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8.1     Overview

Subject to the availability of funds from NASA, funding will be provided to support eligible investigators of approved proposals. It is anticipated that approximately 200 awards will be issued for an estimated total amount of $10M. In the case of Co-Is seeking funding, awards will be issued directly to the Co-I’s institution in order to avoid double charging of institutional overheads.

Any investigator whose proposal receives sufficiently high evaluations during the Stage 1 review and that requires financial support is invited to submit a Stage 2 Cost Proposal. See Section 8.3 for the eligibility requirements for funding.

Based on Stage 1 ratings, the Selecting Official (the CXC Director) will invite eligible investigators whose investigations were recommended by the peer review to submit a Stage 2 Cost Proposal. Proposers not recommended to proceed to Stage 2 are not prohibited from preparing a Stage 2 proposal, but they should be aware that their proposed investigation is unlikely to be selected.

8.2     Content and Submission of Cost Proposals

Each PI and Co-I institution shall submit their Stage 2 Cost Proposals both electronically, using the Remote Proposal System (RPS), and via hard copy.

1. Electronic Submission: The Remote Proposal Submission (RPS) system is found at http://cxc.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/RPS/Chandra_Budget/RPS.pl. This must be used for electronic submission of the Cost Proposal Cover Page and Budget Forms. The Budget Justification and List of Current or Currently Proposed Research Support, shall also be submitted electronically. [Note:  Other required cost proposal documents need only be submitted with the hard copy.] In order to do this, after submitting the Cost Proposal Cover Page and Budget Forms, click on the “Budget Justification” button and attach the Budget Justification and List of Current or Currently Proposed Research Support. After submitting electronically, selecting the PDF button on the RPS will return a PDF file containing the Cover and Budget forms. This can be used, along with the uploaded PDF files, for the hardcopy submission.

   Each proposing PI should submit, through their primary institution, a single Stage 2 cost proposal, for each approved project, containing his/her own budget requests and include the budget requests of any Co-Is seeking funding in Section J of the Budget Form. If there are more than three separately funded Co-Is, the total of all Co-I requests should be provided in Section J of the Budget Form and the breakdown for each separately funded Co-I must be provided in the Budget Justification.

   Co-Is shall provide the PI with the necessary budget information to be included in Section J of the PI’s budget form. Co-Is shall submit their cost proposal through their primary institution following the same procedures as the PI, but indicating they are a Co-I in the RPS form.

2. Hard Copy Submission: The hard copy of your cost proposal shall be generated by following the instructions for the RPS. Note that Co-Is will submit the hard copy of their cost proposal directly to the SAO Subawards Section (Grants Management). Hard copies shall be signed by the institution’s authorized signatory and include all cost proposal documents.

   Hardcopy submission of the Stage 2 Cost Proposal to the SAO Subawards Section may be done using one of two methods.

   • The signed cost proposal must be scanned into an Adobe PDF file. The signed and scanned Adobe PDF copies of the cost proposal shall be submitted by e-mail to: chandracp@cfa.harvard.edu. For PIs, the e-mail subject line must state “Chandra Cost Proposal #XXXXXXXX PI”. (Replace Xs with assigned Chandra Science Proposal number.) If the submission is for a Co-I, the e-mail subject line must state “Chandra Cost Proposal #XXXXXXXX Co-I”. (Replace Xs with assigned Chandra Science Proposal number.) Do not use any other e-mail address for submission of the cost proposal.

   • Cost proposals may also be submitted using a courier service or the U.S. Mail. In this case each proposing institution shall submit an original and 1 copy of the Stage 2 cost proposal information as described above. All original cost proposals must have the original signature of the institution’s authorized signatory.

Hard copy cost proposals using U.S. Mail or courier service shall be sent to:

Mailing Address: Subawards Section Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 60 Garden Street, Mail Stop 22 Cambridge, MA 02138-1516

Courier Delivery (e.g. FedEx): Subawards Section Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 100 Acorn Park Drive, Mail Stop 22 Cambridge, MA 02140-2302      617-495-7421

Detailed instructions for preparation of the Cover Page can be found at:
 http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/spp/sp/forms/CP_Cover_Instruct.html

Detailed instructions for preparation of the Budget Form and PDF files of the Budget Justification can be found at: http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/spp/sp/forms/Budget_Instruct.html

Note that changes to the science proposal will not be allowed or considered in Stage 2.

