The Small Research Grant Program is funded by a grant from NASA; by income from the AAS operating reserve fund; and by the Cecilia Payne and Sergei Gaposchkin Memorial Fund.

There are two opportunities to apply per year. Proposals are reviewed by a Committee via teleconference shortly after each deadline.

Purpose

To cover costs associated with any type of astronomical research.

Eligibility

Open to both US and foreign astronomers with a PhD or equivalent; graduate students are not eligible. Astronomers from smaller, less endowed institutions will be given priority. Astronomers living outside the US are eligible only for AAS funds which are limited. Proposals will be accepted from individuals not associated with an institution.

Size

Awards range from $1000 to $7000.

Proposal

The proposal (as described in the list below) should be at most four pages long (including an itemized budget including the total amount requested). A double-sided page is equivalent to two single sided pages.

A curriculum vitae or resume must also be included and must not exceed two pages.

A cover letter serves as the signature page.

Proposal Requirements:

Cover Page (one page)
The cover page should contain on separate lines:

• Project title.
• Total requested amount ($7,000 maximum).
• Proposer’s institution (if applicable). If the applicant works for the US Government, indicate to whom check should be made out.
• Proposer’s name, phone number, email address and postal address.
• Date of submission.
• A summary statement (200 word maximum) of the project and expected results.
• A statement that funds will be used for the requested purpose and that an accounting will be furnished to the AAS within eight months after receipt of grant.
• Signature of proposer and his or her’s next highest superior. Superior’s signature only indicates that they are aware of the proposal and does not constitute an official endorsement from the institution.
• Click here for a PDF of the cover page.

Project Description (two pages maximum)

• Please include a broad statement explaining why your project is important and how the results will advance our knowledge of astronomy and astrophysics. The committee judging your proposal will not necessarily be familiar with your area of research.
• Project justification
• What the expected results will be.
• If appropriate, relevance of proposed research to a NASA mission or to the determination of the direction of a future NASA mission, if applicable. This program is primarily funded by NASA, and a statement of relevance to NASA programs is necessary to determine whether NASA funds may be used. Proposals for non-NASA-related projects need not include this statement and, if funded, will be paid with funds from other sources.
• You must indicate what other efforts have been made to obtain funding and what other funds are available for the proposed project.

Budget Page (one page)
List the proposed expenditures. Page charges, computing costs, equipment, shipping of equipment, travel to observatories, etc., are all acceptable expenses. Other funds available for the proposed research and efforts to obtain other funding must be discussed in the proposal.

Curriculum Vitae (two pages)
Provide a CV and include only the most recent relevant publications.  A short description of the applicant’s position within the institution is helpful to the Committee, particularly if there are any special circumstances, such as a recent change of jobs.

Application Packet Checklist

• Cover page, with signatures
• One copy of the complete proposal: including the project description, the budget page and the two-page CV

Deadlines

Proposal review occurs twice each year. Completed proposals are due in the AAS Executive Office by 5:00 pm Pacific Time on:

1 May 2009 for consideration in June 2009

30 November 2009 for consideration in January 2010

1 May 2010 for consideration in June 2010

Decisions will be announced eight to twelve weeks after the review committee meets.

Proposals should be sent to:

Small Research Grant Committee
American Astronomical Society
2000 Florida Avenue, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20009-1231

You may submit your proposal by email as a PDF to Kevin.Marvel@aas.org by the deadline. You must however, mail a signed hardcopy of the cover page or the grant will not be supported.

Eligible Expenses

Acceptable expenses are those associated with research: computing costs, equipment purchase, shipping of equipment, travel to an observatory, travel expenses for students to attend a scientific meeting (but not AAS meetings) and page charges. Please note that page charge requests should be made only when the paper(s) are written and ready for publication.

Limitations

• No salaries or overhead will be paid. (Note that no institutional endorsement is required on proposals.)
• For observing runs the amount of travel and subsistence costs may be requested, provided that these costs will not be reimbursed.
• Awards will not be made to investigators holding other federal research grants except under special circumstances.
• If use of a facility other than that in the original proposal is involved, such use must be approved in writing before funds are actually awarded. If possible, include such possibilities in the original proposal.
• If NASA funds are used, all travel must be made on U.S. flag carriers whenever possible.
• Travel to an AAS meeting is not supported.

Review Criteria

Evaluation criteria of proposals include

• scientific merit
• student participation
• budget with sufficient detail
• indication of what other efforts have been made to obtain funding and what other funds are available for the proposed project.

Operation

The program will be administered by the AAS Executive Office. The decisions will be made by a committee of four who will meet every six months at the AAS meetings. The amount of money available will vary depending upon sources of support to the Society.

A fund has been established in memory of Cecilia Payne and Sergei Gaposchkin. From time to time, money from the income of the Gaposchkins' Research Fund will be awarded through this program when particularly meritorious proposals are received. The awarding of a Gaposchkins' Research Grant is made at the discretion of the Small Research Grant Committee.

Reporting Requirements

Eight months after receiving the award, researchers must submit a final report on their project. They may also request an extension, with justification.

The final report should include a detailed description of the expenditure of the funds with supporting receipts or photocopies of receipts, a short (one page or less) description of their research results, educational or public outreach results and/or other summary of activities.

If a paper has resulted from the research, researchers are asked to include the following text in their acknowledgements:

This research was supported in part by NASA through the American Astronomical Society's Small Research Grant Program.

A copy of a preprint for submitted, accepted or published articles should also be submitted with the final report.

Policy on Interim Proposals

The AAS Small Research Grant Program receives proposals for review two times per year, in May and in November.

Interim proposals are discouraged. However, since occasionally, a researcher may find a research opportunity or be placed in a situation needing submission and review of a proposal between formal review periods. BEFORE submitting a proposal outside of the formal review period, please contact the grant administrator. If by circumstance such a proposal review is required, an ad-hoc committee shall review the proposal and decide if funding should be provided. The ad-hoc committee must agree unanimously that the proposal deserves review.

Interim proposals must comply with all proposal guidelines and budget and reporting requirements.

Questions regarding the reporting requirements may be sent to Kevin.Marvel@aas.org.