Approved ERS Programs

Early Release Science

To realize the James Webb Space Telescope’s full science potential, it is imperative that the science community quickly learns to use its instruments and capabilities. To get the community up to speed, STScI and the JWST Advisory Committee developed the Director’s Discretionary-Early Release Science (DD-ERS) program.

The DD-ERS observations will take place during the first 5 months of JWST science operations, following the 6-month commissioning period. The program selections were made in November 2017 and represent six science categories.

To view details about a specific program, select a science category below, then click the Program ID. For a description of the program and its expected impact on the community, click the Program Title instead.

Archival Research

ERS Programs have no exclusive access period and can be used as a basis for GO Cycle 1 Archival Research (AR) Proposals.

ID	Program Title	PI & Co-PIs	Instruments
1373	ERS Observations of the Jovian System as a Demonstration of JWST’s Capabilities for Solar System Science	PI: Imke de Pater (University of California - Berkeley) Co-PI: Thierry Fouchet (Observatoire de Paris)	MIRI NIRCam NIRISS NIRSpec

ID	Program Title	PI & Co-PIs	Instruments
1366	The Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program	PI: Natalie Batalha (University of California - Santa Cruz) Co-PIs: Jacob Bean (University of Chicago) and Kevin Stevenson (The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)	MIRI NIRCam NIRISS NIRSpec
1386	High Contrast Imaging of Exoplanets and Exoplanetary Systems with JWST	PI: Sasha Hinkley (University of Exeter) Co-PIs: Andrew Skemer (University of California - Santa Cruz) and Beth Biller (University of Edinburgh, Institute for Astronomy)	MIRI NIRCam NIRISS NIRSpec

ID	Program Title	PI & Co-PIs	Instruments
1334	The Resolved Stellar Populations Early Release Science Program	PI: Daniel Weisz (University of California - Berkeley)	NIRCam NIRISS

ID	Program Title	PI & Co-PIs	Instruments
1288	Radiative Feedback from Massive Stars as Traced by Multiband Imaging and Spectroscopic Mosaics	PI: Olivier Berne (Universite de Toulouse) Co-PIs: Emilie Habart (Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale) and Els Peeters (University of Western Ontario)	MIRI NIRCam NIRSpec
1309	IceAge: Chemical Evolution of Ices during Star Formation	PI: Melissa McClure (Universiteit van Amsterdam) Co-PIs: Abraham C. Boogert (University of Hawaii) and Harold Linnartz (Universiteit Leiden)	MIRI NIRCam NIRSpec
1349	Establishing Extreme Dynamic Range with JWST: Decoding Smoke Signals in the Glare of a Wolf-Rayet Binary	PI: Ryan Lau (ISAS, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)	MIRI NIRISS

ID	Program Title	PI & Co-PIs	Instruments
1335	Q-3D: Imaging Spectroscopy of Quasar Hosts with JWST Analyzed with a Powerful New PSF Decomposition and Spectral Analysis Package	PI: Dominika Wylezalek (European Southern Observatory - Germany) Co-PIs: Sylvain Veilleux (University of Maryland) and Nadia Zakamska (Johns Hopkins University)	MIRI NIRSpec
1364	Nuclear Dynamics of a Nearby Seyfert with NIRSpec Integral Field Spectroscopy	PI: Misty Bentz (Georgia State University Research Foundation)	NIRSpec

ID	Program Title	PI & Co-PIs	Instruments
1324	Through the Looking GLASS: A JWST Exploration of Galaxy Formation and Evolution from Cosmic Dawn to Present Day	PI: Tommaso Treu (University of California - Los Angeles)	NIRCam NIRISS NIRSpec
1328	A JWST Study of the Starburst-AGN Connection in Merging LIRGs	PI: Lee Armus (California Institute of Technology) Co-PI: Aaron Evans (University of Virginia)	MIRI NIRCam NIRSpec
1345	The Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey	PI: Steven Finkelstein (University of Texas at Austin)	MIRI NIRCam NIRSpec
1355	TEMPLATES: Targeting Extremely Magnified Panchromatic Lensed Arcs and Their Extended Star Formation	PI: Jane Rigby (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) Co-PI: Joaquin Vieira (University of Illinois)	MIRI NIRCam NIRSpec