PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

1. Upon completion of the Stage 1 Peer Review, investigators will receive three letters via email. The first letter will inform the investigator that the peer review panel has recommended their proposal be implemented as part of the Chandra Observing Program as well as a copy of the panel's evaluation. The second letter will be sent to all US-based investigators inviting them to submit a Stage 2 cost proposal if funding is required to carry out the investigation. This letter will contain the approved budget amount [fair share] and instructions for the submission of the cost proposal. The third letter will provide the investigator with the final approved amount for the award and information regarding award procedures.

2. Awards will be made at the approved budget amount [fair share] or the requested cost proposal amount, whichever, is less. Cost proposals exceeding the approved budget amount will not be considered and award will be made at the approved budget amount. Those cost proposals exceeding 20% of the approved budget amount will be required to be revised and resubmitted.

3. When a U.S. investigator obtains grant award funds for a project that involves non-U.S. investigators, no funding may flow through the U.S. investigator to the non-U.S. investigators. This includes funding for travel for the non-U.S. investigators.

4. The transmittal email is not part of the cost proposal. Do not put additional information that you want to be considered during evaluation of the cost proposal in the transmittal email. If there are any questions or concerns, the proposing institution should contact the SAO Grant Awards Section prior to submitting the proposal.

5. Awards for programs that do not include new Chandra observations (e.g., Archival Research and Theory/Modeling projects) will be issued at the beginning of the Cycle, defined as 1 January of the new Cycle. Those awards that include new Chandra observations, including joint projects, will receive their awards when the data from their first observations have been successfully processed and delivered to the PI, or the start of the Cycle, whichever is later.

6. Note that all awards are subject to the availability of funds from NASA. Until an award is made and fully funded, there is no guarantee that the recommended financial resources will be available.

Each PI and separately funded Co-I institution shall submit their stage 2 cost proposals via email using the instructions below.

Forms and instructions for the Chandra Cover Page and Budget Form are on our web site at: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/spp/sp/forms/GO_forms.html

A STAGE 2 COST PROPOSAL CONSISTS OF:

1. The Chandra Cost Proposal Cover Page Form with institutional signature. Note that the Institution Administrative Contact information and Investigator information must be complete. This includes the email addresses for both the Administrative Contact and the Investigator.

2. A Budget for the PI or separately funded CoI using the Chandra Budget Form. The PI's Budget Form must include the totals of the CoIs' budgets as line items in Section J of the Form. Note: The dollar amounts in Section J must match exactly the dollar amounts submitted by the CoI institution's cost proposal. Section J of a CoI's budget form should be blank.

3. A succinct one or two page Budget Justification. The Budget Justification should include a breakdown of the work assignments for all funded investigators taking part in the investigation. The Budget Justification must describe the basis of estimate and rationale for each proposed component of cost, including direct labor, subcontracts/subawards, consultants, travel, other direct costs, and facilities and equipment. The Proposer must provide adequate budget detail to support estimates. The Proposer must state the source of cost estimates (e.g., based on quote, on previous purchases for same or similar item(s), cost data obtained from internet research, etc.). The Proposer must describe in detail the purpose of any proposed travel in relation to the grant and provide the basis of estimate, including information or assumptions on destination, number of travelers [include names when known], number of days, conference fees, air fare, lodging, meals and incidentals, etc. If destinations are not known, the Proposer should, for estimating purposes, make reasonable assumptions about the potential destination and use historical cost data based on previous trips taken or conferences attended. The Chandra Science Proposal Number and Title must be included on the top of the Budget Justification. Do not attach a copy of the Science Proposal as we have the proposal in our files.

4. A written request for approval for the purchase of equipment costing $5,000 or more, if applicable. The form can be found on our website at:
   https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/spp/sp/forms/GO_forms.html.

5. A List of Current and Pending Support Information must be provided for all ongoing and pending projects and proposals that involve the proposing PI. This information must be provided for each of the following two categories of awards that may exist at the time of the proposal submission deadline:
   • Current Awards (for any of the period that overlaps with the submitted proposal), and
   • Pending Awards (including the proposal being submitted to CXC).

   For each of these two categories, using a format of the proposer's choosing, provide the following information: name of the investigator, project title, sponsoring agency, period-of-performance, amount of award or total proposed budget, and commitment by PI in terms of a fraction of a full-time equivalent (FTE) work year. If the PI has no Current or Pending Support, then a statement to that effect must be included. The Chandra Science Proposal Number and Title must be included on the top of the Current and Pending Research Support pages.

6. A copy of the applicant institution's Federally-Approved Indirect Cost (IDC) Rate Agreement.