit for Proposals: Proposals for correlative GRB observations that intend to bring new or enhanced ground-based IR capabilities online have a page limit of 6 page. Proposals in all other proposal categories have a 4 page limit. No supporting materals (e.g., CV, current and pending support, etc.) are permitted. We encourage you to use the LaTeX template for the scientific justification part of the proposal (i.e., the written text component of the proposal). The style files needed to compile the LaTeX file can be found here.
UVOT Filter Justification: In an effort to conserve Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) filter wheel rotations, proposers who wish UVOT observations taken using filters other than "filter of the day" need to provide a strong justification for the choice of the filters. If no strong justification is provided, all observations will be performed in "filter of the day" mode.
UVOT Grism Observations: New UVOT Grism analysis FTools will be released before or around the start of Swift Cycle 6. In order to help proposers with their existing or future UVOT Grism data, the Swift Science Center will provide aspect corrected grism images and extracted spectra on request.
What has not changed compared to the previous Cycle:
-
Cycle 6 will be a 2-Phase review: Phase 1
will consist of
the scientific peer 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).
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: All NOIs and proposals, whether for funding-only or for observation, will be submitted to ARK/RPS. Only Phase-2 budget proposals of accepted proposals will go to NSPIRES.
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.
Proposal Tool: Anyone proposing Swift observations should consult our 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. (This is the probability that the proposed source will meet its trigger criteria during AO6.) Detailed instructions will be provided in the ARK/RPS proposal submission forms.
Swift Cycle 6 Announcement
| Document | Description |
|---|---|
| ROSES-2009 NRA | NSPIRES Web page with links to ROSES-2009 announcement and all amendments, plus links to NRA Proposers Guidebook, NASA Science Plan and more. |
| Amendment for Swift Cycle 6 | Amendment No 7, with specifics of Swift Cycle 6 program (appendix D.6) |
Properties of the Swift GI Program
Investigations are to be carried out in the sixth year of Swift's public observations, i.e., April 2010 through March 2011.
What the Swift GI program is:
- US Swift PIs can receive funding to carry out GRB 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 GRBs at other wavelengths.
- Swift proposers can carry out theoretical investigations of GRBs.
- 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. US CoIs are not eligible for funds.
- 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 2009 (ROSES-2009).
What the Swift GI program is NOT:
- Swift proposers do not get proprietary data rights. All Swift data will be immediately public.
What's Available in Cycle 6:
| 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 |
Proposal categories:
The table below gives the available proposal categories:
| Proposal
Category |
Funding/Observation |
Budget
Ceiling |
|
| 1. |
Theoretical GRB Investigations |
Funding Only |
$40k |
| 2. |
Correlative GRB observations
involving new or enhanced IR capabilites for investigating high-z bursts |
Funding Only |
~$100k |
| 3. |
Other correlative GRB
investigations |
Funding only |
$40k |
| 4. |
New Swift GRB Projects |
Funding only |
$40k |
| 5. |
Swift ToO observations of
non-GRB targets |
Funding+Observations |
$40k |
| 6. |
Swift non-ToO observations of
non-GRB targets |
Funding+Observations |
$40k |
| 7. |
Swift Fill-in targets |
Funding+Observations |
$20k |
Schedule for Swift Cycle 6:
| ROSES 2009 NRA Released: | February 15, 2009 |
| ROSES 2009 Swift Cycle 6 Amendment Released: | July 18, 2009 |
| Notices of Intent Due | August 26, 2009 |
| Phase 1 Proposals Due | September
30, 2009 4:30PM EDT (8:30PM GMT) |
| Phase 1 Proposal Peer Review | December 2-4, 2009 |
| Phase 2 Proposals Due | February 2010 |
| Swift Cycle 6 Begins | April 1, 2010 |
| Swift Cycle 6 Ends | March 31, 2011 |
Checklist of Required Items for a Complete Swift Proposal Submission:
Proposers are urged to read carefully the Description of the Swift Guest Investigator Program in the NASA Research Announcement NNH09ZDA001N-SWIFT6. Below we distill the highlights.
- Register early
- Notices of Intent - due August 26, 2008, 11:59AM (midnight)
-
All proposers should file a Notice of Intent
(NOI). To submit a NOI:
- log onto ARK/RPS
- select "Swift Cycle 6 Notice of Intent (SWIFTRPS_NOI)"
- fill out the forms (you can omit the abstract if you don't
have one yet)
- Proposal Submission - due September 30, 2009,
4:30PM EDT (8:30PM
GMT)
-
Required Items for a Complete Swift Cycle 6
submission:
All proposals:
Before submitting a Notices of Intent or a
proposal, you must
register with ARK/RPS.
We
suggest you do this well in advance, so you have plenty of time to
familiarize yourself with the system and file your submission. ARK/RPS
will be the ONLY system used for NOI and proposal submission for Phase
1 of Swift Cycle 6, 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.
- 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 2009
NASA NRA Proposers Guidebook, and amended in section 2.2 of the ROSES
Amendment for Swift Cycle 6.
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).
Pointed observation proposals (both ToO and non-ToO) must also include:
- 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 6. Note that a separate target form must be filled out for every proposed target.
Proposals must be received by September 30, 2009, 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. Proposals submitted after the proposal deadline will not be considered.
Supporting Materials for Submitting Swift Proposals
- The
Swift
Technical Handbook contains information about the Swift
mission, instruments, performance,and technical feasibility.
-
The 2009 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.
- Swift Cycle 5 NSPIRES page with link to PDF file containing 2008 Selection List.
- 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, along with other tools are available on the Swift Proposals and Tools page.
- The UVOT Bright Source Checker allows you to see if any sources "too bright" for safe UVOT viewing lie in your proposed field of view.
Getting Help
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.
If you have questions about the Swift GI program,
see our Swift 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 6 Peer Reviewer
The Swift Cycle 6 Peer Review will take place in the Washingto, DC, area from December 2-4, 2010. The exact location is still to be determined at this point. 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 an email to the HEASARC Peer Review Mailbox and mention that you are interested in being a reviewer for Swift Cycle 6.
If you have a question about Swift, please contact us via the Feedback form.