Data Analysis Funding: Information and Instructions

Investigators affiliated with U.S.-based institutions, regardless of nationality, are eligible for funding support. Investigators may be affiliated with universities, industry, NASA Centers, federally funded research and development centers, national laboratories, other non-profit institutes, or military facilities.

The SSC cannot award NASA research funds to investigators affiliated with non-U.S. institutions.

The SSC Director's Office is responsible for the programmatic management of Spitzer research funds. The SSC has contracted with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology for the actual disbursement of Spitzer research funds.

No-cost contract extensions are only approved in exceptional circumstances, so spend your money before the end date of the contract!

For General Observer, Legacy, and Director's Discretionary Time Programs

• U.S.-based Principal Investigators and Co-Investigators are eligible for funding to support data analysis.

• For most investigators NO BUDGET IS NEEDED (see funding mechanisms below for possible exceptions). Funding is determined through formulaic means.

• For Joint HST or CXO programs, funding of HST or CXO observations will be provided by STScI or the Chandra X-Ray Center. The formula for determining Spitzer data analysis funds will only be applied to the awarded Spitzer observing time. Joint HST/CXO proposals are not offered in Cycle-5.

• The sum of effort by U.S.-based co-investigators on a proposal led by a foreign PI cannot exceed 50%.

• Support for obtaining ground-based observations (i.e. cost to travel on an observing run) necessary for the interpretation of Spitzer data is a reasonable component of an observing program.

• Legacy Programs are eligible for additional funding to support the creation and delivery of enhanced data products to the astronomical community. Funding is determined using a separate formula from that used to calculate the data analysis funding and issued in a separate contract from the data analysis funding.

• The SSC does not have all the funding for the Cycle available when it starts, therefore the issuance of the funding awards are spread out over about a 6-month period, in the first and second quarters of the Cycle. Funding in Cycle-5 may not be issued until a program begins execution. See section 4.2.1 of the Cycle-5 CP. Funds for ToO observation data analysis will be issued AFTER the ToOs have been activated/observed.

• Direct funding of less than $5,000 must be done with a sub-award from the PI's home institution (JPL will not issue awards of less than $5,000).

• Awards of less than $25,000 can be split between no more than two institutions.

• Starting with Cycle-3, a U.S.-based investigator will receive ONE award/contract for ALL the approved proposals in the Cycle in which they receive funds.

For Archival Research and Theoretical Research Programs

• PI's of AR/TR proposal must be affiliated with a U.S.-based institution.

• Starting with Cycle-5, budgets are not required with AR/TR proposals. Cycle-5 AR/TR proposers must request one of six fixed-price amounts from $25,000 - $150,000.

• U.S.-based co-investigators may be funded directly from the SSC/JPL or via the PI's home institution.

• Direct funding of less than $5,000 must be done with a sub-award from the PI's home institution (JPL will not issue awards of less than $5,000).

• Support for obtaining ground-based observations necessary for the interpretation of Spitzer data is a reasonable component of an archival proposal.

Switching institutions

For U.S.-based investigators who move to another U.S.-based institution

Please NOTIFY US IMMEDIATELY if you are moving, or even planning on moving. You will get the funds at our new institution much more quickly if we do not have to get them back first from your old institution. Please send an email to the Helpdesk and include your proposal number and contract number (if you have it) as soon as you anticipate a move. We cannot issue a contract to your new institution until the old one is closed out. This can take months.

For investigators who leave a U.S.-based institution (a.k.a. leave the country)

NASA research funds cannot follow an investigator to a non-U.S.-based institution. Generally the funds should be returned to the pool of Spitzer community funds at JPL when an investigator moves to a non-U.S.-based institution. However, there are cases where one or more U.S.-based co-investigators of such programs (as indicated in the original proposal) have taken on the additional work, either at the same institution or another U.S.-based instititution, or the fund primarily support a post-doc or graduate student remaining at the U.S.-based institution, and we have been able to support the re-directed data analysis effort.

For investigators who move from a foreign institution to a U.S.-based institution

If an investigator submits a proposal when they were at a foreign institution but then moves to a U.S.-based institution within one year, they may be eligible for funding. Contact the SSC Helpdesk (help@spitzer.caltech.edu) as soon as possible if you believe you may be moving to a U.S.-based institution.

Summary of Funding Mechanisms (see Call for Proposals for details)

No-cost contract extensions are only approved in exceptional circumstances so spend your money before the end date of the contract!

RSA - Research Support Agreement

The Research Support Agreement (RSA) is a simple Fixed Price, Advance Paid, subcontract provided through JPL that is used for science funding and can be awarded to educational and non-profit institutions. RSAs can only be issued for the formulaically determined science funding. No budget submission to the SSC or JPL is required, though your institution may require you to create a budget for internally handling the funds. Your institution is sent the RSA paperwork, returns the completed forms, and JPL then mails your institution a check for the entire award amount. The administrative overhead for executing RSAs is about half that of standard contracts, so using these instruments allows us to send out more money for research and pay less for the administrative costs. No-cost extensions are generally NOT available for RSAs. Investigators normally have three years from the start of the Cycle to spend the funds, regardless of exactly when the RSA is issued.

The RSAs are the fastest contracts to execute and are therefore generally funded first in the cycle.

Institutions that are eligible to receive RSAs but elect not to accept them will generally be issued cost-reimbursable contracts. The additional cost in issuing these contracts, rather than RSAs, will be deducted from the science funding for those investigators eligible for RSA funding but whose institutions request a different funding instrument. The majority of RSAs are issued in the first quarter of the Cycle.

CREI - Cost Reimbursement with an Educational Institution

CREIs are a standard JPL contract that we used to fund Archival and Theoretical research programs in previous cycles for investigators at educational institutions. Starting in Cycle-5 AR/TR investigators will usually be issued RSAs. CREIs require institutionally endorsed budgets.

Other JPL Contracts

If you are at an institution that cannot accept RSAs or CREIs (e.g. for-profit institutions) then you will be funded by JPL with the appropriate contract.

Direct NASA Funding

Investigators affiliated with NASA Centers will receive their award of formulaically determined funds directly from NASA, following guidance provided by the SSC. The SSC and JPL provide NASA Headquarters with the investigators, institutions, and formulaically determined funding amounts, and Headquarters sends these funds directly to the appropriate NASA centers. This applies for GO, Legacy, AR and TR programs.

Submitting Final Reports for Funding Contracts

To submit your report you will need your contract number, your email address and the final report file.

Submit your final report using the short Final Report web form.

Don't forget to see the the CP itself for detailed information about the current Cycle.

Go back to funding page.