For all proposals, give a ranking of NF, PF, or F.
NF Not fundable — this grade is more about feasibility and whether the proposal has a fatal flaw (e.g., it asks to build a telescope in a location where that form of light will not be visible)
PF Potentially fundable — the proposal does not have a fatal flaw but may have weaknesses and/or the science may not be particularly compelling. This is also the most appropriate grade to give if your evaluation hinges on a key piece of information that was not given in the proposal. Note, however, that if a real-life proposal were missing key information they would likely be penalized for it in the evaluation process.
F Fundable — the proposal design has no obvious flaws or weaknesses, and the science is compelling.
For each grade you assign, provide a short explanation (1-3 sentences) of why you graded it the way that you did. If it's not fundable, what's the fatal flaw? If it's fundable, why is the science compelling? Etc.
Finally, give an overall ranking of all proposals you graded F or PF, that is, rank them 1 (the best) through however many were F or PF. Include a short paragraph describing why you ranked them the way that you did — which ones were the most compelling, etc.
Below are the nine proposals for you to evaluate:
Proposal Orion
A new large infrared telescope will be constructed on a Chilean mountain to observe glowing interstellar dust near newly formed stars.
Grade _
Explanation:
Proposal Ursa Major
A visible light telescope is proposed for a suburban environment to study the light of variable stars.
Grade _
Explanation:
Project Sol
An X-ray telescope will be placed at the North Pole in order to study solar X-rays.
Grade _
Explanation:
Project Virgo
A space-based visible light telescope is proposed in order to get fine detail about faint galaxies.
Grade _
Explanation:
Project Sagittarius
A ground-based visible light telescope in a rural area is proposed in order to study a pair of very closely-separated double stars.
Grade _
Explanation:
Project Cygnus
A gamma-ray telescope will be placed in the rocky mountains to observe gamma-ray bursts.
Grade _
Explanation:
Project Scorpio
An infrared space telescope will be constructed to study highly redshifted galaxies.
Grade _
Explanation:
Project Sagan
A radio telescope will be placed in the Himalayas to search for extraterrestrial radio signals.
Grade _
Explanation:
Project Draco
An ultraviolet telescope will be placed on an airplane to study star-formation regions.
Grade __