Executive Committee Panelists

The Executive Committee (EC) is comprised of the Meeting Chair, the Panel Chairs, the Panel Vice Chairs and the At-Large Members. The EC process is very similar to the Discussion Panelist process, with a few additions, and a few extra deadlines.

Prep Work & General Info

Preliminary GradingPre-MeetingDiscussion MeetingPost-Meeting
Before April 25, 2025April 25 - May 30, 2025May 30-June 22, 2025June 23-26 & June 30-July 2, 2025July 2-7, 2025
Before getting started, familiarise yourself with the review process, Hubble and its instruments, the types of proposals you will be reviewing, and who to ask for help!

During this phase, you will:

  • Be assigned as Primary Reviewer, Secondary Reviewer or Grader for a subset of the proposals assigned to the EC.
  • Read all of your assigned proposals.
  • Enter numerical scores as preliminary grades for all of your assigned proposals.

Each proposal will receive up to 6 grades. STScI will use the grades to rank and triage the panel so that only the top proposals are discussed in the panel meeting.

During this phase, you will:

  • Prepare for the EC meeting.
  • Review all EC proposals listed for discussion (especially those you did not read for preliminary grading).
  • Consider whether you wish to raise a triaged EC proposal for discussion.

We strongly encourage you to use the SPIRIT tool to enter notes summarizing the strengths and weaknesses for your primary/secondary assignments.

Panel Chairs and Vice Chairs will also:

  • Set a schedule for your topical panel and communicate this to the panel ahead of the meeting.

First, the topical panels meet for 4 days. During the meeting, you will:

  • Facilitate the panel discussions, if you are a Panel Chair or Vice Chair.
  • Observe the panels, if you are an At-Large Member.
  • Discuss and observe discussions of Large Proposals by topical panels.

Then the EC meets for 3 days. You will:

  • Discuss EC proposals in turn and enter numerical scores as grades after each discussion.
  • Assess the final ranking of EC proposals for science balance.

During this phase, you will:

  • Write comments for every primary assignment (including triaged proposals).
  • Assist the primary reviewer with comments for every secondary assignment.
  • Read, check for consistency, and sign-off on comments for proposals in your topical panel (Chairs and Vice Chairs).

Please remember to remove review materials from your computer after the review.

Learn more about:

Learn more about:

Useful topics from previous phases:

Learn more about:

Useful topics from previous phases:

Learn more about:

Useful topics from previous phases:


Learn more about:

Useful topics from previous phases:

Important Dates and Deadlines:

  • Thursday April 10: HST proposal deadline

Important Dates and Deadlines:

  • Friday April 25: SPD to release proposals and assignments
  • Monday April 28, 12pm-2pm EDT: Virtual Panelists Orientation (EC members should also attend this)
  • Friday May 2: Deadline for additional conflicts of interest
  • Friday May 30: Deadline for EC preliminary grades

Important Dates and Deadlines:

  • Wednesday June 4, 12pm-2pm EDT: Chairs Orientation
  • Friday June 6: SPD to release lists of which proposals will be discussed by the panels
  • Friday June 6: SPD to release lists of which proposals will be discussed by the EC

Important Dates and Deadlines:

  • Monday June 23, 10am-4pm EDT: Panel Meeting Day 1
  • Tuesday June 24, 10am-4pm EDT: Panel Meeting Day 2
  • Wednesday June 25, 10am-4pm EDT: Panel Meeting Day 3
  • Thursday June 26, 10am-4pm EDT: Panel Meeting Day 4


  • Monday June 30, 10am-4pm EDT: EC Meeting Day 1
  • Tuesday July 1, 10am-4pm EDT: EC Meeting Day 2
  • Wednesday July 2, 10am-4pm EDT: EC Meeting Day 3

Important Dates and Deadlines:

  • Friday June 27: Deadline for Discussion panel comments
  • Monday July 7: Deadline for EC sign-off of Discussion panel comments
  • Monday July 7: Deadline for EC proposal comments
  • Wednesday July 9: Deadline for EC chair sign-off of EC comments
  • Late July: STScI releases Cycle 33 Science Program.