The WMKOs isntrument life cycle process sets major milestones and gating reviews for projects under development for the observatory. There are two main umbrella phases to the lifecycle process that are Design Formulation and Construction with the detailed phases for conceptual design, preliminary design, proposal development, construction and commissioning. The current version pulls from processes described by the NSF Research Infrastructure Guide and the NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Handbook. The WMKO instrument development process parallels those with NSF and NASA because WMKO works with tese two agencies to fund instrumentation projects; however, the phases described in the document are tailored appropriately for WMKO instrument sized projects that differe in scale to facilities and space-based missions. WMKO project lifecycle guidance is designed to be tailored and scaled to projects with tracking tools for and reporting to WMKO and instiutional leadership that is appropriate for the size of the technology development. A guiding philosophy is taht the project leadership works with WMKO to establish a specific project lifecycle process pulling from this document and that the tehncial scope is locked in at the PDR. WMKO projects like KCRM, KPF, SCALES, and HISPEC followed these guidelines. The early phases of instrument development are to incubate instrument concepts to a mature enough level to seek funding. These phases are described in detaile in the WMKO Instrument Development Guide (see below). For new teams interested in developing technologies for WMKO, we summarize below the process for developing instrument concepts and designs as well as outline the path that the instrument builders should follow to gain SSC and Keck Observatory approval. For instrumentation projects, principal investigators must seek approval from the SSC before moving forward with any type of funding request.
The incubation process supports a wide range of initiatives that spans from major new facility class instrumentation to small continuous improvement projects for the existing instrument suite and observatory systems. The SSC will confirm the scale of the project and suggest the right path forward if approved.
Due to funding limitations, not every project the SSC deems worthy for continued development will be funded through this process. The SSC will provide all PIs feedback on proposals and guidance for moving forward.
The Instrument Development Guide version two is a revision of previous guidance for the WMKO instrument life cycle process that set major milestones and gating reviews. In 2020, WMKO recognized a need to revise the instrument development process in order to formalize flexibility and to better align the process to US funding agencies. Instrument development teams frequenly submit to the NSF and have historically submitted proposals to TSIP, ATI, MRI, MSIP, and MsRI grant programs. WMKO has also submitted project funding requests to NASA which has increasingly more opportunities available. Aligning the instrument life cycle process with these two agencies better positions the WMKO community of PIs to both propose to the available grant programs and ease reporting to program officers. To this end, this revision folded in processes, philosophies, deliverables, and common language from NSF and NSF program documentation to help guide best practices for evaluating and scaling programmatics to the size of the project. In the new version, PIs will fine descriptions of the lifecycle process with details on staffing, deliverables, and approval expectations for each phase.
Dear Colleagues:
W. M. Keck Observatory (WMKO), in concert with its Science Steering
Committee (SSC), announces an instrument development call soliciting
requests to fund up to $75k (total for all awards) and WMKO staff hours in
support of:
All reports and endorsement
requests should be submitted in pdf format by 30 June 2026 to whitepapers@keck.hawaii.edu, and all requests will be reviewed
by the SSC in July. Previously supported white papers
requesting continued support should include a status report that must
address SSC comments on previous submissions and highlight last year's advancements.
Please note that in 2023, WMKO
completed a strategic plan, Keck 2035: The W. M. Keck Observatory Strategic
Plan (see link below).
Resultingfrom the strategic plan and a two-year community guided process to
prioritize projects within the strategic plan, WMKO's science
leadership developed a five-year implementation plan and identified top major
facility class instrumentation that aims to significantly advance
technologies on the KI telescope with STRATA, Liger, LRIS-2 and
ZShooter. Because major facility class instrumentation development
will focus on these four initiatives, this white paper call encourages teams seeking
support for concept studies or mini grantsÊto focus on development
teams to develop smaller scale upgrades for instrumentation or small
self-contained projects that can be complete in within a year. This
emphasis is not meant to exclude other initiatives. All members of the WMKO
community may participate, and proposers with projects at all scales
are encouraged to apply with studies focusing on aspects of the strategic
plan such as:
1. Adaptive Secondary enabled
instrumentation and systems.
2. Near diffraction limited
capabilities at the shortest possible wavelengths
3. Enhancing the community’s
advantages in cadence, time domain, and large sample programs for precision
spectroscopy, photometry, and astrometry.
4. Instrumentation that takes
maximal use of the summit conditions with an emphasis on good seeing and UV
sensitivity.
5. Demonstration capabilities with
science applications for future WMKO instrumentation, ELTs, or space-based
missions.
