Archived 2021 FAQ
This was the FAQ for ROSES-2021. For the current FAQs on the current ROSES see https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/faqs
What's new in ROSES-2021? How does it differ from prior ROSES?
The Division of Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS), formerly of HEOMD, is now part of SMD and the BPS calls for proposals appear in Appendix E of ROSES-2021. The cross-division programs that in prior years were in Appendix E are now in Appendix F.
Seven programs in Planetary Science will accept proposals at any time without any preliminary statement such as a Notice of Intent or Step-1 proposal. This approach has been used successfully in the past for programs such as Rapid Response and Novel Research in Earth Science and Topical Workshops, Symposia, and Conferences. Though the NSPIRES page for those programs display a "Proposals Due" date, that is simply the end date for the current ROSES, after which proposals may be submitted to the program element with the same name in the next ROSES. The programs with No Due Date (NoDD) will review proposals throughout the year with a cadence that will depend on the rate at which proposals are submitted. The seven programs in Planetary Science with no due date are: C.2 Emerging Worlds, C.3 Solar System Workings, C.4 Planetary Data Archiving, Restoration, and Tools, C.5 Exobiology, C.6 Solar System Observations, C.12 Planetary Instrument Concepts for the Advancement of Solar System Observations, and C.16 Laboratory Analysis of Returned Samples. For more information see C.1, the Planetary Science Research Program Overview and https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/NoDD.
The requirements regarding letters of resource support from facilities have been modified. ROSES no longer requires that a facility or resource be under the "control" of the team member. For any facility required for the proposed effort, the proposal must state which team member has access or provide a letter of resource support from the facility or resource confirming that it is available for the proposed use during the proposed period.
The previously separated Budget Narrative and Details sections have been united in a single section, making it consistent with the Guidebook for Proposers.
The order of some sections of this Summary of Solicitation have changed, most notably flight-based research investigations are now in Section VIII.
ROSES continues to employ the "dual-anonymous peer review" for the evaluation of proposals submitted to select program elements. Proposals to those program elements must be anonymized, see https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/dual-anonymous-peer-review and the detailed instructions for the preparation of proposals posted under "Other documents" on the NSPIRES pages for these ROSES elements.
In keeping with SMD's interest in identifying potential interdivisional gaps and having information to improve the review process, proposers will have an opportunity to indicate on the NSPIRES cover page whether a proposal would advance the strategic objectives of more than one SMD Division.
There have been many changes to the program elements within ROSES. Examples include:
In Appendix A (Earth Science), the Atmospheric Composition Radiation Sciences Program will be soliciting in 2021 for a specific field campaign (Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction Experiment) as A.17 and a number of programs are returning after a hiatus, including Remote Sensing of Water Quality as A.21 and Health & Air Quality as A.37. Moreover, A.15 Cryospheric Sciences will evaluate proposals using dual-anonymous peer review. Finally, a number of programs in Appendix A are requiring that proposers use the Earth Science standard templates for the Table of Work Effort and Current and Pending Support. Any programs that require the use of these templates will say so clearly and they may be downloaded from the "SARA" web page at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/templates-for-earth-science-division-appendix-a-roses-proposals.
In Appendix B there are three new program elements have been introduced in ROSE-2021: B.15 Geospace Dynamics Constellation Interdisciplinary Scientists (will award contracts to non-govt. orgs), B.16 Heliophysics Mission Concept Studies and, added by amendment: B.18 Heliophysics Living With a Star Tools and Methods. Also added by amendment Interdisciplinary Science for Eclipse is back as B.17.
In Appendix C (Planetary Science) a new participating scientist program for JAXA's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) Mission will be solicited. In addition to the no due date programs mentioned above in Section I(d)(i) starting this year, all of the data analysis programs, i.e., C.7 NFDAP, C.8 LDAP, C.9 MDAP, C.10 CDAP, and C.11 DDAP, will evaluate proposals using dual-anonymous peer review. Moreover, DDAP will not request NSPIRES cover page budgets or total budgets with the technical proposal. Budgets will be requested later only for selectable proposals.
In Appendix D (Astrophysics), a new program element for Guest Scientists for the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) is planned for this year in D.12, and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Research and Support Participation Opportunities is planned for this year as D.16. Finally, all Astrophysics GO/GI programs, D.2 Astrophysics Data Analysis and D.4 Astrophysics Theory will evaluate proposals using dual-anonymous peer review.
Appendix E is now devoted to the Division of Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS), formerly of HEOMD, which is new to SMD.
Appendix F is now the Cross-Division Appendix. Program element F.3, Exoplanets, will evaluate proposals using dual-anonymous peer review. Program elements F.4 Habitable Worlds and F.7 Support for Open Source Software Tools, Frameworks, and Libraries will not be solicited in ROSES-2021.
Other changes will occur throughout the year announced by Amendments, corrections, and clarifications. Please consider subscribing to:
- The SMD mailing lists (by logging in at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ and checking the appropriate boxes under "Account Management" and "Email Subscriptions"),
- The ROSES-2021 Blog for amendments, clarifications, and corrections to ROSES at http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/grant-solicitations/ROSES-2021/, and
- The ROSES-2021 due date Google calendars. Instructions are at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/library-and-useful-links.
The 2021 version of the NASA Guidebook for proposers was released in early 2021. Thus, the 2021 version of the Guidebook is the one that applies to all proposals ROSES-2021 unless otherwise specified.
The restrictions involving China persist, please see https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/faqs/prc-faq-roses/
If you are looking for the FAQ for ROSES-2020 (e.g., because you are preparing a proposal for one of the few ROSES-2020 program elements due in early calendar 2021) you may view the archived ROSES-2020 FAQ at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/faqs/archived-2020-faq/.
