NSF Division of Astronomical Sciences (AST)
AAS Town Hall January 4, 2017
Jim Ulvestad, Division Director Ralph Gaume, Deputy Division Director
MPS/AST
Outline
§ NSF Context (Jim) § AST Staff Introductions (Ralph) § Science and Facility Highlights (Ralph) § Individual Investigator Programs (Ralph) § AST Budget Outlook (Ralph) § Divestment and Environmental Reviews (Ralph) § Recent Community Reports (Jim)
1/04/2017 2 NSF-AAS Town Hall
Transi-ons: AST and MPS
1/04/2017 3
§ Ralph Gaume became Deputy Division Director in Nov. 2016 § NSF has opened search for a new Division Director, to
replace current Division Director (Ulvestad) in autumn 2017 § Recruitment committee in place to help identify candidates
§ Roger Blandford, Joel Bregman, Debra Elmegreen, Lyman Page, Caty Pilachowski.
§ Application period closes January 20.
§ Near-term changes § NSF Assistant Director (AD) overseeing Directorate for Mathematical
and Physical Sciences (MPS), Fleming Crim, will complete his 4-yr term on January 13, 2017.
§ Jim Ulvestad will become Acting AD for MPS § Ralph Gaume will become Acting Division Director for AST
NSF-AAS Town Hall
Transi-ons: NSF
1/04/2017 4
§ Major NSF leadership transition
§ January 2017: New Acting ADs for MPS, ENG
§ February 2017: New Acting ADs for EHR, GEO, and new Acting Chief Operating Officer
NSF-AAS Town Hall
National Science Foundation4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia 22230TEL: 703.292.5111 | FIRS: 800.877.8339 | TDD: 800.281.8749 September 2016
NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD OFFICE
Michael Van Woert,Executive Officer
703.292.7000
OFFICE OFINSPECTOR GENERAL
(OIG)
Allison C. Lerner,Inspector General
703.292.7100
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
DIRECTORATE FOR MATHEMATICAL &
PHYSICAL SCIENCES (MPS)
Fleming Crim,Assistant Director
Deborah Lockhart,Deputy AD
703.292.8800
DIRECTORATE FOR GEOSCIENCES
(GEO)
Roger Wakimoto, Assistant Director
Margaret Cavanaugh, Deputy AD
703.292.8500
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR 703.292.8000
France A. Córdova Director
Richard O. Buckius Chief Operating Officer /Deputy Director Nominee
NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD (NSB) 703.292.7000
Maria T. Zuber Chair
Diane L. Souvaine Vice Chair
DIRECTORATE FOR EDUCATION & HUMAN
RESOURCES (EHR)
Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Assistant Director
William (Jim) Lewis, Deputy AD
703.292.8600
DIRECTORATE FOR COMPUTER &
INFORMATION SCIENCE & ENGINEERING (CISE)
James F. Kurose, Assistant Director
Erwin Gianchandani,Deputy AD
703.292.8900
DIRECTORATE FOR BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES (BIO)
James L. Olds, Assistant Director
Jane Silverthorne, Deputy AD
703.292.8400
DIRECTORATE FOR ENGINEERING
(ENG)
Grace Wang, Acting Assistant
Director
Barry W. Johnson,Acting Deputy AD
703.292.8300
OFFICE OF INTEGRATIVE ACTIVITIES
(OIA)
Suzanne Iacono,Head
703.292.8040
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
(OLPA)
Amanda Greenwell,Head
703.292.8070
OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE
& ENGINEERING(OISE)
Rebecca Keiser,Head
Samuel B. Howerton,Deputy Office Head
703.292.8710
OFFICE OF DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
(ODI)
Rhonda Davis,Head
703.292.8020
OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL
(OGC)
Lawrence Rudolph,General Counsel
Peggy Hoyle,Deputy GC
703.292.8060
OFFICE OF INFORMATION & RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT(OIRM)
Joanne S. Tornow,Head / Chief Human
Capital Officer
Donna Butler, Deputy Office Head
703.292.8100
OFFICE OF BUDGET, FINANCE, & AWARD
MANAGEMENT (BFA)
Martha A. Rubenstein, Head / Chief Financial
Officer
Teresa Grancorvitz, Deputy Office Head
703.292.8200
DIRECTORATE FOR SOCIAL, BEHAVIORAL, & ECONOMIC SCIENCES
(SBE)
Fay L. Cook, Assistant Director
Kellina M. Craig-HendersonDeputy AD
703.292.8700X X X
X
X
Transi-ons: President & Congress
1/04/2017 5
§ Topics discussed frequently with respect to transition § Discretionary spending: military and non-military § Potential infrastructure investments § Globalization, American competitiveness, and jobs § Immigration policies § Supreme Court § Energy and climate change § “Epidemics”: Opioid, Zika, terrorism
§ Not a lot of discussion about long-term investment in science and innovation, outside the scientific community
§ NSF has no inside knowledge about priorities and directions after January 20.
