(Almost) Everything You Need to Know About Preparing and Submitting

Proposals to External AO’s

(Almost) Everything You Need to Know About Preparing and Submitting

Proposals to External AO’s

Marc Postman

On behalf of

CMO, SMO, RMO and BRC

April 28, 2008 - Science Staff Meeting

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STScI’s Proposal Support Team

• Science Mission Office (SMO): Point of contact for individual science staff research proposals.

• Community Missions Office (CMO): Point of contact for proposals involving STScI as an institutional partner (e.g., science operations) and/or strategic initiatives (e.g., future UVOIR missions). Co-approves B&P funding.

• Contracts & Sponsored Programs: Prepares all budgets for proposals that will be funded as grants. Administers funds for contracts and grants once they are awarded.

• Resource Management Office (RMO): Prepares all budgets for proposals that will be funded as contracts. Also provides proposal & contract management for major missions (HST, JWST, Kepler).

• Business Resource Center (BRC): Ensures that all rates (e.g., IDC, OH, F&A) are set and maintained in accordance with AURA and Federal policies. Co-approves B&P funding.

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OverviewTwo proposal categories• Individual research proposals • CMO proposals

Key points• How do you know which is which?• When does CMO need to be involved?• What is the proposal process at STScI?• What is the P.I. expected to do?• How much lead time is required?

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Individual Research ProposalsQ: What is an individual research proposal?

A: A proposal to conduct a scientific investigation, led or Co-I’ed by an STScI science staff member, that– Does not involve supporting mission critical operations for

any on-going program (in space or on the ground);– Does not involve the participation and/or hiring of non-

scientific staff (e.g., software developers, testers, archive operators, IT staff, etc.)

– Does not involve making significant use (impacting existing SOC use) of STScI science operations infrastructure (e.g., computing, archive, E/PO etc.)

SMO will be your point of contact for all individual research proposals.

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CMO-supported ProposalsQ: When does CMO need to be involved?

A: When the proposal involves– STScI support for mission critical operations for any on-going

program (in space or on the ground);– the participation and/or hiring of non-scientific staff (e.g., software

developers, testers, archive operators, IT staff, etc.)– A concept or flight proposal for a future UVOIR mission– making significant use of or modifications to STScI’s science

operations infrastructure (e.g., computing, archive, E/PO etc.)– Partnerships with industry (e.g., Google) or other government

agencies (e.g., DOE, NOAA) – If you are not sure.

CMO should be your initial point of contact for all proposals in the above categories.

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Regardless of the type of proposal, please do not

wait until you definitively decide to apply

1. long-lead time items may be required

2. There are many other proposals in the queue

Don’t Delay!

Proposal Category

Number of Proposals submitted or in

progress1

Total Value of Proposals to STScI (if all

funded)

GRANT 73 (in past year) $8.4M

CONTRACT(does not include JWST & HST)

38 (FY08 to date) $225M

1 21 of these were CMO proposals, to date, in FY08

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STScI Proposal Process: Research Proposals

• SMO acts as coordinator – Ensures institutional awareness of the proposal– Track statistics

• The STScI PI is the proposal manager of a research proposal– Responsible for identifying the requirements and terms of the AO

– Responsible for collecting and assembling all supporting

documentation

• Which proposals? – NASA AO, NSF – Not Phase I HST, Chandra, NOAO, etc.

• But please inform SMO of successful proposals

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Research Proposals• Procedure

– Inform SMO administration (TBD) that you are planning to respond to an AO

• SMO will provide procedural checklist, i.e. where do I go next?

– Determine what form the funding will take (e.g., grant, contract).

– Contact, ASAP, the relevant support office: • For grants, contact our Sponsored Programs Office (J. Luers, P. Reeves)• For contracts, contact RMO (Judy Ashwell)

– RMO/C&SP will provide a check list of supporting documents required for the proposal, and assistance in preparing the budget once you have determined the required resources. Please do not attempt to compute a budget on your own.

• Leave plenty of time to ensure budgets and all required supporting documents can be assembled.

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STScI Proposal Process• For CMO proposals:

– CMO will work with P.I. to determine if a person other than the P.I. needs to take on the proposal manager role. A proposal manager will be identified.

– Proposal manager will prepare the STScI Decision Package (short document to help New Initiatives Panel (NIP) decide if the initiative can be supported here if adequately funded)

– CMO will set up NIP meeting, proposal manager will lead presentation to NIP

– CMO will set up date for presentation to Directorate once NIP consensus is achieved. Proposal manager, with support from CMO, will lead presentation to Directorate.

– CMO will advise on timeline for any external authorizations and will provide sample templates. CMO will assist with setting up a red team review, if needed.

– The P.I. has ultimate responsibility for writing the proposal and for ensuring all required supporting proposal materials are acquired.

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STScI Proposal Process

• If your proposal is requesting funding to buy back research time of the P.I. or any other STScI co-I’s:– The P.I. is responsible for ensuring that the approval of all relevant

functional managers is secured.– The upper limit on research time percentage is 50% (except during

pre-approved sabbaticals).

• Post-doctoral fellows may submit research proposals as P.I.’s, but an administrative P.I. must be designated (generally a member of the STScI’s permanent scientific staff). The postdoc will be listed on the proposal as the science P.I.

– Postdocs do not need formal SMO approval to submit Phase I HST/NOAO/Chandra proposals, but they should ensure that their supervisor is aware of the proposal.

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STScI Proposal Process• External Authorizations (for ALL types of proposals):

– If the total funding received by STScI, summed over the full period of performance, is greater than or equal to $1M but less than $3M then approval from the President of AURA is required. This can take up to 10 business days.

– If the total funding received by STScI, summed over the full period of performance, is greater than or equal to $3M then approval from the AURA Board (in addition to the AURA President) is required. Scheduling and receiving Board approval can require up to 5 weeks of lead time.

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STScI Proposal Sign-Off• GRANT:

– P.I.– Admin. P.I. (if P.I. is a postdoc)– C&SP Rep (J. Luers)– C&SP Mgr (L. Kozloski)– Functional Mgr(s) if requesting

staff labor– SMO Head (A. Nota) if research

proposal or CMO Head (M.Postman) if CMO proposal

– D. Golombek (STScI Authorizing Official)

– STScI Director (up to $1M)– AURA Pres (if ≥ $1M)– AURA Board Chair (if ≥ $3M)

• CONTRACT:– P.I.– RMO (J. Ashwell)– Functional Mgr(s) if requesting staff

labor– Controller (K. Debelius)– CMO Head (M.Postman) if CMO

proposal– C&SP Mgr (L. Kozloski) if ≤ $100K– Or C&SP Branch Chief (R. Beaser) if

above $100K but ≤ $200K – Or Assoc. Director of Admin (V.

Schnader) if above $200K but ≤ $300K– STScI Director (up to $1M)– AURA Pres (if ≥ $1M)– AURA Board Chair (if ≥ $3M)

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Proposal Timeline GuidelinesTwo Examples of a Proposal Development Schedule

(No later than2 weeks beforedue date)

Red Team Review