Frequently Asked Questions

If you do not have an STGMS account, contact STScI Grants Administration at gms_mail@stsci.edu for a list of STGMS User Account Managers at your institution who can assist you in creating an account. Levels of access to STGMS system are maintained by the grantee institution. If you require a revision of your access level, contact an account manager at your institution.

This means that you have an account but it is not enabled. Contact STScI Grants Administration at gms_mail@stsci.edu for a list of STGMS User Account Managers at your institution who can enable your account.

To unlock your account, reset your password from the STGMS home page. Click “Login” and then select “Forgot Password?” Enter your full email address to receive an email with a link to reset your password. If you haven’t received the email within a few minutes, check your spam or junk folder.

Use the "Update Your Account" link provided in the STGMS main menu to access and update your account in MyST.

User Account Managers can disable user accounts for persons who no longer require access to the system.

If an account was created in error, or is a duplicate of an existing account, contact STScI Grants Administration to have the account deleted or merged.

The email address must be unique to the user. For security purposes, STScI does not allow the use of generic or department emails. If you do not want to receive STGMS notifications, use the Redirect option to forward notifications to another email address.

To update the AO, submit a formal signed letter on institutional letterhead to gms_mail@stsci.edu. State the full contact information for the AO, including honorific, email, address, phone number, the institutional address, and payee address, if different. The request must be signed by a person at least one position of authority above the newly named Authorizing Official in the institution’s organizational structure.

A sufficiently privileged user may update the CO on the Institution Address / Payee Address page. Click on the Payee Info banner to expand the accordion. The first field is where users may update the CO. Enter the new name in the field and click ‘Save’. You will be prompted to enter your password to confirm the change.

The institution must follow their approved indirect rate agreement. For most insitutitons administrative and IT support are included in IDCs. If they are not, these costs may be listed in the “Other” cost category of the budget as a direct cost. The costs must be fully described and justified in the budget narrative.

No. STScI funding shall not be used in any way to support non-U.S. investigators or their activities. All program personnel including but not limited to PI's, Co-I's, postdocs, students, visitors, other research personnel, and support staff, must meet the eligibility requirements of a U.S. investigator.

Yes, a proposal may support students, meeting the definition of a U.S. investigator, to carry out the proposed research under the direction of the PI or a Co-I. If known at the time of proposal submission, identify the student by name in the budget and the budget narrative. In accordance with the General Grant Provisions (GGP), “Costs for graduate students, post-doctoral associates, and science data aides to assist in the analysis of data are allowable. All salaries must be in accordance with the standard policies of the grantee institution.”

HST and JWST have unique eligibility requirements for CSA and ESA investigators. For specific information, reference the General Grant Provisions.

Foreign graduate students, postdocs and scientists may be eligible for support while working at your institution if they meet the definition of a U.S. investigator. Refer to Section 3 of the General Grant Provisions (GGP) for specific information.

Contact STScI Grants Administration at (410) 338-4200 if you believe your situation is unique and requires further consideration.

Yes, if ground-based observations were described and justified in the science proposal.

The total cost of ground-based observations should be only a small portion (generally not more than 10%) of the overall program budget.

Only ground-based observations described and justified in the approved science proposal may request support.

Grant funds to support salary that will not be used until several years in the future are not allowable. Please contact STScI Grants Administration to discuss the specific circumstances and potential solutions.

No. Funding to support preparation activities for HST or JWST is not allowable.  The purpose of funding is to provide support for the research itself, and not the general proposal process.

In accordance with the GGP, pre-award costs are an allowable expense. Please note that such costs are incurred at the grantee’s own risk and will not impose an obligation on the part of STScI or NASA if an award is not subsequently made, or if an award is made for a lesser amount than the grantee anticipated. The costs must be for project activities directly related to a specific STScI program and necessary for efficient and timely performance of the scope of work. Such costs are allowable only to the extent that they would have been allowable if incurred after the date of the grant award. Pre-award costs incurred more than 90 days before the award date require prior approval from STScI Grants Administration.

The dates should correspond with the fiscal year in which the work will be completed. This is an estimated timeframe and does not determine when funding will be awarded.