NSF-AAS Town Hall
New NSF Authoriza-on Bill
1/04/2017 6
§ “American Innovation and Competitiveness Act” passed Congress in December 2016. § Awards should be in the
national interest—tied to Broader Impacts review criterion
§ No funding levels specified for NSF as a whole, or for individual Directorates
§ Considerable direction regarding facility oversight
§ See FYI #150 at www.aip.org/fyi
NSF-AAS Town Hall
Budgets for NSF and AST
1/04/2017 7
§ FY 2017 Continuing Resolution (CR) through April 28, 2017. § FY 2017 is end of two-year deal on discretionary spending. § Two (of many) possible FY 2017 budget outcomes
§ Year-long CR or flat budget with respect to FY 2016? § Re-balance military/domestic discretionary spending?
§ Sequestration scheduled to return in FY 2018.
§ FY 2018 President’s Budget Request is uncertain.
NSF-AAS Town Hall
FY 2017 Budget Request-‐-‐AST
1/04/2017 8
$M FY15 Actual
FY16 Request
FY16 Actual
FY17 Request Disc.
NSF Total 7344 7724 7464 7564
NSF R&RA 5934 6186 6034 6079
MPS 1337 1366 1349 1355
AST 245.2 246.5 246.4 247.7
MREFC 200.8 200.3 200.3 193.1
NSF-AAS Town Hall
NSF Budget*
Fiscal Year
*Constant 2014$
ARRA
$ 0 M
$ 4000 M
$ 8000 M
$ 6000 M
$ 2000 M
NSF Funding History
1985 1995
1998 2004
1/04/2017 NSF-AAS Town Hall 9
Facility/Divestment Recommendations
1/04/2017 11
§ NSF policy: 22-27% of budget in Research Infrastructure § Flat budgets stress facility-heavy Divisions § MPS/AST Portfolio Review–August 2012
§ Divest lower priority facilities
§ GEO/OCE (Ocean Sciences) Sea Change report—Jan. 2015 § Recommendation 3: “OCE should initiate an immediate 10%
reduction in major infrastructure costs in its next budget, followed by an additional 10-20% decrease over the following 5 years.”
