Fermi Science Support Center

Background on the Fermi Guest Investigator Program

Titles and abstracts of previously Fermi Guest Investigator Programs approved programs are public information and can be obtained here: Fermi Cycles 1, 2, 3, and 4.

The Fermi Guest Investigator (GI) program solicits proposals for basic research relevant to the Fermi mission. The primary goal of this mission is to perform 20 MeV to >300 GeV gamma-ray measurements over the entire celestial sphere, with sensitivity a factor of 30 or more greater than that obtained by earlier space missions. A secondary goal includes the study of transient gamma-ray sources with energies extending from 8 keV up to 300 GeV.

The Fermi GI program is intended to encourage scientific participation by providing funding to carry out investigations using Fermi data, to conduct correlative observations at other wavelengths, to develop data analysis techniques applicable to the Fermi data, and to carry out theoretical investigations in support of Fermi observations. Opportunities to propose will be announced annually in the NASA ROSES NRA.

Investigators may apply for radio or optical observing time through joint programs with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) or the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) or for high-end computing resources.

Investigators may propose Fermi pointed observations, but such observations will require strong scientific justification through extensive simulations and calculations because default survey mode observations will satisfy the scientific requirements of nearly all studies.

The Fermi GI program is open to all investigators, but NASA funding is available only to investigators at U.S. institutions.