For Joint Proposals, the Chandra X-ray Center, the Space Telescope Science Institute (http://www.stsci.edu/institute/), the XMM-Newton Guest Observer Facility (http://heasarc.gsfc. nasa.gov/docs/xmm/xmmgof.html) and the Spitzer Science Center (http://ssc.spitzer. caltech.edu/) will separately fund the observations performed with the respective satellite depending on the availability of funds. The PI will need to submit both their observation specifications and a cost proposal to the relevant organization, following their schedule and using their forms. Cost proposals for all approved Chandra programs, including those awarded time as part of the HST, XMM-Newton, or Spitzer proposal process will be due in accordance with the deadline listed in Table 1.1 XMM-Newton-approved projects may be requested to submit their Chandra cost proposals early due to the earlier allocation dates.

Cost proposals shall include:

1. The Chandra Cost Proposal Cover Page Form with institutional signature. Note that the Institution Administrative Contact information and Investigator information must be complete. This includes the email addresses for both the Administrative Contact and the Investigator. Group email addresses, e.g., sponsoredprojects@institution.edu, are not acceptable.
2. A budget using the Chandra Cost Proposal Budget Form (see the item “Cost Proposal and Funding Information” at http://cxc.harvard.edu/. The PI’s Budget Form must include the required Co-I information and the totals of the Co-I’s budgets as line items in Section J of the Budget Form.
3. A succinct one or two page Budget Justification. The Budget Justification should include a breakdown of the work assignments for all funded investigators taking part in the investigation. The Budget Justification must describe the basis of estimate and rationale for each proposed component of cost, including direct labor, subcontracts/subawards, consultants, travel, other direct costs, and facilities and equipment. The Proposer must provide adequate budget detail to support estimates. The Proposer must state the source of cost estimates (e.g., based on quote, on previous purchases for same or similar item(s), cost data obtained from internet research, etc.). The Proposer must  describe in detail the purpose of any proposed travel in relation to the grant and provide the basis of estimate, including information or assumptions on destination, number of travelers, number of days, conference fees, air fare, lodging, meals and incidentals, etc. If destinations are not known, the Proposer should, for estimating purposes, make reasonable assumptions about the potential destination and use historical cost data based on previous trips taken or conferences attended. Funding for observing proposals is normally issued after the data from the first successful observation is released to the PI. For Target of Opportunity proposals, the budget justification must show the breakdown of funding for each approved target. If there is more than one approved target, the award may be incrementally funded as each target is successfully observed and the data is released to the PI.
4. A written certification for any workstation, personal computer or any general-purpose equipment costing $5,000 or more. The certification form can be found at http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/spp/sp/forms/GO_forms.html
5. A List of Current and Pending Support Information must be provided for all ongoing and pending projects and proposals that involve the proposing PI and any Co-Is who are requesting funding. This information must be provided for each such individual for each of the following two categories of awards that may exist at the time of the proposal submission deadline:
   • Current Awards (for any of the period that overlaps with the submitted proposal), and
   • Pending Awards (including the proposal being submitted to CXC).
   For each of these two categories, using a format of the proposers choosing, the following information is required: name of the investigator, project title, sponsoring agency, period-of-performance, amount of award or total proposed budget, and commitment by PI (or Co-I) in terms of a fraction of a full-time equivalent (FTE) work year. If the PI and each funded Co-I have no Current or Pending Support, then a statement to that effect is required.
6. A copy of the applicant institution’s federally-approved Indirect Cost (IDC) Rate Agreement (required for PI institution and any Co-I institutions).
7. Certifications and Assurances Required by U.S. Code: The signature of the Institutional Representative on the Budget Form verifies that the proposing organization complies with the required certifications and assurances (see Appendix A for full text); therefore, they do not need to be independently signed and submitted.

