UC Observatories Mini-Grant Program 2020-2021
Call for Proposals
Call Release Date: August 3, 2020
Deadline: Tuesday, November 3, 2020 at 5PM
The University of California Observatories announces a call for proposals to its 2020-2021 Mini-Grant program. The Mini-Grant program will support development of astronomical instrumentation and technology, observatory infrastructure, and requests for summer salary support and teaching buyout in support of significant service to UCO.
Scope and Goals:
The primary goal of this program is to provide funding for instrumentation design, technology development, workshops, or other significant service activities that directly address the strategic and functional goals of UCO. Examples of activities that may be supported include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Design of new or upgraded instrumentation and AO capabilities for Keck, TMT, or Lick
- Development of enabling technologies for future UCO instrumentation, telescopes, or AO
- Technology prototyping for the above, including potential costs of testing on a telescope
- Workshops or meetings for instrumentation planning or instrument science teams
- Software development for data pipelines or observatory infrastructure
- Purchase of equipment (such as filters or gratings) for UCO instruments
- Purchase of lab equipment to be used for UCO-related instrumentation work
- Writing of major external funding proposals for UCO-related instrumentation
- PI of a major Lick, Keck or TMT instrument
- Managing major UCO facilities
- Leadership role in fostering international technological or scientific collaboration or partnerships for UCO facilities or instruments
- Sustained major fundraising activities on behalf of Lick, Keck, or TMT
Appointment to one of the following UCO positions will automatically be accompanied by one month of summer salary or one quarter of teaching buyout annually:
- UC Co-Chair of Keck Science Steering Committee (SSC)
- UC Co-Chair of TMT Science Advisory Committee (SAC)
- Chair of UCO Advisory Committee (UCOAC)
- UC Liaison to TMT Board
Funds Available:
The total amount of funding available (excluding the 4 automatic UCO service positions) for this proposal call is $200K (note this amount is somewhat contingent upon cuts to the currently undefined UCOP budget for UCO). An individual PI may submit more than one proposal if the proposals clearly address distinct topics or activities. Matching with campus-based or external sources of funding is encouraged but not required. Funds are expected to be used over a one-year period, but grantees may submit a request for a one-year no-cost extension at the end of the grant period if the project duration exceeds one year.
Salary Support or Teaching Buyout:
In direct connection with the above instrumentation, infrastructure or service goals, funding may be requested for salary support for faculty (up to a maximum of one summer month per year), researchers, postdocs, or graduate students. The funding request must be clearly justified in terms of the time required for the project personnel to carry out the proposed instrumentation-related activities. Standard benefits rates may be included on salary costs. Proposal PIs should base their budget requests on actual salary and benefits costs as provided by their departmental financial officers. Faculty may also choose to request funding for up to one quarter (or one Berkeley semester) of teaching release. Teaching release should only be requested in circumstances where an unusually high level of faculty effort is required. Time freed up from teaching must be used to pursue the UCO-related activities as described in the proposal. Before requesting teaching buyout, faculty should check with their department chair to confirm that the teaching release is allowable. Teaching buyout rate should not exceed $17,500 per quarter or $26,250 per semester.
Funding may not be requested or used to support or subsidize the astronomical research of the PI or Co-Is (e.g., paying for travel to observing runs, support for time spent analyzing Keck or Lick scientific data, etc.).
Who May Apply:
The criteria for eligibility to submit proposals as PI are the same as the criteria for eligibility to apply for UC Keck observing time as PI: this includes UC ladder rank faculty and ladder rank emeritus faculty, UC scientists with appointments in the Professional Research Series, and research scientists and staff scientists holding full-time career- track or career appointments at LBNL and LLBL. See the link for specific details.
Proposal Content:
The proposal should be a maximum of five pages in length. It should contain a descriptive title, brief abstract, and a list of the names and campus affiliations of the PI and any Co-Is. Text should use a font size of 11 points or larger; single-spaced. The proposal should include the following sections:
- Project Justification (3 pages) should include two pages of supporting program text with up to one additional page for figures and references. The Project Justification should include a description of the project goals, methods to be employed or activities undertaken, roles for personnel involved in the project, and equipment justification.