§ GEO/AGS (Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences) review of Geospace Section portfolio—April 2016 § Reduce facilities investments by 10% to open wedge for decadal
survey recommendations (includes 73% Arecibo reduction)
NSF-AAS Town Hall
Division of Astronomical Sciences (AST) Office of the Division Director
Individual Investigator Programs and Astronomy & Astrophysics Research Grants
Facilities, Mid-Scale, & MREFC Projects
Administration
ESM
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Large Synoptic Survey
Telescope
Vernon Pankonin National Optical Astronomy Observatory Ralph Gaume Arecibo Observatory Richard Barvainis Mid-Scale Innovations Program Philip Puxley Atacama Large Millimeter Array
Linda French (January 2017)
Stellar Astronomy & Astrophysics
Green Bank Observatory, Long
Baseline Observatory
Solar and Planetary Research Grants
Galactic Astronomy
IIP Coordinator; Education &
Special Programs
(REU, PAARE)
Extragalactic Astronomy & Cosmology
Extragalactic Astronomy & Cosmology, Divestment
Gemini Observatory
CAREER; Extragalactic Astronomy & Cosmology
Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships
National Solar
Observatory
Joe Pesce Program Director
Advanced Technologies & Instrumentation,
Major Research Instrumentation
D
Arecibo Observatory
Acting Division Director D
Acting Deputy Division Director
NST/AST Jobs
§ AST Division Director § Closes January 20th
§ AST Program Director § Permanent Federal Employee § Closes January 9th
§ Both jobs listed on usajobs.gov § Keywords: NSF, Astronomical
§ AST Rotators, Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) § Open until filled, Google: NSF AST 17-001
§ AST Dear Colleague Letter (AST-17-001)
1/04/2017 14 NSF-AAS Town Hall
NSF is Moving!
1/04/2017 15
§ NSF will move from its current location in Arlington, Virginia to a location in Alexandria, Virginia in July-September 2017.
§ The Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, including AST, is scheduled to move over an extended Labor Day weekend in August/September.
NSF-AAS Town Hall
New NSF
Gemini: NGC 6624
§ Gemini: GeMS + GSAOI § Bulge globular cluster NGC 6624
imaged in near-IR with 0.08-arcsec imaging over 93-arcsec field.
§ Detected main-sequence “knee,” found age of 12.0 +/- 0.5 Gyr, and detected mass segregation, with increased fraction of low-mass stars with increasing distance from core.
§ Saracino et al. 2016 (ApJ 832, 1).
1/04/2017 17 NSF-AAS Town Hall
Credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA
ALMA: HD 163296 § ALMA observed both (1.3mm)
dust and gas (12CO, 13CO, C18) § Three gaps observed in dust
ring: § At 60, 100, 160 AU
§ Disk composed of ~1% dust and 99% gas, critical to observe gas.
§ 2nd and 3rd ring depleted in both gas and dust, attributed to potential Saturn mass planets.
§ 1st ring depleted in dust, but not gas, likely non-planetary process.
§ Isella et al., 2016 (Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 25)
1/04/2017 18 NSF-AAS Town Hall
Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); A. Isella; B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF)
Arecibo, VLA, VLBA, Gemini: FRB 121102 § Fast Radio Bursts (FRB) are (1-10)
millisecond radio pulses of astronomical origin, discovered 2007
§ FRB 121102 discovered at Arecibo Observatory during Pulsar ALFA survey § Follow up subsequently discovered 10
additional bursts. § Spitler et al., 2016, (Nature 531,
7593) § AAS press conference today! § VLA localized the position, and
discovered persistent component § VLBI established coincidence of burst
and persistent sources (within 100 ly) § Gemini N observations have associated
the position with a dwarf galaxy
1/04/2017 19 NSF-AAS Town Hall
Credit: Danielle Futselaar
Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST)
§ DKIST will be a 4.2-meter solar telescope to study the Sun at the fundamental 20-km scale of the solar magnetic structures.
§ Completion in FY 2020 at Haleakala Observatory (Maui).
§ Hawaii Supreme Court affirmed construction permit (Oct. 6)
§ Top: Artist’s view of DKIST enclosure with cutaway
§ Bottom: Base ring of Telescope Mount Assembly (right) inside the DKIST enclosure (left).
1/04/2017 20 NSF-AAS Town Hall
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
1/04/2017 21
§ 10 year survey of 10s of billions of objects in space and time § F1.2, 8.4m primary, FOV 3.5d (9.6 sq d) § 3.2 Gpixel camera, 2 sec readout, ~15 TB per night § 825 visits per pointing (main survey = 18,000 sq d) § ~10 M alerts per night, 60 sec latency § Construction progressing, late 2022 start date for survey.