The Budget Form and Justification must contain estimated costs for the following potential expenditures:

• Salaries and Wages: List personnel, individual person-months, and total cost for each individual.
• Other Direct Labor: Costs and/or stipends for Individuals providing research assistance, such as graduate students, post-doctoral research associates or science data aides.
• Fringe Benefits
• Equipment: Provide estimated costs for workstations, personal computers and other equipment. List items separately. Explain the need for items costing more than $5,000. Describe the basis for estimated cost. General-purpose equipment (i.e., workstations, personal computers and/or commercial software) is not allowable as a direct cost unless specifically approved by the SAO Subawards Section Contracting Officer. Any general-purpose equipment purchase requested to be made as a direct charge under this award must include the equipment description, an explanation of how it will be used in the conduct of the research proposed, and a written certification that the equipment will be used exclusively for the proposed research activities and not for general business or administrative purposes. The need for general-purpose items that typically can be used for research and non-research purposes should be explained. The certification form can be found at http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/spp/sp/forms/GO_forms.html  (See below for additional information on workstation requests.)
• Travel: Describe the purpose of the proposed travel, specifically who will be traveling, the departure location and destination, estimated airfare, lodging, meals and incidentals etc., length of trip, the relationship of the travel to the grant, and the basis of cost estimate. [Note: For Nonprofit Nonacademic Organizations, foreign travel destinations listed on the proposal must be specific. If additional foreign travel is added or if the destination changes after the proposal has been approved, prior approval from the SAO Grant Subawards Section is required by the Code of Federal Regulations, 2 CFR Part 230.51.e, Foreign Travel (OMB Circular A-122).]
• Supplies: Provide general categories of needed supplies and the estimated cost.
• Publication Costs: Provide number of papers, total pages, and total cost.
• Computer Services: Provide type of service and total cost.
• Other Direct Costs: Enter the total of direct costs not covered above. Provide an itemized list explaining the need for each item and the basis for the estimate.
• Indirect Costs: Provide the name of the cognizant Federal agency, date of negotiation agreement, rate(s), base, and total. Attach a copy of the rate agreement per Section 8.2, Item 6 above.
• Subtotal: Enter the sum of items above.
• Co-I awards: Provide name, primary institution, and total dollar amount for each Co-I requesting funds.
• Project Total: Total cost of support being requested for the project.

The allowability of the above costs is dependent upon conformance with the Terms and Conditions for CXC Observing Program Awards (see the Terms and Conditions currently being used for Cycle 14 http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/spp/sp/policies/grants.html; the Terms and Conditions for Cycle 15 will be posted at a later date).

While proposals from investigators working at for-profit organizations are eligible for funding, profit is unallowable. Management fees of up to 3% may be permitted on a case-by-case basis.

Proposals involving NASA employees as either a PI or as a Co-I should use the full cost accounting method authorized at their Centers at the time proposals are due for the entire proposed period-of-performance.

To assure compatibility with NASA’s data systems, requested workstation/computer systems must be capable of establishing one of the existing portable data analysis environments supported by the CXC. Information on the minimum computer system and platforms on which the software is available can be found on the CXC web page (http://cxc.harvard.edu/) (click on “Data Analysis” and then “Download”) or by direct link at http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao.

Requests for workstations/computers must be justified in the Budget Justification. Workstations/ computers are not allowable as a direct cost unless specifically justified and approved by the SAO Subawards Contracting Officer. Any equipment purchase requested to be made as a direct charge under this award must include the equipment description, how it will be used in the conduct of the basic research proposed, why it cannot be purchased with indirect funds, and a statement certifying that the equipment will be used exclusively for research and not for general business or administrative purposes (http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/spp/sp/forms/GO_forms.html). Regardless of whether the request is through direct or indirect costs, the justification must be provided and should briefly describe the computing capabilities that exist or are expected to exist at the proposers primary institution during the period in which the proposed research would be performed and then explain the impact to the proposed work if the request for the additional workstation is declined. The budget request for workstations must be clearly stated on the Budget Form as a line item.

Further information and instructions can be found on the SAO website: http://www. cfa.harvard.edu/spp/sp/policies/CPSR.html.

8.3     Eligibility for Grant Funds

Proposals for funding will be accepted from institutions/organizations described in Section 3.1.