6. Data reduction software that
improves or builds on packages for existing instrumentation or develop new
tools that address identified needs for strategic science initiatives.
The above topics should not be
limiting; white papers are encouraged in any of the areas of interest
identified in the strategic plan that is accessible at: https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/scistratplan/Keck_2035_Science.pdf.
A white paper status template
is available at: https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/common/Instrument_Development/InstrumentDevelopment.php#template. If effort is required from WMKO staff, please specify the
hours, and if possible, staff needed to support your project.
Relevance to future new
facilities (e.g., EUCLID, LSST (Rubin Observatory), Roman, and ELTs), if any,
should be explained. Re-submissions of previous proposals must address SSC
comments to the previous submission and highlight updates or progress. Please
note that visiting instruments will not be considered.
Details for the funding
categories are below:
Concept designs:
In 2026, funds are available for concept and feasibility design
studies with an emphasis on upgrades for existing capabilities.
The amounts awarded will depend on the number of proposals
accepted and the budgets proposed. The request should be no more than
three pages in length devoted to text, figures, and tables. Up to two
additional pages are allowed for a budget, milestones, and
deliverables.
Proposal Development:
WMKO funds white papers with the goal of developing early designs into
a competitive proposal for future funding opportunities (e.g., the NSF MRI, MsRI, and/or ATI programs as well as
opportunities from other organizations and foundations). Instrument
teams that have completed initial design activities either internal or
external to the WMKO instrument development call may request
permission and support of efforts to develop a proposal for a public grant program or a
philanthropic opportunity. Funding is drawn against the total
available for Concept Designs and Proposal Development. The request should be
no more than three pages in length devoted to text, figures, tables,
and budget.
Mini Grants:
Minor
upgrades for software, DRPs, and hardware to existing facilities to add or
enhance current instrument or AO capabilities may be proposed and funded by
WMKO. Funding is drawn against the total
available for Concept and Phase A designs. The request should be no more than three
pages in length devoted to text, figures, tables, and budget. Up to two
additional pages are allowed for a budget, milestones, and
deliverables.
For all requests, the budget
should be in summary form identifying how the money will be spent on major
study costs. If effort is required from WMKO staff, please specify the hours
and staff needed that are in addition to the funds requested. All requests
shall provide administrative and financial contact information for the PIs.
To gain an initial
understanding of technical issues such as existing instrument configurations,
observatory interfaces, and guidelines for the standard WMKO instrument
development process, proposers are strongly encouraged to contact the WMKO
Instrument Program Manager, Marc Kassis (mkassis@keck.hawaii.edu).
For descriptions of the
instrument incubation process, schedule, funding, night allocation examples,
and expectations, please see Instrument Development Incubation Process (https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/common/Instrument_Development/InstrumentDevelopment.php).
At the July 2026 SSC meeting,
the SSC will make a preliminary selection of projects and may request more
detailed information on the personnel, technical plans, and budgets. The SSC
and the observatory will then select studies for funding, and by the end of
August, send two letters to the PIs: one with SSC feedback and a second
containing invoicing instructions to receive funding within 30 days after
submitting an invoice to WMKO. PIs awarded gifted funds may be requested to
provide a brief project status in March or May 2027 and a written report two
weeks prior to an SSC meeting in May or June 2027 at which some PIs will be
asked to provide a brief overview of the project status and future work. The
SSC looks favorably upon groups across the Keck community working in
partnerships. Funding must be used in the year(s) approved. SSC approval of a request is NOT an
endorsement to seek major funding to build the instrument. Before seeking major
funding, the SSC must approve PI request to proceed with a proposal submission.
Sincerely yours,
Jessica Lu and Andrew Howard, Co-Chairs, Keck Science Steering Committee
Rich Matsuda, Observatory
Director
John O’Meara, Deputy Director
and Chief Scientist
Marc Kassis,
Instrument Program Manager
The schedule and process is flexible. As an example, Instruments that have completed a conceptual design prior to approaching the SSC for approval, may a present their conceptual design seeking funding and approval to move into the system design phase. Small upgrade projects may request moving to a proposal phase and skip the concept and system design phase because the scope of the project does not merit that level of planning.
PIs may propose what funding track to pursue, but the SSC will approve the track for the project before moving forward and may suggest a different track than what the PI proposed. At any step, the SSC has the authority to say a project should not proceed. Previous SSC approval is not a green light to seek funding. Requests to seek funding must be approved by the SSC, and it is anticipated that this request will come when entering the proposal development cycle.
Awarded funds from this process are provided in accordance with the WMKO financial policy to the PI and Co-Is.