- Budget and Deliverables (2 pages) should include a specific budget request broken down by major items with justification, a timeline of the proposed activities, and specific proposed deliverables. Since funding will be allocated from UCO, administrative overhead (F&A) should not be included in the proposal budget. Costs for equipment and supplies should be based on actual vendor quotes whenever possible, and must include sales tax. Travel should be based upon reasonable airfare, mileage, meal and lodging per diem for potential destination(s). If the proposal includes in-kind contributions from UCO staff, this must be reflected in the budget. Please contact Anna Korossy (akorossy@ucolick.org) who will provide the recharge rate.
Proposal Submission:
Proposals should be submitted by email in pdf format to the Associate Director, Anna Korossy (akorossy@ucolick.org), and cc’d to the UCOAC Chair, Shelley Wright (saw@physics.ucsd.edu) by close of business on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Please write “UCO Mini-Grant Proposal” in the email subject line. You will receive an email acknowledgement of the receipt of your proposal within one business day.
Proposal Evaluation and Selection:
Proposals will be evaluated and ranked by the UC Observatories Advisory Committee (UCOAC). The final decision on funding will be made by the UCO Director. Criteria for selection will include relevance to UCO goals for instrumentation and technology development, support of the capabilities of the Keck, Lick, and TMT Observatories, timeliness and feasibility of the proposed work, and benefit to the UC astronomical community as a whole. Following the proposal selection, PI's of successful proposals will be asked to provide the contact information of a financial officer at their campus to coordinate the transfer of funds. UCO will provide reviewer comments to all PIs after the selection process has been completed. A summary of previously-approved proposals may be found at the end of this document.
Reporting Requirements:
At the conclusion of the one-year funding period, the PI will be required to submit a report describing the work undertaken and results obtained as a result of the grant (2 pages maximum; 11 point font or larger; single spaced). The grant report should describe the activities, outcomes, and expenditures from your UCO allocation for this program. The report will be read by the UCOAC and the UCO Director, and will help the UCOAC to evaluate the efficacy of the Mini-Grant program as a whole. If the program/PI is requesting additional funding in a subsequent Mini-grant proposal, the grant report will be used in that year’s proposal evaluation process. Requests for no-cost extensions must be accompanied by a progress report on expenditures and progress to date. Please submit all reports and requests for extensions to Anna Korossy (akorossy@ucolick.org) with a cc to Graseilah Coolidge (gcoolidge@ucolick.org) and cc’d to the UCOAC Chair, Shelley Wright (saw@physics.ucsd.edu). Please write “UCO Mini-Grant Reporting” in the email subject line. Grant reports should be submitted before or on the subsequent deadline of 2021-2022 Mini-grant program.
Strategic Planning Documents:
You may want to show how your proposed instrument project relates to the new 2016 strategic plan for Keck, the 2013 UCO Strategic Plan, and the 2009 Strategic Plan for Lick.
2019-2020 funded UCO Instrumentation and Service Mini-Grants (FY20)
- A new Keck AO Precision Calibration Unit for Astrometry – Jessica Lu, UCB
- Evaluating HiPIMS Process for Robust Protected-Ag Coatings – Andrew Phillips, UCSC
- Upgrading the UC Davis Lick/Keck Remote Observing Room – Chris Fassnacht, UCD
- Facilitating the Development of TMT/PSI – Chris Fassnacht, UCD
- Testing a 10 μm detector for TMT’s Planetary Systems Imager – Andy Skemer, UCSC
- Fundraising Activities for Lick Observatory – Alex Filippenko, UCB