The budget period is a representative period of time reflecting the amount of time required to complete the research effort. It does not represent an actual start and end date, which will be determine based on receipt of successful observations and defined by the actual period of performance in the grant award document. Read more about budget period vs. period of performance in the STScI Budget Proposer Guide.

The Institution Identifying Number (Institution ID) is an institution-specific identifier used by some Sponsored Programs Office to record and track their internal grant numbers. This is not a required field.

No. Each Co-I must submit a budget through their own institution.

This is ultimately a decision for the recipient institution to make. There are pros and cons to submitting a single budget vs. individual budgets for each investigator. STScI will make an award for each approved budget.

If known at the time of budget submission, all persons to receive support from grant funds must be specifically named in the budget. If you are recruiting an unknown person for a position, indicate "TBD" in the budget. Work related to the TBD effort must be fully described and justified in the Budget Narrative Template and must also be included in the level of effort table (also in the Template) prepared by the Program Admin PI.

Travel is generally anticipated less than $15,000 or 10% of the total budget (whichever is higher).

The total cost calculates only when there is a value in every column. Enter the per-day rate in the 'Lodging and Subsistence' column, and the number of travel days in the 'Number of Days' column.

Yes, these are allowable expenses if consistent with the institution's policies and indirect rate agreement. Be sure to include the specific institutional policy and describe these expenses in your budget justification.

The institution must follow their approved indirect rate agreement. For most insitutitons administrative and IT support are included in IDCs. If they are not, these costs may be listed in the “Other” cost category of the budget as a direct cost. The costs must be fully described and justified in the budget narrative.

Refer to the detailed instructions in the Continuation section of the STScI Budget Proposer Guide.

All unallowable costs will be removed from the budget.

Contact STScI Grants Administration if you believe you included unallowable costs in your budget.

The negotiated rates for overhead, indirect costs, and fringe benefits apply to an institution’s fiscal year. If the proposed budget crosses a fiscal year, it is strongly preferred that each cost be entered as a separate line item for each fiscal year. Alternatively, a composite rate may be used when aggregating costs that span fiscal years. Provide a justification in the budget narrative for the method used.

STGMS requires a four-digit date format for the year (e.g. 2022).

The Budget Narrative Template is located here and in the STScI Budget Proposer Guide.

The required format is the Budget Narrative Template. Requests that do not use the required Budget Narrative Template will be returned for revision.

The Budget Narrative Template includes detailed instructions for completing each section (I-IV) of the budget narrative. Program Admin PIs must complete all sections of the template (section IV should only include costs for your budget). Co-Is are only required to complete sections III and IV of the template.

Additional details and instructions are found in the Writing a Budget Narrative section of the STScI Budget Proposer Guide.

The summary table is used to demonstrate how much effort is required for the tasks, and who is contributing to the effort. The table should list all persons, including any new investigators who may have been added after the Phase I submission (U.S., foreign, funded, and unfunded).

Whether funded or unfunded, each person participating in the project must be identified (e.g., PI, Co-Is, postdoctoral associates, other professionals, graduate students). Failure to provide this information may result in a reduction of funding allocated to your program.

No. Co-Is must submit budgets through their own institutions.

Program Admin PIs must complete sections I-IV of the Budget Narrative Template. Section III discusses work associated with all investigators on the program. Section IV should only include costs for your budget.

Co-Is must complete sections III-IV of the Budget Narrative Template. Section III discusses their portion of the work only. Section IV should only include costs for your budget.

You may use your preferred format for the document. The following information is required for all planned, pending, and current support. 

• Funding Source
• Amount Awarded
• Number of Months of investigator Salary
• Project Period
• Project Title

A Current & Pending Support document is required for all budgets. If a Current & Pending Support document is created for an investigator, it will automatically attach to all budgets for that specific cycle.

If the grant has a different Science PI and Admin PI, the information is required for the Science PI only.

A Budget Notification Letter is sent to the Program Admin PI and copied to all investigators on the program who are eligible based on their primary institutional affiliation at the time the letter is issued. The Program Admin PI should coordinate the submission of budgets.