Funding for these programs may be requested by scientists who are:

• U.S. Citizens residing in the United States;
• U.S. Citizens residing abroad if salary/stipend and support are being paid primarily by a U.S. institution; and
• U.S. permanent residents and foreign national scientists working in the United States if salary/stipend and support are being paid primarily by U.S. institutions.

(Note: U.S. is defined as the 50 states and the District of Columbia.) These definitions include U.S. Co-Is on observing projects with non-U.S. PIs.

There are restrictions regarding bilateral activity between the Peoples Republic of China and the United States regardless of whether or not funding is requested. Proposers should read NASA Grant Circular GIC 12-01 prior to proposing to determine if the proposer meets eligibility requirements. See Section A.4 for details.

Proposals by non-U.S. PIs that have one or more U.S. Co-Is who require funding must designate one of the U.S. Co-Is as the “Administrative PI”. This person will have general oversight and responsibility for the budget submissions by the U.S. Co-Is in Stage 2 and should select 'Cost Principal Investigator' on the RPS form.

When a U.S. investigator obtains grant funds for a project that involves non-U.S. investigators, no funding may flow through the U.S. investigator to the non-U.S. investigators. This prohibition includes funding for travel.

8.3.1      Switching Institutions

Investigators who are switching institutions during a grant award period and whose current institution agrees to a transfer should contact the CXC and/or the SAO Subawards Sections as soon as possible to arrange for their award to be transferred to the new institution with the minimum of delay. Please see Section XIX, “Transferring the Award” of the SAO terms and Conditions for details of this process.

Investigators whose primary affiliation changes from a US to a non-US institution cannot retain their NASA funding. However if, as a result of the PI’s move, other US-based Co-Is of the original proposal have taken on a larger share of the work, it may be possible for that funding to be officially transferred to the relevant US-based Co-I. The PI should contact the CXC Helpdesk to discuss this matter.

Investigators who move from a foreign institution to a US-based institution within a year of the original science proposal submission may be eligible for funding and should contact the CXC helpdesk for more information.

8.4     Evaluation of Budgets

The PIs of approved science proposals with US-based PIs and/or Co-Is will receive written notification of the allocated budget amount. The allocated budget is based on the amount of approved Chandra time, the number of targets approved and an evaluation of the level of effort required to complete the data analysis and interpretation phase of the project, the funding eligibility of the Science PI and, in the case of joint proposals, whether or not Chandra is the primary facility. For a project with a science PI employed primarily at a non-US institution, a PI with multiple appointments where a non-US institution funds >50% of his/her time, or for a joint proposal where Chandra is not the primary facility, the budget allocation will be reduced. In the case of an Archival Research or Theory/Modeling proposal, the allocation is based upon the budget proposed by the PI, the scientific/technical rating and the availability of funds. The relative value of any highly rated proposals for Archival or Theory/Modeling Research will be considered against the perceived value of proposals for new observations, taking into account the critical resources of available funds and the amount of Chandra observing time. The Stage 2 proposals will be reviewed for: the total cost of the investigation, including cost realism and reasonableness in the context of the anticipated level of effort required to carry out the investigation successfully, and the total proposed cost in relation to available funds. Awards will be made at the allocated budget amount or the amount requested in the cost proposal, whichever is less. Cost proposals exceeding the allocated budget amount will not be considered and the award will be made at the allocated budget amount. 

8.5     Selection

After receipt and review of Stage 2 proposals, selection will be made based on the Stage 1 evaluation of scientific merit and technical feasibility and the Stage 2 evaluation of proposed costs. Based on the totality of these evaluations, a recommended set of cost proposals will be delivered to the Selecting Official for final selection and award. Given the submission of proposals of sufficient merit, it is anticipated that approximately 200 investigations, including those for Archival Research and Theory/Modeling Research, will be recommended for selection. The CXC reserves the right to offer selections at a reduced level of cost and/or observing time from that proposed in order to fit within the program constraints. Proposers to this program should further understand that the lack of either monetary or observing time resources are sufficient grounds for not selecting a proposal even though it may have been judged to be of high intrinsic scientific merit.