- PypeIt: A Data Reduction Pipeline for UCO and WMKO – Hennawi, Joseph, UCSB
Service Mini-Grants
- TMT Int'l science collaboration - Treu, Tommaso (UCLA)
- Co-Chair of Keck SSC -Treu, Tommaso (UCLA)
2018-2019 funded UCO Instrumentation and Service Mini-Grants (FY19)
- Supplement to Keck White Paper Funding for the SCALES Design – Andy Skemer, UCSC
- Facilitating the Development of TMT/PSI – Mike Fitzgerald, UCLA
- An On-Sky Demonstration of Fiber Observation with Keck – Kevin Bundy, UC Observatories
- A Robust MKID Program for UC Telescopes – Ben Mazin, UCSB
- CUBEpy: a PYTHON-based Package for the Extraction of Point Source Spectra from KCWI Data Cubes – Dan Weisz, Berkeley
- Pypelt: A Data Reduction Pipeline for UCO and WMKO – Xavier Prochaska, UCSC
- Lenslet-Slicer Hybrid IFUs: From Colors to Chemistry – Andy Skemer UCSC
Service Mini-Grants
- Fundraising Activities for Lick Observatory – Alex Filippenko, UCB
- Foster TMT International Science Collaboration – Alex Filippenko, UCB
- TMT Board – Michael Bolte, UCSC
- Co-Chair of Keck SSC – Jean Brodie, UCSC
- Chair UCOAC – Gillian Wilson, UCR
2017-2018 funded UCO Instrumentation and Service Mini-Grants (FY18)
- Enhancing Multi-Object Spectroscopy with Ground-Layer Adaptive Optics at Keck – Jessica Lu, UC Berkeley
- Modeling Fiber Performance for Ultra-Faint Spectroscopy – Kevin Bundy, UCO
- APF 2.0: Stabilization of the Automated Planet Finder for a New Discovery Landscape – Courtney Dressing, UC Berkeley
- PYPIT: A Data Reduction Pipeline for UCO and WMKO – J. Xavier Prochaska, UCSC
- A MKID-based Multi-Object High Resolution Spectrograph – Ben Mazin, UCSB
- Preparing for Solar System Science with TMT and IRIS – Michael H. Wong, UC Berkeley
- Hardware Upgrades for the UC San Diego Remote Observing Facilities - Quinn Konopacky, UCSD
- Upgrade to Mainland-Only Remote Observing Facility at UCR – Brian Siana, UCR
Service Mini-Grants
- Continuing to foster the TMT International Science Collaboration – Tommaso Treu, UCLA
- Working Toward New UCO Funding & Partnerships – Andrea Ghez, UCLA
- Fundraising activities for Lick Observatory – Alex Filippenko, UC Berkeley
2016-2017 funded UCO Instrumentation and Service Mini-Grants (FY17)
- Enhancing Multi-Object Spectroscopy with Ground-Layer Adaptive Optics at Keck – Jessica Lu, UC Berkeley
- A Wide-Field AO-Fed Integral Field Spectrograph for Keck – James Larkin & Michael Fitzgerald, UCLA
- A Mini-IFU for Keck-AO/NIRSPEC – Andy Skemer, UCSC & Michael Fitzgerald, UCLA
- FOBOS: A Fiber-Fed MOS for Keck – David Schlegel, LBNL
- A MKID-based Multi-Object High Resolution Spectrograph – Ben Mazin, UCSB
- Next-generation hardware for Remote Observing at UC Facilities – Graeme Smith and Jason X. Prochaska, UCSC
- Replacement UPS for UCLA Remote Observing Site – Ian McLean, UCLA
- Fostering the TMT international science collaboration – Tommaso Treu, UCLA
- Working Toward New UCO Funding & Partnerships – Andrea Ghez, UCLA
- Fundraising activities for Lick Observatory – Alex Filippenko, UC Berkeley
2015-2016 funded UCO Instrumentation Mini-Grants (FY16)
- Public Release of the MOSDEF Data Reduction Package for the MOSFIRE spectrograph on Keck I – Mariska Kriek, UC Berkeley
- Proposal Preparation and Team Building for the TMT Coronagraph, a Second Generation Instrument – Michael Fitzgerald, UCLA
- A Workshop to Develop the Science Case for FOBOS, a Proposed New Optical Multi-Object Spectrograph for Keck – David Schlegel, LBNL
- Preparations for KRAKENS, a Proposed MKID-Based Imager for Keck – Ben Mazin, UCSB
- Upgrade to UC Santa Barbara Remote Observing Site – Crystal Martin, UCSB
2015-2016 funded Service Support (FY16)
(Formal Service Mini-Grants did not exist at this time)
- Working Toward New UCO Funding & Partnerships – Andrea Ghez, UCLA
- Fundraising activities for Lick Observatory – Alex Filippenko, UC Berkeley