NSF-AAS Town Hall
Recent construction image … compared to artist’s impression
AAG Funding History, 1990-2016
50.4 48.0
45.1
29.5
45.1
29.3 24.9
31.2 27.6 26.7
31.2 34.3
38.1 36.8
28.8 28.5 24.4 23.9
20.7
36.3
22.4 19.9
14.8 15.4 16.7 18.0 20.9
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Proposal Funding Rate, %
20.9
16.2 17.0 18.2 17.1 20.2 18.6 17.5 19.3 19.7 18.8 20.9 22.7
29.4 32.4 30.7 34.0
38.9 41.5 42.1
79.6
49.4 48.1 44.5 42.4 43.7
48.4 48.4
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
AAG Budget, $M 48.4 From 2000 to 2008, AAG funding doubled,
but the funding rate went down by 1/3
1/04/2017 NSF-AAS Town Hall 23
18 12 13 19 41 33 36 43 41 38 32 40 31 48 64 44 60 66 57 58 52 54 60 90
135 136 122 80 89 126 134 108 126 96
112 104 119 113 104 100 112 105
115 113
135 148 160 200 227
274 239 145 159 143
62 59 49
58 50 52 73
82 58 48
41 76 107 72 74 91
122 124 91
96 91
107
102 118
144 157
130
78 88 78
87 76 72 96
119 134 128
131 124
122 138 136 170
219 223 259 242
243
270
280 311
307 319
308
PLA SAA GAL EXC
From 2000 to 2008, the number of proposals received went up by 75%
Proposals in AAG, 1990-2016
238
703
1990 2016
1/04/2017 NSF-AAS Town Hall 24
Changes in AST AAG Program for FY 2017
§ In FY 2017, AST is running a pilot program with NO PROPOSAL DEADLINE for the Planetary/Exoplanetary and Solar portions of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants (AAG) program. § Solicitation NSF 16-602: Solar and Planetary Research Grants
(SPG). § Declined proposals may not be resubmitted for 12 months after
initial submission.
§ The rest of AAG is running as before, November 15, 2016 proposal deadline (Solicitation 16-574).
§ Budget breakdowns between AAG and SPG are expected to remain similar to FY 2016.
1/04/2017 25 NSF-AAS Town Hall
Other Individual Investigator News § CAREER, AAPF, and REU programs have remained fairly
stable in funding for a number of years § Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation (ATI) has
been reduced somewhat over the past several years. § Partnerships in Astronomy and Astrophysics Research
and Education (PAARE) is currently running every other year. § AST to conduct an analysis of this program to see whether it
should be continued in its current form.
1/04/2017 26 NSF-AAS Town Hall
FY 2017 Budget
1/04/2017 28
$M FY15 Funding
FY16 Funding
FY17 Pres. Budget
AST Total 245.2 246.4 247.7
Facility Opera-ons 148.4 149.1 155.2
AAG+ATI 56.6 57.4 51.4 Educa-on/CAREER 10.1 10.5 10.9
MSIP 13.0 19.3 18.0 Other (mostly grants) 17.1 10.1 12.2 MREFC 104.8 113.0 87.1
NSF-AAS Town Hall
AST Budget Pressures § Must plan for possibility of no budget increases for the
balance of the decade § Need to balance facilities, small and mid-scale
programs and individual investigator grants § Mid-decadal survey report stated:
“The LSST operations cost of $8 million at first, growing to $25 million, will be an additional burden on the AST budget in the first half of the next decade. The committee strongly supports the goal of a balanced program that includes facilities, medium scale initiatives, and small-scale initiatives. Maintaining this balance is a challenge at the current level of funding.”