8.6     Grant Award

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) is under contract to NASA to operate the CXC, and therefore CXC grants will be issued and administered by the SAO Subawards Section, with the exception of awards issued to NASA Centers (including JPL) and Other Federal Agencies. For the latter, the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center will be responsible for the transfer of funds as well as the administration of these awards.

It is important to note that until an award is made, there is no guarantee that the recommended financial resources will be available and that awards are made to the proposing institution and not directly to the PI.

Those proposers selected for award by the CXC will be notified of the allocated budget amount for their investigation. Revised budgets will not be required to be submitted when the amount approved for funding is within twenty percent (20%) of the proposed amount. However, if there are separately funded Co-Is on the project, the PI must provide the Subawards Section, in writing, the revised information on how funds are to be allocated. In cases where the reallocation of funds will result in a difference exceeding 20% of the original budget submitted by the PI or any individual Co-I, a revised budget will be required to be submitted by that investigator. Awards to winning proposers will be implemented through the issuance of grants. No awards will be funded by the contract mechanism.

Following selection and notification, the CXC and the SAO Sub-awards Section will communicate formally only with the cost-PI for matters concerning grant awards.

Grants awarded for programs that do not include new Chandra observations (e.g., Archival Research and Theory/Modeling projects) will be issued at the beginning of the Cycle, defined as 1 January of the new Cycle. Those grantees that include new Chandra observations, including joint projects, will receive their awards when the data from their first observations have been successfully processed and delivered to the PI, or the start of the Cycle, whichever is later. Target of Opportunity awards with more than one approved target may be incrementally funded as each target is successfully observed and the data is released to the PI. Depending on the availability of funds, the award should arrive approximately one-month after the first processed data has been distributed to the PI. It should be noted, however, that, in general, the initial release of awards for a cycle will not take place until January (but see Section 8.7 below).

In unusual cases where the PI requires work to be accomplished prior to the observation, up to 25% of the approved funds can be awarded before the first observation has been taken. If preparatory funds are required, the PI shall submit a written justification to the SAO Subawards Section after the investigator’s institution has received notification that it will be receiving funding. Requests for preparatory funding should not be included in the cost proposal.

We will issue awards with a two-year period-of-performance when requested in the submitted budget. Multi-Cycle Observing Proposals will be issued with a three-year period-of-performance when requested in the submitted budget. Please note that the Code of Federal Regulations, 2 CFR Part 215 Section 215.51, Monitoring and Reporting Program Performance, requires that a Program Performance Report be submitted at least annually for all multi-year awards. This Annual Report must be submitted thirty (30) days prior to the end of each twelve-month period as stated in the Report Filing Guide of the Award documents. The eligibility of individual Investigators to receive future multi-year awards will depend upon recipients’ compliance with the Annual Report requirement.

All grants will be administered in accordance with the Terms and Conditions for CXC Observing Program Awards posted at http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/spp/sp/policies/GO_TermsConds.html

(see the Terms and Conditions for Cycle14; the Terms and Conditions for Cycle 15 will be posted at a later date).

8.7     Processing of Cost Proposals

Observations of some new cycle targets may begin in July-August of the previous cycle rather than the typical Dovember timeframe expected for the start of the new cycle’s observations. This has resulted in an offset between the availability of new data and the issuing of awards to fund the work on that data for a subset of proposals. Our processing procedures have been modified in order to facilitate funding of the early-observation proposals as soon as possible after the observations are taken, subject to the availability of funds to cover those awards. PIs of science proposals for which observations take place before December 1st may request early award of their funding by contacting the SAO Sub-awards Section, once their cost proposal has been fully and successfully submitted.

8.8     Contact Information for Cost Proposals

Questions concerning the Stage 2 Cost Proposals may be addressed to:

Subawards Section
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
60 Garden Street, Mail Stop 22
Cambridge, MA 02138-1516
Email: grants@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone: 617-496-7705
Fax: 617-495-4224

Technical questions regarding the Remote Proposal System (RPS) should be directed to the CXC HelpDesk at http://cxc.harvard.edu/helpdesk/ or by email to cxchelp@cfa.harvard.edu.