Swift Cycle 4 Guest Investigator Program Information

Swift's Guest Investigator Program, part of NASA Headquarters' Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) Announcement, funds US 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.

New for Cycle 4: Limited pointed proposals on non-TOO, non-GRB targets will be accepted, in addition to the existing proposal categories (theory, follow-up, new Swift projects and non-GRB TOOs).

Proposal Deadline: FRIDAY November 9, 2007, 11:59PM EST

---

Details for Preparing Swift Proposals:

• Swift Cycle 4 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) for reference and software, response matrices, count rate simulators for Swift simulations.
• Getting Help
• Cycle 3 Recommended TOO Targets
• If you'd like to be a Peer Reviewer ....

Swift Cycle 4 Announcement

Document	Description
ROSES-2007 NRA, with amendments	NSPIRES Web page with links to the amended NASA Research Announcement covering Swift Cycle 4. Also includes links to NRA Proposers Guidebook, NASA Science Plan and more.

IMPORTANT! Properties of the Swift GI Program

Investigations are to be carried out in the fourth year of Swift's public observations, i.e., April 2008 through April 2009.

It is anticipated that approximately $1.8M will be available for the support of approximately 30 Swift Guest Investigators located at US institutions selected under Cycle 4.

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 2007 (ROSES-2007).

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.

Schedule and Checklist of Required Items for a Complete Swift Proposal Submission

Schedule for Swift Cycle 4 Due November 9, 2007

ROSES 2007 NRA Released:	February 16, 2007
Notices of Intent Due	September 14, 2007
Proposals Due	November 9, 2007
Proposal Peer Review	Winter 2008
Swift Cycle 4 Begins	April 2008

Proposers are urged to read carefully the Description of the Swift Guest Investigator Program as described in the NASA Research Announcement NNH07ZDA001N-SWIFT4. Below we distill the highlights.

Fully Electronic Proposal Submission Proposal submission is fully electronic. No paper copies are required. Swift proposals must be submitted via NSPIRES, a NASA Web-based proposal management system. In addition, proposers for pointed non-GRB observations must submit target information to a separate Web database (ARK/RPS, formerly "AKBAR/RPS"). Both NSPIRES and ARK require simple registration before use - see below for details.

Checklist:

Register now

Before submitting proposals or Notices of Intent, 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.

All Proposers:

Register with NSPIRES in plenty of time to submit your Notice of Intent and proposal. Use the "Registration Information" in the upper right section of the the NSPIRES Homepage, if you don't already have an NSPIRES account.

PIs at Foreign Institutions:
Once you have an NSPIRES account, you will need to affiliate with the NASA Swift Science Center. (This will allow your proposal to be considered, even though it originates from a foreign institution.) Follow these directions, and please note - it may take a week for your affiliation to be approved - do it early!

To set your affiliation:

      Login to NSPIRES
      Choose "Account Management" from your selection choices.
      Choose "Affliations"
      Click on "Add Affiliation"
      Now type in "NASA Swift Science Center" and complete the Affiliation request.
      

You will be notified when your affiliation has been approved.

Proposers for observation time should also:

Register with ARK/RPS at GSFC. This system will be used for collecting target information (position, trigger criteria, constraints, etc.). Note: ARK is simply a new name for "AKBAR"; if you registered with "AKBAR/RPS" in a previous Swift Cycle, you do not need to register again.

Notices of Intent - due September 14, 2007

All proposers should use the NSPIRES system to file a Notice of Intent (NOI). There is no advance notice needed for the ARK (observation information) system.

Proposal Submission - due November 9, 2007, 11:59 pm EST

Required Items for a Complete Swift Cycle 4 submission:

All proposals:

1. A NASA HQ cover page, with title, abstract, PI and co-I information, and completed budget pages if requesting funding, submitted electronically, via NSPIRES.
   
   
2. PDF file containing the text of your proposal uploaded via the NSPIRES Web site. Guidelines and instructions are described in the 2007 NASA NRA Proposers Guidebook.

   The proposal PDF file submitted via NSPIRES should include:

   • Scientific Justification (4 page limit, including figures, tables and references)
   • Budget Narrative (2 page limit, for proposals seeking funding. No specific numbers. Narrative only; no Facilities and Equipment description or Table of Proposed Work Effort. These go in the detailed budget totalbudget.pdf described below.)
   • List of Current/Pending Funding (as needed)
   • Vita of PI (1 page, optional)
   
   
   
3. A detailed budget (totalbudget.pdf) PDF file containing the detailed budget discussion as described in the 2007 NASA NRA Proposers Guidebook. Include here any Facilities and Equipment description, and a table of proposed work effort referred to in the Proposers Guidebook




non-GRB pointed observation proposals (both TOO and non-TOO) must also include:

4. Electronic submission of a target form, containing proposal title and PI name and institution, as well as RA, Dec of target, time requested, observing modes, and trigger criteria if applicable, via ARK/RPS.

Proposals must be received by 11:59 PM EST November 9, 2007. If you have difficulties submitting your proposal or have technical questions about the Swift mission, see our Getting Help section.

Supporting Materials for Submitting Swift Proposals

• The Swift Technical Handbook contains information about the Swift mission, instruments, performance,and technical feasibility.
  

• The 2007 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 previoius 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.

• 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.

Getting Help

If you have questions or problems with submitting NOIs, HQ cover pages, 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 the target forms for observing time proposals, 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 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.

If you'd like to be a Peer Reviewer ....

The Swift Cycle 4 Peer Review will take place in the Baltimore/DC area in mid-January, 2008. Reviewers must have a PhD at the time of the Peer Review.

If you would like to be considered as a reviewer, please email the HEASARC Peer Review mailbox.

---

---

If you have a question about Swift, please contact us via the Feedback form.

This page was last modified on Friday, 09-Nov-2007 14:47:01 EST.