Refer to the Budget section of the STGMS User Guide for step-by-step instructions.

The STScI Budget Proposer Guide provides an overview of the entire budget submission process, including budget preparation, writing and submitting your budget, and the review process.

Refer to the Editing Budgets section of the STGMS User Guide for features that may help you save time when preparing budgets in STGMS.

There is no auto-save feature in STGMS. Our system is designed to timeout when a user is inactive. We encourage saving the budget often, and prior to exiting STGMS.

Preparatory funding must be entered in the Indirect Costs of the STGMS budget form.

Preparatory funding up to 25% of the approved budget amount is allowable for GO programs. The funds must be used to begin essential work necessary for the efficient and timely performance of the scope of work. Preparatory funding will be awarded after funding for the program is approved, and upon submission of revised budgets, if required.

Refer to the STScI Budget Proposer Guide for detailed information.

The Grant Admin PI and institution will receive an automatic email notification from STGMS stating that the budget was submitted to STScI.

Yes, use the Print button at the bottom of the budget form to generate a PDF.

Refer to the GGP for eligibility requirements and contact STScI Grants Administration to discuss your specific circumstances.

Refer to the GGP for eligibility requirements and contact STScI Grants Administration to discuss your specific circumstances.

No. STScI only makes awards to eligible U.S. institutions as defined in Section 4 of the GGP.

Yes. All investigators are expected to contribute to the science goals in the approved science proposal.

The Program Admin PI must clearly explain the roles and work performed by unfunded investigators in the budget narrative. Refer to the Budget Narrative Template for additional information.

Refer to the GGP for eligibility requirements and contact STScI Grants Administration to discuss your specific circumstances.

Yes. As an eligible U.S. investigator, you may request support for your specific contributions to the research effort. If the majority of the team is foreign, or if you are the only U.S. investigator, the budget would include costs for only the U.S. proportionate share of the work. Funds cannot be used to support foreign investigators in any way.

Refer to the GGP for eligibility requirements and contact STScI Grants Administration to discuss your specific circumstances.

Following a financial review, Program Admin PIs and their institution contact list will receive notification of budget approval or instructions to submit revised budgets to correct areas of non-compliance.  It is the responsibility of the Program Admin PI to notify each funded Co-I of the amount approved for their portion of the project.  Subsequent grant awards are contingent upon the availability of funds from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

No. STScI does not inform Co-Is of the amount awarded to other institutions.

STScI generally issues electronic notification letters within a day to two-day timeframe. If it has been more than a few days and you have not found your email in a spam or junk folder, contact STScI Grants Administration at gms_mail@stsci.edu.

The approved amount is the total for all funded PIs on the program.

GO awards are typically issued within 30 days after the first successful observations. AR awards are issued shortly after the Program Admin PI receives notification of the approved amount for the program and upon receipt of revised budgets, if required. Investigators with overdue reports will not receive new awards until all overdue reports are submitted and accepted. All grant awards are contingent upon the availability of funds from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

No. The legal recipient of the STScI grant is the grantee institution and not individual investigators.

STScI grant funding is incrementally obligated. A percentage of the total grant approved amount will be made available when a Grant Award Document is issued. When net payments exceed 90% of the obligated amount STGMS automatically sends a Funding Increase document to notify the PI and institution of the amendment to the grant. If work on the project is progressing such that the scheduled funding availability is insufficient, submit a special request for the early release of incremental funding (including a spend plan).

More information about the funding schedule for STScI grants is available in the Grant Funding section of the STGMS User Guide.

The period of performance stated in the Grant Award Document is the time during which STScI sponsorship begins and ends, and the time during which grant expenditures may be incurred. STScI generally issues grants with a three-year period of performance to allow enough time to conduct and complete the research. If the work is completed in less than three years, final reports must be submitted and the grant will be closed. STScI expects that the PI and grant personnel will complete the objectives of the proposed project within the grant period of performance.

STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., (AURA), for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Contracts NAS5-26555 (HST) and NAS5-03127 (JWST). NASA provides contract funds to STScI to directly support scientific research using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). There is no Assistance Listing number associated with STScI grant funds. Many recipients list STScI grants with other NASA grants under 43.001, 43.999 or 'Other' in their Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards.

