General Observer, Survey, and Archival Research

Release Date: August 01, 2025
Proposal Deadline: Wednesday, October 15, 2025

We are pleased to announce the Cycle 5 Call for Proposals for James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) General Observer (GO), Survey, and Archival Research (AR) programs. We anticipate allocating up to 8,000 hours in Cycle 5, divided proportionately among Very Small, Small, Medium, and Large/Treasury programs, depending on proposal pressure. We invite scientists to participate in this opportunity, which is open to all categories of organizations, both domestic and foreign, including educational institutions, profit and nonprofit organizations, NASA Centers, and other Government agencies.

Proposals are due on October 15, 2025, by 8:00 pm US Eastern Daylight Time.

The version of the Astronomer's Proposal Tools (APT) required for proposal submission is 2025.5 or higher. This version will be delivered around August 21, 2025. We encourage prospective investigators to start preparing their proposals as soon as possible.

The Cycle 5 Telescope Allocation Committee will meet in the first two weeks of February 2026, with selections announced in March 2026.

For details, please consult the full Call for Proposals, including the JWST New and Important Features page. Questions may be submitted to the JWST Help Desk.

The telescope and its instruments were built under the auspices of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Management of JWST's scientific program is carried out by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI).