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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

NSF Big Ideas


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

AST Staffing and

New Location


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)


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

A Few Highlights


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).


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)


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


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).


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

NSF AST Individual

Investigator Program


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


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


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.


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.


AST Budget


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.”


Transitions and

Divestment


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)


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

Recent Community Reports


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.


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.


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.


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.”


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

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