At its core, the LSST Discovery Alliance is a network of institutional partners working collaboratively to maximize the impacts of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time. By providing support to one another, Alliance members strengthen our collective ability to accomplish great science. By developing Member Engagement Programs, the Alliance enhances our community’s access to resources.
Below you will find new active opportunities for Alliance Members to engage in mutual support:
- LSST-DA Toolkit for NSF Proposals related to LSST
- Volunteer Opportunity – Read an NSF Proposal related to LSST
LSST-DA Toolkit for NSF Proposals related to LSST
As Rubin Observatory’s first light rapidly approaches, LSST Discovery Alliance (LSST-DA) is pleased to offer institutional members of LSST-DA assistance with NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grant (AAG) proposals related to Rubin LSST.
To support our members and strengthen our collaborative network, we are piloting a new resource toolkit for researchers at member institutions in the US who are writing NSF AAG proposals related to LSST. If feedback is positive, we expect to expand the proposal toolkit to include resources for international grant opportunities.
Broader Impact Opportunities
Are you seeking a compelling, well-thought-out Broader-Impact project? LSST-DA offers volunteer opportunities that can serve as the basis for the broader-impact component of your proposal. Examples are below, and an evolving list can be found in our “Broader Impacts Opportunities” resource in the LSST-DA Resource Library.
- Taking a leadership role in the future of the Catalyst Fellowship by serving on the Catalyst Fellowship Steering Committee;
- Helping to organize of a series of LSST-DA early-science data sprints designed to increase participation in LSST research;
- Supporting the participation of researchers and students from under-resourced institutions in Rubin research by helping with LSST-DA’s Expansion Partnership Program;
- Using data-science training materials developed through LSST-DA’s Data Science Fellowship Program to train students, postdocs, and others at your institution or a nearby institution;
- Building upon LSST-related Inclusive Collaboration Projects
To start a conversation with LSST-DA about a broader-impact project collaboration, please express your interest by filling out our interest form. Click the button at the bottom of this page to access the form, ideally by 10/8/24.
Feedback on draft proposals
If any faculty or researcher in a member institution department who plan to submit NSF proposals related to LSST would like confidential, constructive feedback from a colleague in a similar sub-field who is not submitting an NSF proposal this year, they should submit their name and research area via the same form linked below by 10/8/24. Note: This offer is contingent upon the success of our recruitment of volunteers.
Library of useful links and documents
Please make use of the documents and links compiled in LSST Proposer’s Library resource in the LSST-DA Resource Library. This listing includes links to items such as: the full suite of LSST preparatory materials for scientists; the most up-to-date published timeline; a 16-slide abridged Data Products Definition Document, with an emphasis on what Rubin will not provide that can be referenced in proposals; a talk from LSST@Europe VI in 2024 September about what data will be available to data-rights holders during Data Previews 1 and 2 and when; the most recent recommendations from the Survey Cadence Optimization Committee; template Individual Development Plans (which NSF now requires for funded graduate students and postdocs); and the Ivezic et al. (2019, ApJ, 873, id. 111) paper “LSST: From Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products”.
Please alert us to any other documents that you think should be included in this listing!
Volunteer Opportunity – Read an NSF Proposal related to LSST
LSST-DA is experimenting with a new program to strengthen our collaborative network by enabling members of the LSST-DA community to share their expertise and help a colleague.
Opportunity: read a draft NSF proposal related to LSST from a colleague in your field.
Time commitment: two hours.
Details: If you have previously written a successful NSF AAG proposal and do not plan to submit a proposal this November, can you commit to two hours to help a colleague? We are seeking volunteers who are willing to spend up to an hour reading a draft NSF proposal from a colleague conducting research related to your area of interest, and up to one hour writing constructive feedback for that colleague. As when serving on a review panel, you must keep all information in the application you read confidential and not use it in your own research.
To volunteer for this activity, please submit your name and research area through the same form linked below, ideally by 10/8/24. The two hours of work will be expected during the week of 11/1/24. LSST-DA will do our best to match volunteers with proposers in similar sub-fields.
Volunteers will: 1) get to know a new colleague or strengthen their relationship with a previously-known colleague; 2) earn the gratitude of that colleague; and 3) learn about LSST-related research likely in your area of interest.
We look forward to hearing from you, and thank you in advance for strengthening the LSST-DA community!