SIM Science Studies Call FAQ

• Question: Can SIM Science Studies funds be used to pay for travel for foreign collaborators?
• Answer: No NASA funds can flow to non-U.S.-based institutions and non- U.S.-based investigators. Such investigators must obtain their own funds. We have relaxed this rule for graduate students and post-docs who typically do not have their own funding source. But for scientists with permanent jobs at foreign institutions we cannot request travel funds. An exception is if your U.S.-based institution will appoint the non-U.S.-based collaborator to a real but temporary position at your U.S.-based institution. In that case, the investigator now holds a U.S.-based affiliation and you can support their visit (flights, stipend, etc.) for the duration of the appointment.

• Question: Are the page limits for the science, technical and figures/tables sections (as listed in Table C.1) the absolute limits, or is it acceptable if the total for these 3 sections is 7 pages.
• Answer: Appendix C & Table C.1 of the RFP specifies page allocations to the required proposal sections, and outlines the complementary roles of each section in the overall proposal. Small variations in the specific page allocations between the science and technical sections so that both proposal requirements are covered to the review committee's satisfaction would generally be judged as responsive to the spirit of the RFP. However, proposers are strongly recommended to adhere to the proposal page allocations as much as possible and to keep figures and tables on separate pages.

• Question: If parts of the proposal are in color, what will the reviewers see?
• Answer: The proposal PDF files will be given to the reviewers as submitted. However, if reviewers request paper copies of the proposal, these copies will be made in black and white ONLY. Therefore, we recommend that you either use only black and white figures and tables or ensure that your figures reproduce adequately in black and white.

• Question: What if my budget falls between the listed proposal cost levels?
• Answer: Only the three listed cost levels (25, 50 and 75k) can be proposed. Please choose the most appropriate level for your proposal, rounding up to the nearest level if necessary.

• Question: Can SIM Science Study funding be used to fund co-I's in positions such as a Senior Research Associate. Which budget level is appropriate for this situation?
• Answer: Yes, salaries for PI's and co-I's can be included as long as the guidelines in B.7.2 (allowable costs) are followed. Choose the funding level most appropriate for your proposal, keeping in mind that the review criteria include "cost effectiveness", (see the relevant section) specifically including the combination of proposed cost and activity.

• Question: I have some questions on the values returned by GAPE/DAPE:
  • a) How do they handle the two orthogonal coordinates? Are the single measurement accuracies and proper motions per component?
  • Answer: The global performance estimator provides the position and proper motion uncertainty estimates as two-dimensional uncertainties on the celestial sphere (i.e. the RSS of the two one-dimensional uncertainties). The differential performance estimator only provides a one-dimensional separation estimate uncertainty along the baseline orientation at a single epoch (i.e. reflects the result of a single differential SIM measurement).
  • b) Is there any knowledge as to the accuracies for the higher order terms?
  • Answer: SIM's performance in making higher-order motion estimates has not been modeled, and is not reflected in the performance estimators.
  • c) Is it correct that the single measurement accuracy for global astrometry is 15.9 micro-arcsec?
  • Answer: Yes, that is correct. The limiting single-epoch 1-dimensional wide-angle astrometry measurement precision is 15.9 micro-arcsec.

• Question: If I am a co-I on an existing SIM Key Science team, does that mean I am part of the SIM Extended Science Team?
• Answer: Yes, all named co-I's on SIM Key Science teams are members of the SIM Extended Science team.

• Question: Is there a limit to the abstract length on the submission form?
• Answer: No, there is no length limit.

• Question: Do all co-I institutions need to provide the Institutional Authorization Page?
• Answer: All institutions which will receive direct funding need to provide the authorization page. Institutions which will receive a sub-contract do not.

• Question: Is there a template for the text portions of the proposal?
• Answer: No, there is not a template for the complete proposal. Templates for the budget and Institutional Authorization page are available in section C. Please use your preferred tools to generate the proposal and convert to PDF, following the guidelines in section C.

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Last Updated:   12 June 2008