Chandra Distributed Peer Review (CDPR)

Distributed Review Overview

Highlights

All proposing teams will now have to participate in the review of Chandra proposals.
Each proposing team identifies one Designated Reviewer (DR) who will be responsible for the review of 10-16 proposals.
Initial proposal reviews will be due late April.
After viewing the initial evaluations from other reviewers, a DR will have the opportunity to adjust their review.
Additionally, TOO and BPP proposals will be reviewed further by traditional review panels.

Introduction

The Chandra Peer Review is moving to a distributed model starting in Cycle 27. Every proposing team will need to identify a team member responsible for participating in the review. This "designated reviewer" (DR) will be responsible for the review of 10 to 16 Chandra proposals from other proposing teams. DRs will perform their evaluations through a dedicated software portal called Chandra Distributed Review Software (CDRS) that will be accessed with their Chandra User accounts.

The aggregate review information from the Distributed Peer Review (DPR), Big Project Proposal (BPP) panel, and Target of Opportunity (TOO) panels will be used to determine final outcomes.

Timeline of Distributed Review

March 18, 2026	Proposal deadline. All proposing groups will have identified their designated reviewer.
Late March	Review assignments made and the review software is open to designated reviewers.
Late April	Grades and review comments are due in the review software.
Late April	Second round opens when anonymized reviews from other reviewers are made available.
Early May	Final grades and report comments are due.

Designated Reviewers

In CPS, every proposing team will identify a "designated reviewer" (DR), who is a team member responsible for participating in the review of 10-16 Chandra proposals. It is expected that the PI will serve as the designated reviewer, but the responsibility can be delegated to another team member, especially when the PI does not hold a PhD and/or the PI has submitted numerous proposals.

Requirements for Designated Reviewers

The DR must hold a PhD in astronomy and/or astrophysics at the time of proposal submission.
The DR must have an up-to-date Chandra User account and have opted-in to having their account be searchable within CPS.
In cases where the PI does not hold a PhD, the designated reviewer may work with the non-PhD PI on the review, but the ultimate responsibility for the review is on the designated reviewer.
In instances where a PI has submitted multiple proposals with similar team members, it is strongly recommended that an individual is not selected as designated reviewer on more than 3 proposals.

The CXC reserves the right to request that a proposing team identify a new designated reviewer.

Expectations

It is expected that each DR will be assigned to read, grade, and provide comments on at least 10 proposals.
The number of assigned proposals will increase for each proposal submitted—to a maximum of 16 assigned proposals per DR.
Each proposal will consist of one pdf that merges anonymized CPS forms and the 4-6 page science justification.
DRs will provide a grade and comments for each of their assigned proposals. Comments on proposals should be concise, clearly worded, and demonstrate a careful reading of the proposal.
After the initial review deadline, DRs will have access to all other (anonymized) reviews of their assigned proposals and be given an opportunity to adjust their review based on that information.

Reviewers who miss deadlines or do not abide by the code of conduct, may—at the discretion of the CXC Director—have their proposal(s) withdrawn from consideration for approval.

Review Guidance and further instructions will be provided to designated reviewers by the Peer Review Team lead.

Distributed Review Software

Chandra Distributed Review Software (CDRS)

CDRS

Proposals will be available for review in CDRS ~1wk after the proposal deadline. The CXC will communicate directly with DRs once assigned proposals are available.

CDRS Accounts

CXC Account - create or edit profile

The accounts used to log into the distributed review software are the same CXC accounts used in CPS. Since DRs have to have cxc accounts in order to be identified in their proposal, DRs already have the necessary credentials to access CDRS.

Reviewer Assistance

DPR Guide (this document will be made available closer to the start of the Review)

How to Get Help

Use the CXC HelpDesk for questions about proposals.

Designated Reviewers should use the CXC Peer Review HelpDesk for questions about the review.

Both of these helpdesk systems are monitored during nominal business hours (Eastern Time).

Town Hall

In February 2025, the CXC organized a Community Town Hall on the Distributed Peer Review. A recording of that event has been made available.

FAQs

The CXC has been answering questions about the DPR and is compiling answers to the most common on the CDPR Frequently Asked Questions site.