The criteria for these roles are determined by the policies of the recipient.

Contact STScI Grants Administration at gms_mail@stsci.edu. We will review the details of your individual situation and make changes in STGMS.

Contact STScI Grants Administration at (410) 338-4200 or gms_mail@stsci.edu for specific guidance on adding an investigator to your program.

Refer to the Transfer Requests section of the STGMS User Guide for more information about transfers. If you have questions contact STScI Grants Administration at gms_mail@stsci.edu.

Refer to the Reporting Requirements section of the STGMS User Guide for more information.

A new financial report cannot be prepared if a grant currently has a saved report, or STScI is in the process of approving a previously submitted report.

There are two options to resolve this issue. If the report was prepared but not submitted, find the saved report in the “Financial Report” section, and submit or delete the report to make it available again in the list of reports. For reports pending payment, wait for STScI to process payments, which typically occurs twice a month.

Equipment is defined as a per unit acquisition cost of $10,000 or more with a useful life of more than one year.

NASA presently defines new technology as follows: “What qualifies as new technologies and innovations is very broad. They include any invention, discovery, improvement, or innovation that was either conceived or first actually reduced to practice in the performance of NASA work. This includes any new and useful processes, machines, manufacture, or composition of matter; or any new and useful improvement in existing processes, machines, manufacture, or compositions of matter. Also included are new computer programs, and improvements to, or new applications of, existing computer programs, whether or not copyrightable. A representative list of new technologies and innovations includes, but is not limited to: new or improved techniques, products, devices, materials, methods, processes, chemical compositions, systems, machines apparatuses, articles, fixtures, tools, or software.”

For additional information, visit the NASA Technology Transfer Program FAQs.

Submit a new technology report through STGMS within 90 days of the end of the grant period.

If new technology was developed, NASA requires notification of new technology resulting from STScI grants. Please visit the NASA New Technology Reporting System (e-NTR) at https://invention.nasa.gov/prog/login to submit NASA Form 1679 (NF 1679) - Disclosure of Invention and New Technology (Including Software).

There are two options to submit your New Technology report to NASA. Both require completion of NASA form 1679 (NF 1679):

Option 1: Email a PDF or Word document of NF 1679:

A PDF and Word version of NF 1679 are located on the NASA e-NTR website. Email the completed form (PDF or Word) to the New Technology Representative at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Find a current list of New Technology Representative contacts for each NASA center.

Option 2: Submit NF 1679 electronically

To use the electronic reporting system you must have a NASA Launchpad account or an e-NTR account. If you do not have either you can request an e-NTR account. Visit the NASA Technology Transfer Program, click “Report your NTR or NTSR,” then click on “e-NTR Account Registration.” Once an account has been established, the New Technology report may be submitted at this site.

Refer to the Reporting Requirements section of the STGMS User Guide for examples.

No.

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is required by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to send foreign agreement letters to non-U.S. institutions that have investigators listed on Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Programs. NASA requires acceptance of the agreement of Financial Arrangements, Data Rights, and Liability for activity connected with the use of the HST.

No, the language may not be revised in any way. The language of the agreement was written by the NASA Director of International Affairs and STScI is not authorized to change the wording. Requests for revisions will be denied. There are no exceptions.

Failure to return the properly executed agreement may result in the restriction of HST data to the applicable non-U.S. investigator during the proprietary period.

Yes. Acceptance of Data Rights (concerning the proprietary period during which data can be accessed) does not pertain to AR programs however, the institution must agree to the terms of the Financial Arrangements (potential costs incurred on their part) and Liability.

The letters are sent to directors and investigators at each foreign institution.

Each institution has an Authorizing Official (AO) who is able to commit the institution to the terms listed in the agreement. The investigator should ensure that the letter is signed by the institutional AO (For example: the Director, President, Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Dean, Department Head, or Legal Office) and returned to STScI via email via gms_mail@stsci.edu.

Investigators must maintain current information in MyST . If an investigator has moved to another institution, write in the name of their new institution and return the letter to STScI.