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Overview

Supporting research in science and technology is an important part of NASA's overall mission. NASA solicits this research through the release of various research announcements in a wide range of science and technology disciplines. Basic and applied research in support of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is solicited through the Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) research announcement (NRA). Through this ROSES NRA, NASA encourages the participation of the space and Earth science communities in SMD’s research and technology programs. These programs form the foundation of both the basic and applied research opportunities that allows NASA’s space and Earth science programs realize the Strategic Objectives of NASA and the SMD. The Physics of the Cosmos Program Office has a table of upcoming solicitation deadlines relevant to NASA Astrophysics.

Science @ NASA

Science.nasa.gov provides a high level overview of NASA funding opportunities and links to proposal development resources.

Visit science.nasa.gov https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/grant-solicitations

ROSES 2025

The Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2025 is an omnibus announcement and the comprehensive list of NASA's funding opportunities.

Read ROSES 2025 https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/viewrepositorydocument/cmdocumentid=1053488/solicitationId=%7B2A1D139B-B9C7-CE8C-2E81-223FD08460F9%7D/viewSolicitationDocument=1/ROSES25_SoS_Amend_1_07152025.pdf

NASA NSPIRES

The NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES) allows users to search for and view future, open, and past NASA research announcements.

Visit nspires.nasaprs.com https://nspires.nasaprs.com/

Guest Observer and Investigator Programs

Mission specific Guest Observer (GO) and Guest Investigator (GI) programs, part of NASA's Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) Announcement, provides opportunities for community members to carry out basic research relevant to each mission. Below is a list of proposal opportunities for missions with significant relevance to multimessenger astronomy.

Combined General Investigator General Observer Program

General Investigator (GI) and General Observer (GO) programs have been combined into a single call. Missions within this program are Swift, Fermi, NuSTAR, TESS, NICER, IXPE, and XRISM.

Learn More https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary.do?solId={A952E51B-7AD4-B180-2F8C-4E8A79AFFAED}&path=&method=init

James Webb Space Telescope 

Cycle 5 Proposals due October 15, 2025.

Learn More https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-planning

XMM-Newton 

AO 25 Proposals due October 10, 2025.

Learn More https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/ao25

Hubble Space Telescope 

Cycle 33 Phase I proposals due April 10, 2025.

Learn More https://hst-docs.stsci.edu/hsp

Chandra X-ray Observatory 

Cycle 27 Proposals due March 19, 2025.

Learn More https://cxc.harvard.edu/proposer/

Joint Observing Opportunities

Joint observing opportunities allow community members to write single proposals and obtain observing time on multiple space and ground-based observatories. NASA is currently pursuing additional joint programs where scientifically relevant. The table below summarizes the current joint observing opportunities offered through NASA's ROSES-2025 program elements and individual missions. In the future, joint funding program with the NSF would open new opportunities for novel multimessenger programs.

The individual program elements (e.g. the proposal opportunities) are listed in the top row of the table and the facilities for which observers can be awarded joint observing time are listed in rows and named in the first column.  
+ shows both facilities solicitations can request time of each other. 
is only the particular opportunity can request observation time. 

Joint FacilityHST
Cycle 33
Apr 10 2025
JWST
Cycle 5
Oct 15 2025
TESS
Cycle 9
TBD
Chandra
Cycle 27
Mar 19 2025
XRISM
Cycle 3
TBD
XMM-Newton
AO 25
Oct 10 2025
IXPE
Cycle 3
Sep 11 2025
NuSTAR
Cycle 12
Jan 2026
Swift
Cycle 22
Sep 11 2025
Fermi
Cycle 19
Jan 19 2026
HST       
JWST       
TESS       
Chandra      
XRISM       
XMM-Newton     
IXPE         
NuSTAR      
Swift     
Fermi         
NASA-Keck         
NOIRLab      
NRAO  GBO 
ALMA         
VLT/I         
LCO         
Ground-VHE     MAGIC, HESS   VERITAS

 

Complementary Opportunities

Multimessenger and Time Domain Astrophysics are supported by many observatories and institutions besides NASA. In the United States, a key funding organization is the National Science Foundation (NSF), and US scientists at all career stages (including students) have access to observing time at many facilities through competitive time allocation processes. The growing list below gives an overview of such opportunities.

National Science Foundation

Windows on the Universe: The era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (WoU-MMA) is one of the 10 Big Ideas that will drive NSF’s long-term research agenda. There are several funding opportunities through the Divisions of Astronomical Science and Physics.

Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants

Annual deadline October 1 - November 15.

Learn More https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/aag-astronomy-astrophysics-research-grants

Division of Physics: Investigator-Initiated Research Projects (PHY)

Annual deadlines in the Fall.

Learn More https://www.nsf.gov/mps/phy/about#programs

Faculty Early Career Development Program(CAREER)

Annual deadline fourth Wednesday in July.

Read More https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/career-faculty-early-career-development-program

Observatories with Open Observing Time for US Scientists

NASA Keck Call for Proposals

Proposals due September 11, 2025. NASA time on the Keck Telescopes is open to all U.S.-based astronomers (i.e., those whose principal affiliation is at a U.S. institution).

Learn More https://nexsci.caltech.edu/missions/KeckSolicitation/

National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab)

Two annual deadlines on March 31st and September 30th. Includes Gemini Observatory, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOIRLab (WIYN), as well as community-access time with other observatories (which for 2025B include Magellan, CHARA, Milankovic, and NOT telescopes.

Learn More https://noirlab.edu/science/observing-noirlab/proposals/

National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)

Two annual deadlines on end of January and end of July. Includes the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT), and the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), High Sensitivity Array (HSA), and Global 3mm VLBI Array (GMVA).

Learn More https://science.nrao.edu/observing/call-for-proposals

Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)

Annual deadline in April.

Learn More https://almascience.nrao.edu/

Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF)

Two annual deadlines on mid-June and mid-December. Includes ASKAP, the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), Murriyang (CSIRO Parkes radio telescope), Tidbinbilla, and the Long Baseline Array (LBA).

Learn More https://www.atnf.csiro.au/facilities/apply-for-time/

South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO)

MeerKAT, with varying annual deadlines for open time.

Learn More https://skaafrica.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ESDKB/pages/1382252592/Proposals+and+Observing

Low Frequency Array (LOFAR)

Two annual deadlines in March and September.

Learn More https://science.astron.nl/telescopes/lofar/observing-with-lofar/