1/04/2017 29 NSF-AAS Town Hall
Transitions in AST Techniques
1/04/2017 31
§ Solar physics § DKIST is the first new AST solar observatory since ~1970. § Moving to combination of routine solar disk monitoring with
investigations at fundamental length scale on Sun
§ Night-time OIR astronomy § Concluding transition from era of multi-user 2-4m telescopes § Multi-user 6-10m telescopes, plus telescopes primarily dedicated to
one or a few large projects and data sets
§ Radio astronomy § Concluding transition from single-dish telescopes with limited
angular resolution to versatile interferometers with arcsecond and subarcsecond imaging capability
§ Each transition takes decades to occur § Transitions track science and facility recommendations in
decadal surveys NSF-AAS Town Hall
AST Facility Portfolio
1/04/2017 32
§ Portfolio Review Committee was commissioned in 2011 as broadly representative subcommittee of MPS Advisory Committee
§ Portfolio Review Committee reported out in August 2012 § Recommended a balance of small, medium and large programs
that would require divestment of a number of operating telescopes from AST budget
§ In 2016, both the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (AAAC) and the National Academies Midterm Assessment of the decadal survey recommended (using the words of the AAAC) that “Strong efforts by NSF for facility divestment should continue as fast as is practical.”
NSF-AAS Town Hall
What Does “Divestment” Mean?
§ The recommendations of the Portfolio Review Committee solely referred to removal of the funding of telescopes from the NSF/AST budget.
§ Telescopes recommended for divestment are still important, and in some cases unique assets for astronomical research or other related uses.
§ Hence the preferred divestment alternative, pursued vigorously by NSF since 2012, has been to find funding collaborations that enable some continued availability of NSF telescope assets for the research community.
33 1/04/2017 NSF-AAS Town Hall
Divestment Summary (as of November 5, 2016)
Telescope Status
KPNO 2.1m Caltech-‐led consor-um (Robo-‐AO) opera-ng for FY 2016-‐2018.
Mayall 4m Slated for DESI; bridge from NSF to DOE; NSF/DOE MOU for transi-on.
WIYN 3.5m NOAO share to NASA-‐NSF Exoplanet Observa-onal Research Program; NSF/NASA MOU in place; NASA instrument selected.
GBO Separa-on from NRAO in FY 2017; ~25% collabora-on for basic scope; started Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process on October 19.
LBO/VLBA Separa-on from NRAO in FY 2017; MOA with US Navy in place for 50%.
McMath-‐Pierce No obvious partner opportuni-es; very small user community.
GONG/SOLIS SOLIS is off Kig Peak; GONG refurbishment; Interagency Agreement with NOAA signed (NOAA sharing GONG opera-ons costs).
Sacramento Pk. University consor-um in development, and NSF funded NMSU for transi-on to consor-um; started EIS process; comple-on in 2017.
Arecibo Formal EIS process under way, and issuance of Record of Decision targeted for 2017. Draj EIS released October 28.
SOAR Post-‐2020 status to be reviewed. 1/04/2017 34 NSF-AAS Town Hall
Implement Scoping
May 2016 Publish Draft EIS
Oct 2016 20 - 50 Publish Final EIS
May 2017
Target Dates for Arecibo Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
Collaboration Solicitation
National Historic Preservation Act Consultation
Endangered Species Act Compliance
Record of Decision
Summer 2017
• Science Priority • Budget • Programmatic
considerations (collaborators, risk, viability)
1/04/2017 35 NSF-AAS Town Hall
Sac Peak and Green Bank are on similar paths, 2-6 months behind Arecibo.
NSF-Associated Town Halls
§ Wednesday: § NSF Town Hall (but you knew that already) § LSST Town Hall: 7:30p, Grapevine A
§ Thursday: § Gemini Observatory Open House: 6:30p, Texas 4
§ Friday: § NOAO Forward: 12:45p, Texas C § 2017 NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral
Fellows Showcase and Forum, 6:30, Texas C § NRAO Town Hall: 6:30, Grapevine C
36 1/04/2017 NSF-AAS Town Hall
Elmegreen OIR Report
§ April 2015: National Academies delivered report on “Optimizing the U.S. Ground-Based Optical and Infrared Astronomy System” (aka Elmegreen report). § Report made prioritized recommendations, but did not attempt to
provide details of instrument requirements (see Kavli Futures Symposium).
