The Roman Science User Panel
The Roman Science User Panel (RSUP) was convened in December 2025, on behalf of the Roman Project at NASA/GSFC, the Science Operations Center at STScI, and the Science Support Center at IPAC. The RSUP will provide advice and feedback on all aspects of Roman operations. The RSUP will represent all segments of the U.S. and international scientific communities.
The RSUP will meet generally twice per year. Panel members are expected to serve for two to three years, with panel leadership to be rotated on an approximately annual basis.
RSUP Information
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The Roman Science User Panel (RSUP) will represent the broader science user community of Roman, providing feedback, suggestions and advice on behalf of users to all elements of the Project. Specifically, the User Panel will:
- Comment on the services and support provided by all elements of the Project, Project Science Office, Science Operations Center and Science Support Center, advising on improvements, adjustments and additions to those services where needed.
- Identify and report on challenges and opportunities facing the community using or accessing Roman data.
- Provide feedback on Roman data services under design or development.
- Comment on policies and programmatic aspects of Roman science management.
- Assess the efficacy of communication channels used to reach the community, and suggest improvements as needed.
- Submit two written reports per year to SSC+SOC+PSO, to be made available to the community and to NASA, summarizing their input and suggestions to the project.
The RSUP will report to the Senior Project Scientist for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the Roman leadership at the Science Support Center and Science Operations Center.
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Name Institution Casey Papovich (co-chair) Texas A&M Sabrina Stierwalt (co-chair) Occidental College Tansu Daylan Washington University in St. Louis Kishalay De Columbia University Charlie Kilpatrick Northwestern University Adam Kraus University of Texas, Austin Karen Masters Haverford College Michael Meyer University of Michigan Adrian Price Whelan Flatiron institute Claudia Scarlata University of Minnesota Anne Verbiscer University of Virginia -
1st Committee Meeting
Expected May 2026Initial Committee Kick-off
December 8, 2025
The Roman Space Telescope Advisory Commitee
The Roman Space Telescope Advisory Committee (RSTAC) was convened in January 2020 by the STScI Director, Kenneth Sembach, to advise him, and STScI in its role as the Science Operations Center, on science operations support. The RSTAC provided advice on optimum strategies and priorities for the science program and science operations of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to maximize the observatory’s scientific productivity.
The RSTAC was active through 2023. The RSTAC included members representing the U.S. and international astronomical communities and provided advice in a number of areas including:
- Community engagement in key Roman science themes,
- The readiness status of the Science Operations Center (SOC) to support the broad user community,
- The interfaces between the SOC and other Roman structural components, including the Roman Science Investigation Teams,
- Data management and the archival legacy,
- The overall strategy for observing time allocation.
The RSTAC met generally twice a year and reported to the STScI Director. Its findings and recommendations, and the STScI Director’s response, were made available to NASA and the community.
RSTAC Information
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The Space Telescope Science Institute, the Science and Operations Center for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, is appointing a Roman Advisory Committee. The committee is charged with advising the STScI Director on optimum strategies and priorities, consistent with NASA policy, for the science program and science operations of Roman in order to maximize the observatory’s scientific productivity. The RSTAC is appointed by the STScI Director and includes members representing the U.S. and international astronomical communities.
Specific topics that the RSTAC will advise the Director on include:
- Establishing vision for Roman as a NASA Great Observatory,
- Community engagement in Roman science themes,
- Advocacy and messaging appropriate for an observatory of this scale,
- Readiness of the Science Operations Center (SOC) to support the broad user community,
- Effectiveness of working relationships, relative roles, and responsibilities of the SOC and the Roman Science Investigation Teams (SITs), and the maturity of the interfaces between those units,
- Data management, computation, and archival strategies for Roman,
- Data accessibility and community funding preparations,
- Observing time allocation strategies, levels of work effort, and resource allocation, including overall balance between survey programs and pointed programs.
It is anticipated that the RSTAC, consisting of 8-10 members of the astronomical community and several ex-officio members, will meet twice a year at STScI and hold occasional telecons as needed. The RSTAC will report directly to the STScI Director. It is expected that RSTAC findings and recommendations, and the STScI Director’s response, will be shared with NASA and the community as appropriate.
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Name Institution Zachory Berta-Thompson (Chair) University of Colorado Enzo Branchini University of Genova Wendy Freedman University of Chicago Joshua Frieman Fermi National Laboratory Raffaella Margutti University of California, Berkeley Karen Masters Haverford College John Mather Goddard Space Flight Center Matthew Penny Louisiana State University Adam Riess Johns Hopkins University/STScI -
Name Institution Dominic Benford Program Scientist for Roman, NASA HQ Julie McEnery Roman Project Scientist, Goddard Space Flight Center Neill Reid RSTAC Executive Secretary, STScI David Spergel Roman Wide Field Instrument Adjutant Scientist, Flatiron Institute/Princeton University -
8th Committee Meeting
November 2, 20237th Committee Meeting
November 9, 20226th Committee Meeting
March 3, 20225th Committee Meeting
November 29, 20214th Committee Meeting
February 11-12, 20213rd Committee Meeting
June 30, 20202nd Committee Meeting
February 12-13, 20201st Committee Meeting
January 8, 2020
The Roman Science Interest Group
Previous advisory committees to the Roman mission included the Roman Science Interest Group, which provided broad-based community input to the Roman Project at NASA/GSFC and to NASA headquarters.
Roman Prefooter
The NASA Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is managed by NASA/GSFC with participation of STScI, Caltech/IPAC, and NASA/JPL.
Contact the Roman Team
