Proposals for funding only will submit a cover page, general form, and scientific justification to Swift ARK/RPS for Phase 1. The general form asks for the "anticipated total budget" and the scientific justification should include a 1-page budget narrative that describes at a high level how funds would be spent and the scale of workforce needed for the project. The Phase 1 proposal will be reviewed for scientific merit. The Phase 1 review will determine the accepted Swift Cycle 20 program. GIs with successful Phase 1 proposals will then be invited to submit a detailed budget proposal for Phase 2. The Phase 2 review will finalize the funding for all accepted proposals. Note that the budget proposed for Phase 2 cannot exceed the anticipated total budget submitted in Phase 1.
The Swift project will provide funds for three broad areas of research: theoretical investigations (GRBs and non-GRBs), follow-up observations (GRBs and non-GRBs), new Swift projects. A "Large Programs" proposal category is avaialble to investigations requesting more than 100 targets or more than 100 ks total exposure time per target. Swift would especially like to encourage the development of rapid IR ground-based response to potentially high redshift GRBs, therefore special consideration will be given to such projects. Proposals to develop these capabilities will be allowed to exceed the average funding level for all other proposals. Cycle 20 will also allow proposals that request changes or additions to current Swift strategies to detect or observe GRBs or to perform innovate Swift analysis. Proposals that request changes to Swift on-board capabilities (e.g., an updated on-board catalog of sources) or operational procedures (e.g., multiple tiled fields) may require special scrutiny during the review process and may require approval before implementation. Investigators who consider such proposals need to consult with the Swift team prior to proposal submission. "Key Projects" are aimed at addressing high-impact scientific questions and will be allowed to exceed the average funding level. "Key Projects" can request up to 2 years of duration.
The total expected program budget is ~$1.3M, with an average funding level of ~$35-40k for funded proposals. Proposals requesting more than the average budget will need to provide a detailed and compelling cost justification. The only exception is for development of rapid IR ground-based response to potentially high redshift GRBs (see next question).
Yes: special consideration will be given to "Key Projects" and proposals to develop rapid IR ground-based response to potentially high redshift GRBs. Budgets for such projects may be in the $100K range, provided they are strongly justified. Please note that "$100K range" is very broad, and could include any budget between $50k and $150K for outfitting a telescope with an IR spectrograph, for example.