§ Overall NSF response published in Dear Colleague Letter NSF 15-115.
§ Several recommendations related to NOAO fostering of community, which go well beyond base scope funded by NOAO; under discussion/development with NOAO.
1/04/2017 38 NSF-AAS Town Hall
LSST/NOAO Symposium Report
§ August 2015: NSF wrote to the AURA President and the LSST and NOAO Directors requesting consideration and prioritization of specific technical capabilities for the US Optical/Infrared Telescope System that are required to fully realize LSST-enabled science, using 6-8 representative science cases.
§ October 2016: Report of the Kavli Futures Symposium “Maximizing Science in the Era of LSST: A Community-Based Study of Needed US OIR Capabilities”. § Considered six baseline science cases, and addressed prioritized
needs and prospects for specific instrumental capabilities needed to address those science cases.
1/04/2017 39 NSF-AAS Town Hall
Na-onal Center for Night-‐-me OIR Astronomy
§ Numerous recommendations regarding enhanced coordination among NSF OIR observatories.
§ September 2016: After many discussions with AURA management and Observatory leadership, NSF provided guidance to AURA on planning a National Center. § Purpose, mission and scope of a single administrative organization
to coordinate resources among LSST operations, Gemini Observatory, and continuing NOAO programs.
§ AURA is to deliver to NSF a proposed plan for this National Center, with a targeted delivery date of mid-2017.
§ Separately, the potential National Center is being discussed with Gemini, LSST, and NOAO partners.
§ The overall benefit envisioned is the provision of enhanced science return through coordination of capabilities as LSST moves toward operations.
1/04/2017 40 NSF-AAS Town Hall
2016 AAAC and Mid-‐Decadal-‐1
1/04/2017 41
§ March 2016 AAAC Recommendation: “We urge that full programmatic funding required by the three agencies to execute their FY 2017 plans, as described in their budget requests, be provided.”
§ August 2016 NAS Mid-Decadal Review Recommendation 3-2: “The NSF and the National Science Board should consider actions that would preserve the ability of the astronomical community to fully exploit the Foundation’s capital investments in ALMA, DKIST, LSST, and other facilities. Without such action, the community will be unable to do so because at current budget levels the anticipated facilities operations costs are not consistent with the program balance that ensures scientific productivity.”
NSF-AAS Town Hall
2016 AAAC and Mid-‐Decadal-‐2 § March 2016 AAAAC Recommendation: “Strong efforts by NSF for
facility divestment should continue as fast as is practical. Efforts to explore partnerships, interagency cooperation and private resources to maintain some access to facilities for the US community that may mitigate the loss of open access should continue. Transferring the cost of operating a facility outside of the NSF/AST budget is preferable to complete loss of a capability from the suite of capabilities used by US researchers.”
§ August 2016 NAS Mid-decadal review Recommendation 3-1: “National Science Foundation (NSF) should proceed with divestment from ground-based facilities which have a lower scientific impact, implementing the recommendations of the NSF [AST] Portfolio Review, that is essential to sustaining the scientific vitality of the U.S. ground-based astronomy program as new facilities come into operation.”
1/04/2017 42 NSF-AAS Town Hall
2016 AAAC Recommenda-on and CMB-‐S4
1/04/2017 43
§ Recommendation: “We encourage DOE, NSF, and university community to continue working toward a plan for a future (Stage 4) ground-based CMB experiment.”
§ Response: NSF (AST, PHY, PLR) and DOE/HEP are actively coordinating and working with the science community.
§ In October 2016, NSF and DOE charged AAAC to form a subcommittee to develop a strawman project concept that can be used for agencies’ planning purposes. Charles Lawrence (JPL) has agreed to chair this committee.
§ The P5 committee recommended CMB-S4 as a strategic initiative, but this was not an NWNH recommendation. NSF currently plans to evaluate CMB-S4 funding within established core programs.
NSF-AAS Town Hall